Cloudflare Akamai – not pulling out of Russia

theregister.com

7 points·verisimi··4 comments

"At least four global consultancies and several major tech firms including Apple, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle have entirely withdrawn from Russia or at least greatly scaled back their operations in the country amid America and Europe severely sanctioning Moscow"

Why is it that "Apple, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle have entirely withdrawn" but that Cloudflare and Akamai are good to stay?

Is it ok to protect Russia's internet, but not sell products? What's the line?

It is interesting to note that Apple, Cisco, Google et al. don't have a method of getting paid by Russians anymore now that Mastercard/Visa and SWIFT have been shut down.

Cloudflare, being paid by page operators outside the Russian Federation, does not face that challenge. Instead, they want more users, for more users directly means more cash for them.

Of course, it is a lot more socially acceptable to claim you're pulling out of Russia to protest the invasion, or to stay in to give people better information. Doesn't make you look like it's all about the money for you.

If you cut the internet, people in Russia will be left only with their own government. I think that this would be counterproductive. I'd be against CF having business with the government or media that spreads fake news and deliberate propaganda, but some of the other resources are vital for innocent people's lives.

Edit: fixed ambiguity.

If they were consistent defenders of net access and free speech, I'd respect that. But I remember they pulled the plug on 8chan, right? So I guess talking on the internet is way worse than invading a country and causing hundreds of civilian deaths, so far. Or maybe Cloudflare considers uncensored speech more dangerous than multiple murder.

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