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A couple of our employees from Syria also got blocked today. They were using Slack from Syria though. EDIT: I don't understand why they ban/block the account r

A couple of our employees from Syria also got blocked today. They were using Slack from Syria though. EDIT: I don't understand why they ban/block the account rather than "simply" block access from IPs from the country. This seems really strange and overreaching.

jstanley 8y ago
> They were using Slack from Syria though. This doesn't excuse anything. People in Syria are people too. This is similar to how people were calling for websites to block access to Europe over the copyright thing. The internet is a place where you don't even need to have a nationality. It is a place where we can all exist as pure thoughts. Why are we letting politics fuck it up?
- danso 8y ago
  The Syrian ban comes from a U.S. federal sanction. Not arguing that the sanction is right, or that Slack is correctly implementing its adherence, but this is not a similar situation to people calling for a boycott to make a point.
  - gingerlime 8y ago
    Yes, I can imagine it's hard for Slack to ignore those sanctions, but it does appear overzealous to ban individual accounts after having logged-in from Syria/Iran, instead of implementing a country ban from accessing slack. The latter would be far simpler from a technical standpoint, and I would imagine just as compliant with the sanctions.
  - amaccuish 8y ago
    Ye it's probably worse. Companies are happy to go along with US law, but can't be bothered to follow the law of other jurisdictions...
- dade_ 8y ago
  What about fines and jail time? https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/pages/syria.aspx https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/...
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- dhimes 8y ago
  I think people are trying to stop politics from fucking it up. Politicians have started using the internet for political purposes.
- simonh 8y ago
  Politics is just people, and we’re all people.
- manigandham 8y ago
  The internet is not a place. It only functions to connect people and places which exist in physical locations that are bound by national and regional laws, and the transfer of data between locations is subject to these rules.
  - jstanley 8y ago
    That's true of snail mail, or telegrams, or even phone calls. But I'd argue the internet is so fast, and so high bandwidth, and so always-available, that it is a qualitatively different thing from merely a transfer of data between physical locations. It is a place where things happen that aren't just transfers of information between physical places. For example, Hacker News is a place within the wider place that is the web. You can argue that it is something other than a "place" (maybe "community"? or "society"?) but then you can just substitute "community" or "society" where I wrote "place" in my previous comment and everything still holds.
    - C4stor 8y ago
      I think the important point is that it's bound by laws, and nations will (and must) enforce their laws. Right now, it means revendicating parts of that place that is internet as waving their flags, and holding accountable individuals and companies powering those parts. You can argue that there are no nationalities on the internet, bust most nations beg to differ.
    - manigandham 8y ago
      I don't see what the velocity of the transfer has to do with the rules. Seems rather arbitrary. Hacker News isn't a place because you're just requesting data from their servers with a well-known DNS name. In fact everyone who "visits" is technically getting a private copy sent to them, and it's all data being transferred between borders. You can clearly see it reflected in internet routing where transit is defined by political and business connections, and things like the Great Firewall of China. Calling it a community fits better sure, but that just describes a group of individuals and doesn't create any political sovereignty. People still live in physical locations which are bound by laws, there's no way around that.
- Iv 8y ago
  > Why are we letting politics fuck it up? Yes why? Fight back: use Tor, have proxies, Tor nodes, bridges, gateways. Use ZeroNet, help crypto projects. Make it hard to discriminate on IP.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- macspoofing 8y ago
  >This doesn't excuse anything. People in Syria are people too. I don't get this attitude. Yes people in Syria are people too. Canadian steel exporters are people too, why do does their steel need to be tariffed when exported to United States? Why are American farmers punished when they export their dairy products to Canada, are they not people? >The internet is a place where you don't even need to have a nationality. SINCE WHEN?!?! It has never worked that way.
wil421 8y ago
How do you have employees in Syria? It’s a violation of federal sanctions. Edit: In the US, UK, and EU.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- santialbo 8y ago
  There's more countries in the world other than the US, you know.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- jeromegv 8y ago
  I love when people just assume that everyone in the world just live in the US. Hackernews users are international and he uses Slack.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- mnw21cam 8y ago
  Presumably the employer isn't based in the US? (Sorry, but that seems the obvious answer to your question.)
- TheGrumpyBrit 8y ago
  Which might mean American companies can't employ people in Syria, but what does that have to do with the rest of the world?
  - deleted 8y ago
vezycash 8y ago
Steve Jobs' biological father was Syrian.
Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Is the sanctions mentioned on Syria the country, or Syrian nationals? Both?

