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Comment by bayandin | Hacker News Reader

It looks related to an organisation he linked to https://github.com/YADRO-KNS. All its repos and repos of other people from it are archived as well.

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/...

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Nice job, more info here https://sanctions.nazk.gov.ua/en/sanction-company/6813/

If Amelkin works for YADRO, could he not know his company got sanctioned? It's pretty big thing to happen, and judging from his LinkedIn comments, he knows it. Yet he writes the suspension was "without any explanation whatsoever". I think he knows the explanation, he doesn't like it but it's no mystery to anyone.

Spot on here. The CHANGELOG has comments for YADRO product ids.

> https://github.com/ipmitool/ipmitool/search?q=YADRO

It looks like YADRO is making server hardware. IPMI is just enumerating server hardware in the linked GitHub.

The author works for YADRO:

https://ru.linkedin.com/in/aamelkin

Microsoft has to shut off his account due to his relationship with a company officially sanctioned by the US government.

It's ironic you link to his (apparently not suspended) profile on LinkedIn, which is also owned by Microsoft.

I was curious if Microsoft perhaps had done some "offshore" shenanigans but nope, it resolves to an IP within their netrange

    $ host ru.linkedin.com.
    ru.linkedin.com is an alias for cctld.linkedin.com.
    cctld.linkedin.com is an alias for mix.linkedin.com.
    mix.linkedin.com is an alias for any-na-lx.mix.linkedin.com.
    any-na-lx.mix.linkedin.com has address 108.174.10.24
    any-na-lx.mix.linkedin.com has IPv6 address 2620:109:c002::6cae:a18
    $ whois 108.174.10.24
    CIDR:           108.174.0.0/20
    NetName:        LINKEDIN
    NetHandle:      NET-108-174-0-0-1
    Organization:   LinkedIn Corporation (LINKE-1)
    OrgName:        LinkedIn Corporation
    OrgId:          LINKE-1
    Address:        1000 W Maude Ave
    City:           Sunnyvale
    StateProv:      CA
    PostalCode:     94085

maybe they can't prove the LinkedIn profile was created by the natural person, but the commit email ... or payment details? ... something something

Linkedin is another BU and their actions are not going to be coordinated with GH, so they may be determining what to do about profiles like his, and about ru.linkedin.com in general.

Or linkedin may simply not be important enough for the US government to care about. Nobody is going to hold them accountable for inconsistency, and they only really care about is actions towards achieving the effect they desire. It is all implemented by humans and not a computer problem. At some level of detail they'll stop caring because like everyone else employed in this country, they're too busy with more important things.

Since Amelkin personally is not sanctioned, keeping his page up is likely OK. Having a corporate page for YADRO probably wouldn't be.

Maybe related, but maybe not: Microsoft has a stake in a competing server company (Dell).

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/dell-returns-to-private-owners...

Microsoft has no choice here, stake or not stake - providing services to a sanctioned entity is illegal.

That's very interesting: I'm not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, it aligns with my ethics to shut-down the operations of sanctioned companies to minimize their harm. On the other,

1. Ethics are relative

2. Should open-source contributions be dependent on such ethics?

On (1), I'm sure non-Americans would have ethical qualms with our Defense companies. Would I be okay with the hypothetical of letting a non-American company stop open-source development on a useful Lockheed Martin tool?

On (2), I have personally seen open-source contributions from sanctioned companies, e.g. Megvii. Is it fair to ban those employees (who may simply be unwilling to go through the hoops of immigration)?

As an aside, perhaps this repo could move to GNU Savannah?

> On one hand, it aligns with my ethics to shut-down the operations of sanctioned companies to minimize their harm.

Only if the sanctions are warranted by ethics. Which they are not, in this case - there isn't anything online I can find which supports sanctioning this specific company.

This is a repeating pattern in this conflict: even without substantial or even circumstantial proof that a russian company benefits from or at least tolerates the war, in the event Ukraine tells us to sanction the respective company, we have to obey or else.

What do we expect? Should all russian companies shut down because of the war? Would this be what we expect from all western companies, like when we attacked Iraq because of Weapons of Mass Destruction?

This is slowly really getting ridiculous. Even more so if this opens up an attack vector from even more non-friendlies because of an orphaned github account.

Every Russian company needs to be sanctioned. Especially a tech one.

Sad you're being down voted.

I feel bad for Russian companies being sanctioned, but I feel worse for Ukranians defending their country.

The best thing for Russian citizens is also full withdrawal from Ukrainian territory. Generally speaking, any nonviolent actions which speed that outcome are inherently good for Russian civilians, who will be drastically better off once this war has ended.

As seen elsewhere in these HN comments: https://sanctions.nazk.gov.ua/en/sanction-company/6813/

> Putin has publicly stated his concerns about Russia’s access to microelectronics

> To further increase pressure on Russia’s electronics sector, the Department of State is designating numerous advanced Russian electronics entities.

> Limited Liability Company Yadro Fab Dubna is implementing a project to create Russia’s largest modern production plant for the production of circuit boards

> there isn't anything online I can find which supports sanctioning this specific company.

They are a part of Russia's electronic manufacturing infrastructure. Electronics like the one used in the missiles that fall on Ukrainian residential buildings, schools, hospitals, civilian power supplies, and so on. As such, the ethics is pretty clear - until Russia stops the terror campaign against Ukrainian civilians (at least), any company that is involved in enabling this campaign is ethically evil. It's not some complex conundrum - if a missile hits a residential high-rise, and you took part in making that missile, then you participated in that crime, even if indirectly.

> Should all russian companies shut down because of the war?

All that contribute to the war effort - yes, that would be a nice thing. Not really possible, practically, but nice. Realistically, probably only the most prominent get sanctioned, and they probably won't be shut down - just cut off from using Western resources.

> Would this be what we expect from all western companies, like when we attacked Iraq because of Weapons of Mass Destruction?

If Iraq wants to sanction all western companies, they are certainly free to do so. So far I don't think they had a slightest inclination to do it.

> As such, the ethics is pretty clear - until Russia stops the terror campaign against Ukrainian civilians (at least), any company that is involved in enabling this campaign is ethically evil.

And you'd agree the American companies and people involved in the blatent terror campaign against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 20 years are also ethically evil?

I hope that this precedent applies to any and all countries waging illegal wars. This definitely should apply to US/UK/etc regarding the Iraq War.

> If Iraq wants to sanction all western companies, they are certainly free to do so. So far I don't think they had a slightest inclination to do it.

So with that you are basically suggesting that it's completely fine for the US to fight the wars of aggression and not be punished for this in any way, just because of its dominant economic position? And if Russia were a technological powerhouse like US, it would have been fine for it to invade Ukraine? This is disgusting.

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