5 ms·

This is anecdotal and just what I’ve seen but here in Denmark one of the leading Apple retailers and certified repair shops is called Humac. Until recently I di

This is anecdotal and just what I’ve seen but here in Denmark one of the leading Apple retailers and certified repair shops is called Humac. Until recently I didn’t know they had a Russian owner. Now it’s become so much of a problem for them that they’ve edited their website to try and hide it. Companies that don’t severe ties with Russia as fast as possibly seem to be at a very real risk losing their customer bases here in Europe in the wake of the invasion. I can’t even claim to be above it. I cancelled my Netflix subscription when it was aired that they complied with Russian broadcast laws. Something Netflix no longer does by the way. I’ve never had an issue buying products from Russia before, so if I’m not the only one reacting like this, and it seems like my reaction has been amongst the milder here, then you may find some of the answer in that.

lupire 5y ago
Attacking Russian expats/exiles is a disgrace.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Absolutely agreed. At some point it's just ethnoracism, masquerading as virtue-signaling. "How does this action help end the war in Ukraine?" should be the litmus test, and if the logic to get there is too tortured, maybe rethink the action.
  - witrak 5y ago
    Say openly "I don't care about Ukraine"!
  - gran_colombia 5y ago
    The other test is also, "How does this action help prevent Putin's next invasion?" Actions should not only be about applying pressure now, it's about destroying a literally imperialist government's ability to win its wars. So anything which undermines any aspect of the Russian economy is fair game. If we can keep them from training people, good. If we can keep them from raising taxes, good. If we can keep them from feeding their troops, good. If we can usher in strikes over unpaid wages, good. If East European stores stop importing Russian goods, good.
    - throwaway290 5y ago
- tokai 5y ago
  Inventive Retail Group Moscow is not an expat by a long shot.
rleigh 5y ago
I've certainly bought products and services from Russian companies in the past, and would like to do so in the future, but today I did cancel my Kaspersky antivirus subscription. If this escalates further, could Kaspersky's software be weaponised to compromise computer systems worldwide? I would like to hope not, but where do you balance that risk? It's easier to remove it than take the risk. Maybe that's a bit paranoid, but where does the influence of the Russian state end? That wasn't the main reason for my action. The main reason was to cease doing business with a nation behaving in brutal and barbaric ways we have long considered completely and utterly unacceptable, and haven't seen the like of since WWII. There has to be a cost, and this is an additional cost, albeit minor, on top of the existing sanctions. I'll consider re-subscribing when this is all over, perhaps. I might not have been able to renew the subscription in any case, now that making payments is nearly impossible. We haven't even begun to see the full economic cost of the sanctions yet, but from what I can see I suspect it will be significant, way beyond what's been reported so far. Within just a few days of the freezing of the payments systems, commercial contracts can no longer be honoured and are being cancelled wholesale. That business is going to be redirected to other countries, and I'm afraid that's going to be extremely painful for the affected companies, employees and families. And that's including for internal business projects, and is on top of companies which are explicitly pulling out of consumer-facing Russian markets. Whether this will actually effect any change in policy I don't know, I hope it does, but doing nothing would have been worse.
- tsol 5y ago
  >The main reason was to cease doing business with a nation behaving in brutal and barbaric ways we have long considered completely and utterly unacceptable Drone striking middle eastern children didn't do it for you? Something about this rhetoric I keep seeing is just so.. selective. So nakedly biased. If people feel so strongly about Russias actions in Europe, how is it that millions of dead Muslims are inconsequential? That question is rhetorical, I think it's obvious why that really is

lupire 5y ago

Attacking Russian expats/exiles is a disgrace.

ethbr0 5y ago
Absolutely agreed. At some point it's just ethnoracism, masquerading as virtue-signaling. "How does this action help end the war in Ukraine?" should be the litmus test, and if the logic to get there is too tortured, maybe rethink the action.
- witrak 5y ago
  Say openly "I don't care about Ukraine"!
- gran_colombia 5y ago
  The other test is also, "How does this action help prevent Putin's next invasion?" Actions should not only be about applying pressure now, it's about destroying a literally imperialist government's ability to win its wars. So anything which undermines any aspect of the Russian economy is fair game. If we can keep them from training people, good. If we can keep them from raising taxes, good. If we can keep them from feeding their troops, good. If we can usher in strikes over unpaid wages, good. If East European stores stop importing Russian goods, good.
  - throwaway290 5y ago
tokai 5y ago
Inventive Retail Group Moscow is not an expat by a long shot.

rleigh 5y ago

I've certainly bought products and services from Russian companies in the past, and would like to do so in the future, but today I did cancel my Kaspersky antivirus subscription. If this escalates further, could Kaspersky's software be weaponised to compromise computer systems worldwide? I would like to hope not, but where do you balance that risk? It's easier to remove it than take the risk. Maybe that's a bit paranoid, but where does the influence of the Russian state end? That wasn't the main reason for my action. The main reason was to cease doing business with a nation behaving in brutal and barbaric ways we have long considered completely and utterly unacceptable, and haven't seen the like of since WWII. There has to be a cost, and this is an additional cost, albeit minor, on top of the existing sanctions. I'll consider re-subscribing when this is all over, perhaps. I might not have been able to renew the subscription in any case, now that making payments is nearly impossible. We haven't even begun to see the full economic cost of the sanctions yet, but from what I can see I suspect it will be significant, way beyond what's been reported so far. Within just a few days of the freezing of the payments systems, commercial contracts can no longer be honoured and are being cancelled wholesale. That business is going to be redirected to other countries, and I'm afraid that's going to be extremely painful for the affected companies, employees and families. And that's including for internal business projects, and is on top of companies which are explicitly pulling out of consumer-facing Russian markets. Whether this will actually effect any change in policy I don't know, I hope it does, but doing nothing would have been worse.

tsol 5y ago
>The main reason was to cease doing business with a nation behaving in brutal and barbaric ways we have long considered completely and utterly unacceptable Drone striking middle eastern children didn't do it for you? Something about this rhetoric I keep seeing is just so.. selective. So nakedly biased. If people feel so strongly about Russias actions in Europe, how is it that millions of dead Muslims are inconsequential? That question is rhetorical, I think it's obvious why that really is