jstanley 8y ago

> They were using Slack from Syria though. This doesn't excuse anything. People in Syria are people too. This is similar to how people were calling for websites to block access to Europe over the copyright thing. The internet is a place where you don't even need to have a nationality. It is a place where we can all exist as pure thoughts. Why are we letting politics fuck it up?

danso 8y ago
The Syrian ban comes from a U.S. federal sanction. Not arguing that the sanction is right, or that Slack is correctly implementing its adherence, but this is not a similar situation to people calling for a boycott to make a point.
- gingerlime 8y ago
  Yes, I can imagine it's hard for Slack to ignore those sanctions, but it does appear overzealous to ban individual accounts after having logged-in from Syria/Iran, instead of implementing a country ban from accessing slack. The latter would be far simpler from a technical standpoint, and I would imagine just as compliant with the sanctions.
- amaccuish 8y ago
  Ye it's probably worse. Companies are happy to go along with US law, but can't be bothered to follow the law of other jurisdictions...
dade_ 8y ago
What about fines and jail time? https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/pages/syria.aspx https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
dhimes 8y ago
I think people are trying to stop politics from fucking it up. Politicians have started using the internet for political purposes.
simonh 8y ago
Politics is just people, and we’re all people.
manigandham 8y ago
The internet is not a place. It only functions to connect people and places which exist in physical locations that are bound by national and regional laws, and the transfer of data between locations is subject to these rules.
- jstanley 8y ago
  That's true of snail mail, or telegrams, or even phone calls. But I'd argue the internet is so fast, and so high bandwidth, and so always-available, that it is a qualitatively different thing from merely a transfer of data between physical locations. It is a place where things happen that aren't just transfers of information between physical places. For example, Hacker News is a place within the wider place that is the web. You can argue that it is something other than a "place" (maybe "community"? or "society"?) but then you can just substitute "community" or "society" where I wrote "place" in my previous comment and everything still holds.
  - C4stor 8y ago
    I think the important point is that it's bound by laws, and nations will (and must) enforce their laws. Right now, it means revendicating parts of that place that is internet as waving their flags, and holding accountable individuals and companies powering those parts. You can argue that there are no nationalities on the internet, bust most nations beg to differ.
  - manigandham 8y ago
    I don't see what the velocity of the transfer has to do with the rules. Seems rather arbitrary. Hacker News isn't a place because you're just requesting data from their servers with a well-known DNS name. In fact everyone who "visits" is technically getting a private copy sent to them, and it's all data being transferred between borders. You can clearly see it reflected in internet routing where transit is defined by political and business connections, and things like the Great Firewall of China. Calling it a community fits better sure, but that just describes a group of individuals and doesn't create any political sovereignty. People still live in physical locations which are bound by laws, there's no way around that.
Iv 8y ago
> Why are we letting politics fuck it up? Yes why? Fight back: use Tor, have proxies, Tor nodes, bridges, gateways. Use ZeroNet, help crypto projects. Make it hard to discriminate on IP.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
macspoofing 8y ago
>This doesn't excuse anything. People in Syria are people too. I don't get this attitude. Yes people in Syria are people too. Canadian steel exporters are people too, why do does their steel need to be tariffed when exported to United States? Why are American farmers punished when they export their dairy products to Canada, are they not people? >The internet is a place where you don't even need to have a nationality. SINCE WHEN?!?! It has never worked that way.

wil421 8y ago

How do you have employees in Syria? It’s a violation of federal sanctions. Edit: In the US, UK, and EU.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
santialbo 8y ago
There's more countries in the world other than the US, you know.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
jeromegv 8y ago
I love when people just assume that everyone in the world just live in the US. Hackernews users are international and he uses Slack.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
mnw21cam 8y ago
Presumably the employer isn't based in the US? (Sorry, but that seems the obvious answer to your question.)
TheGrumpyBrit 8y ago
Which might mean American companies can't employ people in Syria, but what does that have to do with the rest of the world?
- deleted 8y ago

vezycash 8y ago

Steve Jobs' biological father was Syrian.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago

Is the sanctions mentioned on Syria the country, or Syrian nationals? Both?