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It would be trivial for the admin to say that Apple only has to block wechat from the US app store, and trivial for Apple to implement it. There's little to gai

It would be trivial for the admin to say that Apple only has to block wechat from the US app store, and trivial for Apple to implement it. There's little to gain from blocking wechat in china, so I don't think they will cut in their own flesh. Unless there are ways (via VPN etc) to temporarily switch a phone to the Chinese appstore and install wechat for a US phone this way.

analyst74 6y ago
Would it be legal for American companies to ignore American laws on foreign land? It doesn't sound plausible
- gruez 6y ago
  Can't you set up some sort of foreign subsidiary to do it for you? Apple already uses this model for storing icloud data in china, to comply with chinese laws.
- adrr 6y ago
  I am willing to bet the App Store is an Ireland based entity with contracts back to Apple to provide service aka generate expenses for Apple's US entity. That way Apple can book all the app store revenue in Ireland.
  - valuearb 6y ago
    I am willing to bet you don’t understand US corporate tax laws and accounting rules.
- valuearb 6y ago
  A presidential order is not a law, and if unconstitutional like this one, never has to be obeyed anywhere.
  - reaperducer 6y ago
    never has to be obeyed anywhere That's not how it works. It has to be obeyed until invalidated by a court. You can't just tell a law enforcement agency, "I know the president said x, but that's unconstitutional." Law enforcement is not lawyers, or constitutional scholars. That's for the judiciary to sort out.
    - valuearb 6y ago
      You have it backwards, law enforcement has to go to court to attempt to have WeChat removed from Apple devices. They can’t just confiscate random iPhones to scrape it off their storage, and they aren’t bursting into Apple HQ to force its removal from their servers.
- sbahr001 6y ago
  It depends on how intense the law/sanctions are. Example, no US company can trade/do business with Iran,even indirectly. The Trump administration also made it difficult for other countries to do business with Iran, makes it almost impossible for any other country to business with them.Hence, Iran's economy is in the toilet, and it can only trade with Russia, China and the middle eastern countries they have high-influence over(which are typically poor). Their oil can be sold to western countries, due to OPEC, but money that ends up in foreign accounts are inaccessible. Plus, most of Trump's policies of late with China has to do with the new Silk Road. The new Silk Road is seeing China expand(land grabs) into other countries, and take over strategic points. Since, a lot of China's economy is from foreign trade, the more US makes trade difficult the harder it is for China to expand. Time, will tell if this strategy works or not, when China becomes the #1 superpower/economy in the world(speculation, but is looking more likely).
  - FillardMillmore 6y ago
    For anyone who didn't know what was meant by 'the new Silk Road': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative
    - sbahr001 6y ago
      Thank you!
- ralph84 6y ago
  People regularly go to prison for violating US trade sanctions. The majority of Apple's employees including all of their executives are in the US and easy to find. I doubt any of them are volunteering to test the boundaries of US trade sanctions.
PeterisP 6y ago
While the administration could say that Apple only has to block wechat from the US app store, it's not what they have done and they have not indicated that they want to go that way; the currently announced prohibition, as far as I understand, would prohibit Apple to support WeChat anywhere no matter if it allows installing WeChat for a US phone this way or not.
- golem14 6y ago
  ... because the current admin is not exactly in the habit of thinking ahead. I see no reason they intentionally want to hurt the goose laying golden eggs. I’d be happy to learn valid reasons why though.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - DataWorker 6y ago
    You just described the past few decades of the whole of the DC elites thinking about China. The goose is a Trojan horse as any idiot can see. Sell out the future of democracy to keep apple stock price soaring. Short sighted indeed.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      Did you watch the Senate hearing with the tech CEOs? Half were more concerned about “big tech being mean to conservatives” than they were about doing anything “for Democracy”. And then you had the one representative grilling Zuckerberg about Twitter’s policies.
    - golem14 6y ago
      How is letting Apple running localized chat apps in China selling out our future democracy?
    - Barrin92 6y ago
      >The goose is a Trojan horse the moral of the story was that the Greeks brought the horse to Troy, I'm unsure how forcing Apple to exist the Chinese market helps the US?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
draw_down 6y ago
Whenever an engineer (we're on HN so I'm assuming) uses the word "trivial", my spidey senses start tingling.

