9 ms·

I was surprised by this, until I realized that one of Namecheap's offices is in downtown Kharkiv. Today, the Russian military bombed Kharkiv with cluster muniti

by lwneal 5y ago

I was surprised by this, until I realized that one of Namecheap's offices is in downtown Kharkiv. Today, the Russian military bombed Kharkiv with cluster munitions [1]. Civilians were killed, possibly including children [2]. Given the severity of the situation, I'm surprised that Namecheap has not opted for more drastic measures- for example, redirecting Russian web traffic. Simply transferring Russian businesses to other providers might be among the less-drastic options they considered. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e42F1V3AOq4&t=150s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e42F1V3AOq4&t=150s [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/28/kharkiv-rockets-shelling-russia-ukraine-war/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/28/kharkiv-rock...

propagandist 5y ago
That does need indeed put it into perspective. This was a decision made by someone who has heard horror stories and seen their cheery teammates turned into shells of themselves.
aluminum96 5y ago
> the Russian military bombed Kharkiv with cluster munitions That's a war crime, right? I hope that the field commanders who carried out these orders are brought to justice.
- ThunderSizzle 5y ago
  - uncomputation 5y ago
    I assume you’re trying to be edgy and blunt, but it misses the broader point of human rights violations and international action against Russia and doesn’t offer any further insight or conversation beyond “whatever dude nothing really matters anyways.” If you want to make a deeper point how Western “international” organizations like NATO and the UN are also biased and cover up their own members’ atrocities, then make it. As it stands, Russia may be committing war crimes for which it should be held accountable.
    - modzu 5y ago
      sorry, where exactly is julian assange?
    - ThunderSizzle 5y ago
      I'm being blunt (not edgy). A crime is a crime because a judge says its a crime and setences the criminal, barring natural law. In the case of war crimes, the judge is the victor, and victor tends to decide their efforts were justified and necessary, while their enemies were unjustified and unnecessary. If Russia wins, NATO does nothing, who's running the war crime trials? You can't hold those trials without getting an unconditional surrender, and you aren't getting that without a full out war, and you won't see that not escalate into nuclear war. You want to hold Russia accountable? Then that means NATO needs to get involved and win. Otherwise, it's just words that Putin won't care about, because he won and the world moves on.
- 07d046 5y ago
  Unfortunately not. The majority of countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but this doesn't include Russia, or Ukraine, or the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munition...
- lm28469 5y ago
  > That's a war crime, right? There are videos of Russian troops killing unarmed Ukrainian civilians online, war crimes are committed since day 1
walrusfromspace 5y ago
While there are treaties intended to limit the usage of cluster bombs the Russian Federation is not a signatory on any of those. Neither is the United States for that matter.
- chadash 5y ago
  so dropping cluster bombs on civilian population centers is ok if you didn’t sign an agreement not to?
  - ThunderSizzle 5y ago
    It's okay as long as you win the war. The winner won't find themselves guilty of war crimes, but the loser will be.
    - vmception 5y ago
      Just a passing thought: the same incentives exist for extremist terrorist groups, if they win they achieve sovereign immunity absolving all past indiscretions, and maybe a cool new emoji in the next iOS update. when people have nothing to lose they have all to win.
    - rootusrootus 5y ago
      That's only true if you win the war against those who would judge you. Ukraine isn't the judge.
  - science4sail 5y ago
    Yep, same with landmines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty
  - milansm 5y ago
    That’s how the world works, unfortunately. NATO did the same thing in Yugoslavia back in 99. No one was held responsible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C5%A1_cluster_bombing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C5%A1_cluster_bombing
ip26 5y ago
They don't just have one office there; elsewhere in this thread, numbers indicate Namecheap is ~95% Ukrainian by headcount.
causality0 5y ago
Indeed. I would've been sorely tempted to post all Russian customer information including payment details to Ukrainian social media to exploit as they are able. Until this is over I regard every single entity inside the borders of the Russian Federation as persona non grata. Public, private, living or dead. I'm not about to be the guy who postured about legality and politeness when it turns out some of my customers were history's next SS.
- berkes 5y ago
  That is a terrible idea. As it will certainly out some NGO's, protesters and opposition who are trying to change Russia from within.
- waffle_maniac 5y ago

by lwneal 5y ago

propagandist 5y ago

That does need indeed put it into perspective. This was a decision made by someone who has heard horror stories and seen their cheery teammates turned into shells of themselves.

aluminum96 5y ago

> the Russian military bombed Kharkiv with cluster munitions That's a war crime, right? I hope that the field commanders who carried out these orders are brought to justice.

ThunderSizzle 5y ago
- uncomputation 5y ago
  I assume you’re trying to be edgy and blunt, but it misses the broader point of human rights violations and international action against Russia and doesn’t offer any further insight or conversation beyond “whatever dude nothing really matters anyways.” If you want to make a deeper point how Western “international” organizations like NATO and the UN are also biased and cover up their own members’ atrocities, then make it. As it stands, Russia may be committing war crimes for which it should be held accountable.
  - modzu 5y ago
    sorry, where exactly is julian assange?
  - ThunderSizzle 5y ago
    I'm being blunt (not edgy). A crime is a crime because a judge says its a crime and setences the criminal, barring natural law. In the case of war crimes, the judge is the victor, and victor tends to decide their efforts were justified and necessary, while their enemies were unjustified and unnecessary. If Russia wins, NATO does nothing, who's running the war crime trials? You can't hold those trials without getting an unconditional surrender, and you aren't getting that without a full out war, and you won't see that not escalate into nuclear war. You want to hold Russia accountable? Then that means NATO needs to get involved and win. Otherwise, it's just words that Putin won't care about, because he won and the world moves on.
07d046 5y ago
Unfortunately not. The majority of countries have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but this doesn't include Russia, or Ukraine, or the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munition...
lm28469 5y ago
> That's a war crime, right? There are videos of Russian troops killing unarmed Ukrainian civilians online, war crimes are committed since day 1

walrusfromspace 5y ago

While there are treaties intended to limit the usage of cluster bombs the Russian Federation is not a signatory on any of those. Neither is the United States for that matter.

chadash 5y ago
so dropping cluster bombs on civilian population centers is ok if you didn’t sign an agreement not to?
- ThunderSizzle 5y ago
  It's okay as long as you win the war. The winner won't find themselves guilty of war crimes, but the loser will be.
  - vmception 5y ago
    Just a passing thought: the same incentives exist for extremist terrorist groups, if they win they achieve sovereign immunity absolving all past indiscretions, and maybe a cool new emoji in the next iOS update. when people have nothing to lose they have all to win.
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    That's only true if you win the war against those who would judge you. Ukraine isn't the judge.
- science4sail 5y ago
  Yep, same with landmines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty
- milansm 5y ago
  That’s how the world works, unfortunately. NATO did the same thing in Yugoslavia back in 99. No one was held responsible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C5%A1_cluster_bombing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C5%A1_cluster_bombing

ip26 5y ago

They don't just have one office there; elsewhere in this thread, numbers indicate Namecheap is ~95% Ukrainian by headcount.

causality0 5y ago

Indeed. I would've been sorely tempted to post all Russian customer information including payment details to Ukrainian social media to exploit as they are able. Until this is over I regard every single entity inside the borders of the Russian Federation as persona non grata. Public, private, living or dead. I'm not about to be the guy who postured about legality and politeness when it turns out some of my customers were history's next SS.

berkes 5y ago
That is a terrible idea. As it will certainly out some NGO's, protesters and opposition who are trying to change Russia from within.
waffle_maniac 5y ago