Crimean residents want to deny access to US services and software
RBC reports that US President Barack Obama issued a decree banning US companies from supplying goods and services in the Crimea. Under the action of the embargo and the IT-sphere. From recent history it is known that in 1997, US President Bill Clinton signed a decree that prohibited the export to Iran of "any goods, technologies or services." At that time, the Internet and electronic communications were not yet widespread, and Clinton hardly imagined that the classic embargo would soon turn into a blockade of a new type for Iran - an “electronic blockade”.
On Friday, December 19, 2014, US President Barack Obama, using exactly the same wording as Clinton 17 years ago, by his decree, imposed an almost complete embargo on the Crimea. But now the consequences of such a decision are clearer: blocking such familiar services as Gmail or Skype on the peninsula, closing access to popular American software - Firefox, Google Chrome or Java - can be one of them.
Obama’s decree “On blocking the property of certain individuals and banning certain transactions in relation to the Crimean region of Ukraine” prohibits “exporting, re-exporting, selling or supplying, directly or indirectly, any goods, services or technologies from the United States or by the United States, no matter where was located in the Crimean region of Ukraine. " The embargo imposes not only a ban on the supply of American goods to Crimea (which do not go there directly anyway), but also a ban on the access of Crimean residents to Internet services and widespread programs and applications - even if they are distributed free of charge. The only exceptions are “humanitarian” positions - medicines and agricultural products.
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Obama’s “Crimean” decree really implies that the embargo extends to Internet services, according to Clif Burns, a lawyer at Washington-based Bryan Cave, specializing in sanctions and export controls: “The fact that Gmail services are free doesn’t change anything.” According to Burns, this is “somewhat unexpected,” given that all other US sanctions programs, including Iranian, allow an exception in the form of free access for civilians to Internet services and communication applications. How technically Google and other companies will enforce the Crimean embargo, the lawyer does not yet know.
For example, within the framework of this decree, Apple may refuse to activate the iPhone in the Crimea. But how it is technically possible to provide such isolation is not entirely clear. Recently, Habré caused a lively discussion by a message from a user that he was disconnected from the most popular freelance exchange Odesk because he lives in Crimea. But this happened because he himself indicated his place of residence in the profile. Attempts to block by ip always contain a certain percentage of errors - despite the fact that these locks are very easy to get by using a VPN, proxy, or Tor browser. Technically non-advanced users will be able to use Russian counterparts of Western services (instead of gmail, Yandex or mail.ru) or download Yandex Browser instead of Firefox. It may even serve as a motivation to switch to secure open source communications, for example, from proprietary Skype to free Tox .
Iran has been under pressure from US economic sanctions since 1979. The ban included, in particular, the supply of high-tech equipment to the country. Over time, the embargo has spread to the supply of software, Internet services and telecommunications technologies.
year 2009
After the 2009 elections, a wave of protests swept the country. It turned out that the inhabitants of the country successfully circumvented the prohibitions. To disseminate information, protesters actively used Twitter, Facebook and other services. At this time, the State Department even turned to the leadership of Twitter with a request to cancel the scheduled maintenance work.
2010
The United States weakened the “electronic curtain” in Iran only in 2010, allowing residents to install free US programs and use free services to communicate on the Internet: browsers, platforms for blogs, e-mail, instant messaging services, and social networks. Washington explained this relaxation with a desire to “ensure the universal right of citizens to freedom of speech and information.”
year 2012
US authorities have opened access to personal communication tools (Google Talk, Microsoft Live, free Skype), personal data stores (Dropbox), browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer), plugins (Flashplayer, Shockwave, Java), and reading software documents (Acrobat Reader). This decision followed the next anti-government demonstrations.
year 2013
In 2013, Washington allowed Iranians to provide paid software for personal communication, such as Skype with a monthly fee, as well as communication devices (smartphones, satellite phones, laptops, tablets), peripherals, antivirus programs, mobile operating systems.
PS: In connection with these events, I thank Meklon for reminding me of my interesting article " Making Google backup or being paranoid about sanctions. Owncloud and other open solutions "
On Friday, December 19, 2014, US President Barack Obama, using exactly the same wording as Clinton 17 years ago, by his decree, imposed an almost complete embargo on the Crimea. But now the consequences of such a decision are clearer: blocking such familiar services as Gmail or Skype on the peninsula, closing access to popular American software - Firefox, Google Chrome or Java - can be one of them.
Obama’s decree “On blocking the property of certain individuals and banning certain transactions in relation to the Crimean region of Ukraine” prohibits “exporting, re-exporting, selling or supplying, directly or indirectly, any goods, services or technologies from the United States or by the United States, no matter where was located in the Crimean region of Ukraine. " The embargo imposes not only a ban on the supply of American goods to Crimea (which do not go there directly anyway), but also a ban on the access of Crimean residents to Internet services and widespread programs and applications - even if they are distributed free of charge. The only exceptions are “humanitarian” positions - medicines and agricultural products.
')
Obama’s “Crimean” decree really implies that the embargo extends to Internet services, according to Clif Burns, a lawyer at Washington-based Bryan Cave, specializing in sanctions and export controls: “The fact that Gmail services are free doesn’t change anything.” According to Burns, this is “somewhat unexpected,” given that all other US sanctions programs, including Iranian, allow an exception in the form of free access for civilians to Internet services and communication applications. How technically Google and other companies will enforce the Crimean embargo, the lawyer does not yet know.
For example, within the framework of this decree, Apple may refuse to activate the iPhone in the Crimea. But how it is technically possible to provide such isolation is not entirely clear. Recently, Habré caused a lively discussion by a message from a user that he was disconnected from the most popular freelance exchange Odesk because he lives in Crimea. But this happened because he himself indicated his place of residence in the profile. Attempts to block by ip always contain a certain percentage of errors - despite the fact that these locks are very easy to get by using a VPN, proxy, or Tor browser. Technically non-advanced users will be able to use Russian counterparts of Western services (instead of gmail, Yandex or mail.ru) or download Yandex Browser instead of Firefox. It may even serve as a motivation to switch to secure open source communications, for example, from proprietary Skype to free Tox .
How the US made an Internet blockade on Iran
Iran has been under pressure from US economic sanctions since 1979. The ban included, in particular, the supply of high-tech equipment to the country. Over time, the embargo has spread to the supply of software, Internet services and telecommunications technologies.
year 2009
After the 2009 elections, a wave of protests swept the country. It turned out that the inhabitants of the country successfully circumvented the prohibitions. To disseminate information, protesters actively used Twitter, Facebook and other services. At this time, the State Department even turned to the leadership of Twitter with a request to cancel the scheduled maintenance work.
2010
The United States weakened the “electronic curtain” in Iran only in 2010, allowing residents to install free US programs and use free services to communicate on the Internet: browsers, platforms for blogs, e-mail, instant messaging services, and social networks. Washington explained this relaxation with a desire to “ensure the universal right of citizens to freedom of speech and information.”
year 2012
US authorities have opened access to personal communication tools (Google Talk, Microsoft Live, free Skype), personal data stores (Dropbox), browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer), plugins (Flashplayer, Shockwave, Java), and reading software documents (Acrobat Reader). This decision followed the next anti-government demonstrations.
year 2013
In 2013, Washington allowed Iranians to provide paid software for personal communication, such as Skype with a monthly fee, as well as communication devices (smartphones, satellite phones, laptops, tablets), peripherals, antivirus programs, mobile operating systems.
PS: In connection with these events, I thank Meklon for reminding me of my interesting article " Making Google backup or being paranoid about sanctions. Owncloud and other open solutions "
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/355768/
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