analyst74 6y ago

Would it be legal for American companies to ignore American laws on foreign land? It doesn't sound plausible

gruez 6y ago
Can't you set up some sort of foreign subsidiary to do it for you? Apple already uses this model for storing icloud data in china, to comply with chinese laws.
adrr 6y ago
I am willing to bet the App Store is an Ireland based entity with contracts back to Apple to provide service aka generate expenses for Apple's US entity. That way Apple can book all the app store revenue in Ireland.
- valuearb 6y ago
  I am willing to bet you don’t understand US corporate tax laws and accounting rules.
valuearb 6y ago
A presidential order is not a law, and if unconstitutional like this one, never has to be obeyed anywhere.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  never has to be obeyed anywhere That's not how it works. It has to be obeyed until invalidated by a court. You can't just tell a law enforcement agency, "I know the president said x, but that's unconstitutional." Law enforcement is not lawyers, or constitutional scholars. That's for the judiciary to sort out.
  - valuearb 6y ago
    You have it backwards, law enforcement has to go to court to attempt to have WeChat removed from Apple devices. They can’t just confiscate random iPhones to scrape it off their storage, and they aren’t bursting into Apple HQ to force its removal from their servers.
sbahr001 6y ago
It depends on how intense the law/sanctions are. Example, no US company can trade/do business with Iran,even indirectly. The Trump administration also made it difficult for other countries to do business with Iran, makes it almost impossible for any other country to business with them.Hence, Iran's economy is in the toilet, and it can only trade with Russia, China and the middle eastern countries they have high-influence over(which are typically poor). Their oil can be sold to western countries, due to OPEC, but money that ends up in foreign accounts are inaccessible. Plus, most of Trump's policies of late with China has to do with the new Silk Road. The new Silk Road is seeing China expand(land grabs) into other countries, and take over strategic points. Since, a lot of China's economy is from foreign trade, the more US makes trade difficult the harder it is for China to expand. Time, will tell if this strategy works or not, when China becomes the #1 superpower/economy in the world(speculation, but is looking more likely).
- FillardMillmore 6y ago
  For anyone who didn't know what was meant by 'the new Silk Road': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative
  - sbahr001 6y ago
    Thank you!
ralph84 6y ago
People regularly go to prison for violating US trade sanctions. The majority of Apple's employees including all of their executives are in the US and easy to find. I doubt any of them are volunteering to test the boundaries of US trade sanctions.

PeterisP 6y ago

While the administration could say that Apple only has to block wechat from the US app store, it's not what they have done and they have not indicated that they want to go that way; the currently announced prohibition, as far as I understand, would prohibit Apple to support WeChat anywhere no matter if it allows installing WeChat for a US phone this way or not.

golem14 6y ago
... because the current admin is not exactly in the habit of thinking ahead. I see no reason they intentionally want to hurt the goose laying golden eggs. I’d be happy to learn valid reasons why though.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- DataWorker 6y ago
  You just described the past few decades of the whole of the DC elites thinking about China. The goose is a Trojan horse as any idiot can see. Sell out the future of democracy to keep apple stock price soaring. Short sighted indeed.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    Did you watch the Senate hearing with the tech CEOs? Half were more concerned about “big tech being mean to conservatives” than they were about doing anything “for Democracy”. And then you had the one representative grilling Zuckerberg about Twitter’s policies.
  - golem14 6y ago
    How is letting Apple running localized chat apps in China selling out our future democracy?
  - Barrin92 6y ago
    >The goose is a Trojan horse the moral of the story was that the Greeks brought the horse to Troy, I'm unsure how forcing Apple to exist the Chinese market helps the US?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

draw_down 6y ago

Whenever an engineer (we're on HN so I'm assuming) uses the word "trivial", my spidey senses start tingling.