Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

54 pointsby angeldarover 10 years ago

Hi. I am not the writer, and english is not my primary language, so sorry if there are some errors in my text. I just want to tell you a little story about me and google.I am living in Crimea. Maybe you know where it is, and the events of the last year, may be not, but this post is not about it. It is not about politics, it's about technology.Due to the sunctions of the usa government - usa companies must to stop import and export of tech products and services with Crimea. Blocked Apple app store, blocked Google play market, blocked Odesk - it hurts, but I was ok with it.But google has really pissed me.Google has blocked: Android documentation - www.android-developers.com - 403. Golang - https://golang.org/ - 403. Angular.js - Web page is not available. But works while I am using Tor. Google app engine - 403, now I can't use Udacity, and other services that uses GAE. Maybe some companies do not even know that their users cant get to websites. Chromium - 403, Google Code with documentation and all the projects unrelated to Google - 403. And so on.Yes, I know how to use Tor and i2p. But I don't see any reason to use google powered technologies and invest my time, as developer, in them any more.So, I have a question - why do we need such an OPEN technologies, that can be BLOCKED tomorrow? Today - it's me, but who knows what will happen tomorrow, and which countries or companies will decide to block their, so called open, tools that you use.I'm sorry that this is happening and I really believe that the Internet and technology should be above politics. At least technologies, which are presented as open. I made a conclusion for myself about corporations, technologies and tools I will choose to learn and work with tomorrow. I hope my message will cause someone else to think about it.Thank you.

15 comments

infinitesoupover 10 years ago

Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine...Section 1. (a) The following are prohibited:...(iii) the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of any goods, services, or technology to the Crimea region of Ukraine;See: <a href="http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/ukraine_eo4.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/D...</a>

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smnrchrdsover 10 years ago

We've been suffering this for ages in Iran. But in retrospect, it has been a blessing more than a curse. For example, until a year ago, Android Market and later Play Store were unavailable in Iran. Even now, many (most?) popular apps are unavailable for Iranians, e.g Facebook, Messenger, etc. This has given rise to a series of new start-ups, aiming to fill the void left by major multinational corporations. Right now more than 90% of the smartphones in Iran are android-based and most people have Cafe Bazaar (Play Store alternative) installed on their phones. The same thing with Amazon and Digikala.It's not as good for the consumers, but it has made it a very good time to be an entrepreneur in Iran. I wonder if it was not for all the sanctions and censorship, would we have what we have now.But as I said it on HN elsewhere[1], please stop using App Engine for your projects. Simplenote, Udacity, etc. have been inaccessible to Iranians not because they chose to, but because they use Google as their hosting platform.[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7142783" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7142783</a>

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dmytrishover 10 years ago

<pre><code> the Internet and technology should be above politics. </code></pre> - I am not sure about this, sometimes politics threatens the Internet itself. Putin clearly considers the Internet to be "a CIA project" and Russia is heading to its own walled network where you won't need Google technology anyway. Haven't Github and Youtube been blocked in Russia already? Even more, don't be surprised if one day you are arrested for mere fact of using Tor/i2p. So don't blame Google much, it's what Crimeans have chosen themselves: mirage of the "rich" and "mighty" state over freedom and democracy.

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krschultzover 10 years ago

Sanctions can be a bitch. But they're better than people shooting at each other. Sorry that you are on the receiving end of it.The Android documentation has always been a point of consternation for me. As far as I'm aware, it is not open source. It might be licensed as such, but I haven't been able to find a repo to clone that has all of the docs in it, or more importantly a place to submit back patches. You an open issues against the docs on AOSP, but it would be nice if they would just take gerritt changes for it. That would help everyone, and then in your case you could just clone it and have a local copy.

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fndrplayer13over 10 years ago

Yeah that sounds incredibly frustrating and unfair from a personal perspective. I wonder though if Google is legally compelled to do this by the US government or if they've voluntarily agreed to block these sites with the purpose of avoiding any questioning?I think the question (I am not a lawyer) revolves around exporting of goods/technologies. It feels wrong to me to consider a website `resident` anywhere and thus subject to export embargos. I suppose that code lives on US servers, though? Hmm.

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sidcoolover 10 years ago

Apple has done the same. It's not their call, they have to follow Government rules.

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atmosxover 10 years ago

I'm all with you, but to tell you the truth I don't know realistically at which point to draw the line between Google and the US Government. After all Google is (primarily) a US based corporation. So if their government impose them to shut down access from crimea, how much choice does google have?I'm happy that at least Tor works for you. I might use a router to route all traffic through tor, pay for a VPN service or setup my own OpenVPN server.From what I understand you can access websites like Digital Ocean or Linode or any other US corporation and I also assume you can purchase services online with CC from crimean/russian banks.

lbotosover 10 years ago

Here's an interesting question. How do sanctions apply to Multi-national companies? Is there a "home country" designation or some such thing? Google has offices in Many countries.I guess I'm asking, what makes them a "US" company vs. a US/HK/GB Company?

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amiroucheover 10 years ago

Google is not OPEN technology. Tor is.

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rayinerover 10 years ago

To me, the bigger issue is the move to take things you control (your software on your own computers) to what you don't control (cloud services). Why should my ability to write a letter he dependent on what happens to some company in a different country?

bumpcatover 10 years ago

If it's true, then this is so unfair that I literally wanna scream... Android, Golang, Angular.js, Chromium, are all open-source. Why the hell they are blocking access is beyond me. Are they really forced to do this???

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pskittleover 10 years ago

I'm sorry you cant access udacity. use vpn or get hola (a free chrome plugin)

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mbzover 10 years ago

I think you meant "free" by "open". In that case, just remember that "if something is free you are the product".

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chippyover 10 years ago

>"It is not about politics, it's about technology."I think that it probably is about a technology company acting because of politics.

viktorsovietovover 10 years ago

well, google's not your bitch, you know

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