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GitLab can’t do nothing about it, and whining will not help. Everything is on government level.
by monkin 6y ago
GitLab can’t do nothing about it, and whining will not help. Everything is on government level.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- arkitaip 6y agoWhat a defeatist attitude. What you unkindly label as whining, I see as advocacy for a good cause. Blocking access to gitlab does nothing but strengthen the autocracy in Iran and prevents Iranian devs from making a living and supporting their communities.
- monkin 6y agoPutting post like that is nothing more than whining, as it doesn’t change anything. Want to do something better? Write some petitions, make a campaign or anything other, but bashing company that have to comply with US laws is just stupid. Sorry if this is unkindly and defeatist for you.
- joshmanders 6y agoExactly, want to do something? Complain to your government representatives, not Gitlab.
- dvtrn 6y agoSecond order thinking means both tactics have value and merit, right? If not, I am open to hearing why.
- dessant 6y agoThey are not whining, and GitLab could have notified them about the account suspension, and sent them a link with their archived account data to download.
- dharmab 6y agoNo, they could not have. The law is very clear that absolutely no business activity is allowed. Source: I implemented part of the sanctions compliance for a major tech company’s platform (and saw other projects get sunset because they didn’t implement it)
- dessant 6y agoGitLab has been responding to private support requests from Iranians regarding the account closures, isn't that service considered business activity? Btw, doesn't blocking by IP address go beyond what is required by law, since only Iranian residents are subject to sanctions? Would preemptively restricting accounts that have logged in from an Iranian IP address and asking for proof of residence break the law?
- dharmab 6y ago> Btw, doesn't blocking by IP address go beyond what is required by law, since only Iranian residents are subject to sanctions? The penalties for violating sanctions are so severe that it is worth the risk of potentially blocking legitimate customers. > Would preemptively restricting accounts that have logged in from an Iranian IP address and asking for proof of residence break the law? It would be extremely expensive and in a literal sense not worth the time.
- goku99 6y agoJust of clarification, did they take down the project of all Iranian nationals? or simply block access to GitLab from Users with IP from Iran? Would it be possible to hide their identity, say tor or VPN?
- input_sh 6y agoCan't speak for GitLab specifically, but I have spoken to Persians living abroad that had their credit cards cancelled, bank accounts frozen, and SIM cards simply stopping to work. One of them hasn't lived in Iran in two decades and denounced their citizenship half a decade ago. Businesses don't care. It's easier for them to have a couple of false positives than it is to deal with the possible consequences.
- nix23 6y ago>GitLab can’t do nothing about it Change your Hosting to a non US Company is what you can do.
- da39a3ee 6y agoOf course GitLab can do something about it. It happened, as their tweet says, because they changed vendor. So it sounds like they may be able to work around it by changing their hosting choices. Also, this may come as a shock to you, but when a law is sufficiently unjust, there can come a time to disobey the law. In this case, disobeying the law would not directly risk anyone's safety, lowering the barrier somewhat.
- ahadinyoto 6y agoNot whining. Bringing this into our attention is important, especially for those who live outside the US. I've been naively trusting the US-based services as always open and free, as in freedom. It's not. Any political move may mean my data can get frozen out and become unreachable anytime. A real wake up call.
- Aeolun 6y agoGitlab can either: - Not be a US company - Not comply with US sanctions - Not do business in the US There’s options. Just because they don’t want to take them doesn’t mean they’re not there.
- monkin 6y agoLOL. That’s not how world and/or business works, but good try thought.