SourceForge Denies Service for "Rogue" Nations
SourceForge, the hosting and communication platform for many free software projects, is bowing to U.S. regulations and denying service to users from nations on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
SourceForge "clarifies" in its blog statement that certain IP addresses from nations on the U.S. OFAC list are excluded from their services to comply with U.S. laws.
The blog goes on to say that, "We regret deeply that these sanctions may impact individuals who have no malicious intent along with those whom the rules are designed to punish." SourceForge was one of the first companies to support and encourage free software and sees open source as "the center of its corporate ideals." However, as the blog commentator continues, "we also live in the real world and are governed by the laws of the country in which we are located," with possible penalties of fines and imprisonment.
SourceForge belongs to Geeknet Inc., under whose roof are also found IT sites such as Slashdot, Thinkgeek and Freshmeat.net. Geeknet, in turn, emerged from VA Software.
Comments
comments powered by Disqus
Issue 252/2021
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Canonical Extends Support For Ubuntu 14.04 and 16.04
The company behind Ubuntu offered a much-needed lifeline to those who still depend on older versions of the open-source operating system.
-
GNOME 41 Has Arrived
The latest version of the GNOME desktop environment has been released with new functionality and plenty of improvements.
-
System76 Updates the 15" Pangolin with Ryzen
System76 announced they’re updating the Ryzen-powered Pangolin laptop to meet today’s need for more power.
-
KDE Plasma 5.23 Promises Plenty of Subtle Improvements
The next release of the KDE Plasma desktop includes new features, numerous improvements, and plenty of bug fixes.
-
GNOME 41 Beta is Now Available
The most popular open-source desktop environment is on the cusp of yet another new release, but don’t expect the massive changes found in the previous iteration.
-
Debian 11 “Bullseye” Now Available
The developers of Debian have released the latest version of the operating system so many distributions depend on.
-
Elementary OS 6 Odin Now Available
The developers of elementary OS have released their latest iteration which is all-in on Flatpaks and all about the user experience.
-
Kubuntu Focus Team Announces High-Performance Focus XE
The team behind the KDE-powered Linux laptops is now offering an ultra-portable laptop that doesn't skimp on performance.
-
Solus 4.3 Available for Download and Installation
The latest iteration from the Solus developers is out with kernel 5.13 and plenty of new features, bug fixes, and new hardware support.
-
Steam Deck Linux-Powered Gaming System Set to Take Over the Handheld World
A Linux and KDE-powered portable gaming platform is set to be released by Valve.
It's just political CYA stuff...
The idea is that a "rogue" nation is totally controlled by some despot tyrant who desires to bring harm to, or destroy free nations. Since these are always brutal and repressive regimes, any smart people usually either find a way to get out, or intentionally resist supporting the ruler(s) in passive ways. As a result, these types of regimes have to buy or steal any new technologies from outside nations.
The SourceForge depository has the potential to provide such a regime with software technology which it couldn't create on it's own and might use to attack free nations in some manner.
However, since such nations have representation in the UN and are allowed embassies in non-"rogue" nations, it is really a simple matter for them to access SourceForge from these sites where the IP addresses are not blocked. So, this is really just a CYA policy so that in the event that some "rogue" nation is aided by software technology from SourceForge in it's attack on a free nation, politicians can point to the policy to show that they were "doing something".
United States of China
But U.S. law forbids or controls who accesses it, allowing or denying access.
Also, that law discriminates on the basis of national origin.
And that law does not take in(to) consideration that Sourceforge is a *technical* site, with minimal - if any - political contents.
Sounds more like the United States of China erecting another Great Firewall, for Soviet Union-style censorship.
Said the pot to the kettle...