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[flagged] US Government allows Russian citizens to use and pay for internet services (treasury.gov)
20 points by secondary_op 22 days ago | hide | past | favorite | 10 comments



There is new interpretation of existing executive orders that prohibit US citizens from providing anyone in Russia with

IT Support and Cloud Services: Any IT support or cloud-based services for covered software (like ERP or CAD) to Russian entities are prohibited.

Consultancy and Design: Services related to IT consultancy, design, or custom software development for Russian companies are not allowed.

https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/added/2024-06-12

So Uncle Sam allows only to consume and degrade and disallows to create and prosper. Should Russian citizens comply ? Hell no.


> Should Russian citizens comply ? Hell no

OFAC compliance is not on the citizens but the service providers.


I read this as giving more room for backbone internet providers to maintain business relationships & connections.

Providing for Russian consumer access to US internet service, there might be even more relevant services.


Why wouldn’t they? Of course it will be COMPLETELY monitored. Anything interesting happens, the AI will compile a report to be looked over by an agent.


Good. Now keep an eye on who and where uses it so that the next time an American company finds its data hidden behind ransomware, we can do the same with their stuff.

EDIT:

Downvote all you want, but the fact is, a lot of those operations act out of the Russian Federation with authorization by Putin's government to disrupt American life while earning some sweet crypto in return, helping offset the effects of sanctions. They've done it to utilities, hospitals, financial institutions, etc. without any regard for the collateral damage it causes to American civilians. This won't stop until they pay a price for it.


[flagged]


> There cannot be any concern for the consequences, as NATO expansion to Russian borders had no concerns for the security of Russian people. If Americans don’t like the consequences of the actions of their government, they can vote in another administration.

The security of the Russian people was never at risk. "NATO is a threat" was not an issue from December 1991 to February 2022. As an American who was born in 1991, I can tell you, during my lifetime there has never been a serious discussion of invasion of Russia in the US. Why would there be? We were very happy when the Cold War ended. We don't want to go back to the days of nuclear sabre rattling. It's well understood by everyone in the US that such a conflict would simply degrade into a humanity-ending thermonuclear exchange. There's a reason why the American government waited over a year to authorize the Ukrainian use of American weapons to target Russian soil.

The idea that NATO would invade Russia after 1991 is another strawman invented by the oligarchs of Russia. It gives the Russian people another supposed threat to focus on instead of the fact that most of them are impoverished by Western standards and that their government is heavily authoritarian and openly works with the bratva. If Boris Guyevitch is focused on the possibility of getting to fight in another Great Patriotic War, he's not focused on how the oligarchs rob him blind and oppress anyone who dares to fix the troubles of Russian society.

Do not buy into it. There's a reason the US drastically relaxed its defensive posture in Europe after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

> As a European I’m also going to share that we have had enough of Americans. Go home. We don’t want you on our land.

That seems to directly contradict the official position of about 31 countries in Europe: the NATO member states and one country that very, very badly wants to be in NATO. That country is interested because of a gross violation of its sovereignty by Russia that has genocidal aims. Hell, the latest two members joined in direct response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I suppose if Europeans don't like it they can vote in another administration, which is something the people of Russia very explicitly are not allowed to do.


While you may be right, it’s just a ‘may’ and kinda fits in with the narrative our Western Governments want its citizens to think like. It’s just all propaganda right now, take it all with a shake of salt until there’s evidence.


Sanctions apply both ways, one side more than the other.

policy makers pretend the intended side suffers most. Or do they still believe that?


amusing, acknowledging a redundant restriction

OFAC office is so understaffed and underutilized


West vs. Rest, classic :)




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