[faramarz]

There is a bigger story here and I'm glad it's made visible to more of the general public, and I really hope more people listen intently; the underlying technology running your favorites apps are sitting on servers on US soil and prone to US laws.

that needs to be a title of the next headline, especially for anyone installing apps under the disguise of "privacy".

[molteanu]

Yes, that was made visible by the blocking of github accounts for developers in Iran, Syria and Crimea [1]. The US can disrupt whole businesses just by blocking access to fundamental services, tools or equipment. That's some nice political power right there. Free stuff is always a double-edged sword. You can't have free Google, free Youtube, free FB, free Github, free everything unless you also give back something. In this case, it limits the options of Nation States where most of its citizens use these free services on a daily basis. One wrong move, and the Government of said Nation State will have a nice (color?!) revolution on their back.

In the end, good for US for having the brains and the determination to build all these systems, conspicuously. I'm sure Russia does the same or is striving to do the same. Different methods, same desired outcomes. It will be interesting to see what China will have in store in the coming years.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20552797