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> Is Slack legally required to do this? Yes, absolutely. Breaking sanctions is not just illegal, it's a criminal offense. There have been sanctions against Ira

> Is Slack legally required to do this? Yes, absolutely. Breaking sanctions is not just illegal, it's a criminal offense. There have been sanctions against Iran since roughly when Trump withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [1] in May of this year. The CFO of Huawei was arrested in Canada per a request by the US because of their dealings with Iran [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Ac... [2]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-05/huawei-cfo-arrested-in-canada-as-u-s-seeks-her-extradition https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-05/huawei-cf...

aaomidi 8y ago
The CFO was arrested in relation to Iran but not because of it. She was arrested because she lied to banks and sold American made technology to Iran. Slack is actually not required to do this as IM applications are exempt from sanctions.
- briandear 8y ago
  Is Slack just an IM application?
- jkaplowitz 8y ago
  The wording of the exemption applies only to personal communications and requires the service to be available at no cost to the user. There are plausible readings that Slack goes well beyond the exemption. Still, even though the sanctions rules may apply, I'm glad Slack is reversing their overbroad application of these rules.
- jldugger 8y ago
  If a company like IBM or Amazon were to adopt slack, would that potentially require Slack to ban things? Both have government contracts, and could potentially export sensitive software to Iran this way accidentally.
dogecoinbase 8y ago
Nope -- the stipulations of the licensing policy on Internet freedom in Iran are still in effect: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/internet_freedom.pdf https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/... See specific of the current application of the rules here: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Sanctions/Pages/faq_iran.aspx#gld1 https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Sanctions/Page... "Specifically, section 560.540 of the ITR authorizes the exportation from the United States or by U.S. persons, wherever located, to persons in Iran of services incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet, such as instant messaging, chat and email, social networking, sharing of photos and movies, web browsing, and blogging, provided that such services are publicly available at no cost to the user."
- jkaplowitz 8y ago
  That says "personal communications". Slack is aimed at businesses, not personal use. It also requires "no cost to the user." Very well may not exempt their business model, though some room for argument exists. Of course, any sanctions regime that does still apply wouldn't require the collateral damage of Slack's excessive initial ban.
  - nulbyte 8y ago
    Corporations and other business entities are persons. Also, the license applies to services for a fee. Also, exchanging information isn't embargoed.
    - jkaplowitz 8y ago
      The "corporations are people" thing is exaggerated in a lot of understandings, and I doubt corporations are deemed capable of "personal communications". Still, personal communications might be found to cover the communication among persons at the companies. But Slack does support a lot more than just people chatting with people, like bot and app/SaaS integrations. Those clearly aren't personal communications and frequently accomplish more than just exchanging information. Good catch that the license does have provisions for fee-based services as well. However, the person I was replying to quoted the one for no-cost services, so that's what I focused on in my reply.

aaomidi 8y ago

The CFO was arrested in relation to Iran but not because of it. She was arrested because she lied to banks and sold American made technology to Iran. Slack is actually not required to do this as IM applications are exempt from sanctions.

briandear 8y ago
Is Slack just an IM application?
jkaplowitz 8y ago
The wording of the exemption applies only to personal communications and requires the service to be available at no cost to the user. There are plausible readings that Slack goes well beyond the exemption. Still, even though the sanctions rules may apply, I'm glad Slack is reversing their overbroad application of these rules.
jldugger 8y ago
If a company like IBM or Amazon were to adopt slack, would that potentially require Slack to ban things? Both have government contracts, and could potentially export sensitive software to Iran this way accidentally.

dogecoinbase 8y ago

Nope -- the stipulations of the licensing policy on Internet freedom in Iran are still in effect: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/internet_freedom.pdf https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/... See specific of the current application of the rules here: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Sanctions/Pages/faq_iran.aspx#gld1 https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Sanctions/Page... "Specifically, section 560.540 of the ITR authorizes the exportation from the United States or by U.S. persons, wherever located, to persons in Iran of services incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet, such as instant messaging, chat and email, social networking, sharing of photos and movies, web browsing, and blogging, provided that such services are publicly available at no cost to the user."

jkaplowitz 8y ago
That says "personal communications". Slack is aimed at businesses, not personal use. It also requires "no cost to the user." Very well may not exempt their business model, though some room for argument exists. Of course, any sanctions regime that does still apply wouldn't require the collateral damage of Slack's excessive initial ban.
- nulbyte 8y ago
  Corporations and other business entities are persons. Also, the license applies to services for a fee. Also, exchanging information isn't embargoed.
  - jkaplowitz 8y ago
    The "corporations are people" thing is exaggerated in a lot of understandings, and I doubt corporations are deemed capable of "personal communications". Still, personal communications might be found to cover the communication among persons at the companies. But Slack does support a lot more than just people chatting with people, like bot and app/SaaS integrations. Those clearly aren't personal communications and frequently accomplish more than just exchanging information. Good catch that the license does have provisions for fee-based services as well. However, the person I was replying to quoted the one for no-cost services, so that's what I focused on in my reply.