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Comment by Modified3019 | Hacker News Reader

Title is misleading/clickbait.

Should be “Apple cannot legally pay bounty to Russian company due to sanctions.”

I don't understand the Apple's reasoning. Keeping Kaspersky on side ought to be top priority for next time it happens the info might not be so forthcoming. Apple could easily dispose of the money in ways that showed it would pay if it could. And, to Apple, the amount isn't even small change.

If a corporation can get away without spending money, in the clear, they will.

Apple runs on PR and it would be very easy to lose control of the narrative. It’s a touchy subject and the nuance here revolves around things the average news consumer probably lacks context on.

There’s a very real chance that headlines of the variety “Apple makes donation to charity to pay Russian hackers” float around. It’s not even wrong (though it lacks a lot of context).

I’m doubtful Kaspersky is even that mad about it; they knew they weren’t getting paid at the outset.

No, at the very least a "likely" should be added to the title, as Apple never provided a specific reason.

Seems a bit unusual for the sanctions to also block paying a charity instead.

Well, as long as the charity is a legit thing and not some shady attempted workaround.

Does it seem unusual? What is your usual experience with organisations based in a sanctioned country asking for a donation to charity in lieu of a bug bounty payment? It sounds like you have an interesting and unique perspective to share.

Sounds like you have some wonderful, informative and precise experience to share as well.

Do tell...

They do somehow pay taxes to Russian government. Probably good value for money to have that backdoor tho.

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