[HN Gopher] Russia is abandoning SSL certs in favor of their own
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       Russia is abandoning SSL certs in favor of their own
        
       Author : ct0
       Score  : 17 points
       Date   : 2022-03-10 21:45 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cnews.ru)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cnews.ru)
        
       | boznz wrote:
       | They are really going all in 100% North Korea.. Not going to end
       | well
        
         | nikolay wrote:
         | No gonna end well for whom? The unipolar model is over! The
         | dollar dominance is finally under question. This definitely is
         | NOT good for Americans and Europeans. Russians are tough and
         | they will come out stronger out of this. In fact, Western-
         | influencing companies fleeting Russia is Putin's wet dream! I
         | think the West no longer has forward-looking politicians and EU
         | is a full disgrace being Biden's bitch! As Trump was right, the
         | last thing you want is Germany and Japan rebuilding their
         | military!
        
         | TechBro8615 wrote:
         | It's not that extreme. They have the BRICS sphere of influence
         | on their side.
         | 
         | More likely, the SWIFT sanctions will prove a mistake for "the
         | West," when it realizes the downstream effects of cutting off
         | Russia from the dominant payment network of the global reserve
         | currency. Russian banks have already started offering accounts
         | in yuan. This will lead to further balkanization (unfortunate
         | pun notwithstanding) of world reserve currencies, which means
         | increased decentralization and a reduced dependency on the
         | dollar. Eventually the world will naturally diversify their
         | reserve holdings to the point that the dollar loses its power
         | as leverage in diplomatic negotiations.
         | 
         | At this point, there will be jockeying for position of a
         | dominant currency, and it will be more than just fiat currency
         | in the race. In the next 5 years, we will almost certainly see
         | the emergence of a central bank digital currency. Within the
         | next 10 years, it will be clear that paper USD will not be the
         | dominant currency in 2040, and it will likely be obvious which
         | currency will take its place.
         | 
         | As far as the SSL certs go, all these arguments also apply to
         | balkanization of internet infrastructure. In fact, they'll
         | happen together, since the information networks banning
         | Russians refuse to interface with their payment networks
         | anyway.
         | 
         | Is this actually the greatest opportunity for Russian
         | entrepreneurs since the fall of the Soviet Union? Suddenly
         | there is demand for an alternative to every Western online
         | service. The products that were previously 80% as good as their
         | Western counterparts now find themselves as the leading option
         | in the local market.
         | 
         | This same pattern happened in China when they introduced The
         | Great Firewall -- the censorship regime favored local
         | providers, so they had a route to catch up with the Silicon
         | Valley companies. Now look at the Chinese internet economy.
         | Russia doesn't have nearly the population of China, nor the
         | population growth that China did the past twenty years, but
         | it's not unreasonable to expect significant growth in Russian
         | internet sector over the next 5-10 years (after the dust
         | settles on sanctions and the winners emerge).
        
           | rosndo wrote:
           | > They have the BRICS sphere of influence on their side.
           | 
           | So and so, my banks in BRICS countries are refusing to accept
           | incoming transfers from Russian banks. At least in China,
           | India and the UAE Russian money seems to be a no-go.
           | 
           | Pretty sure other BRICS countries are only providing moral
           | support at this point.
        
         | supergirl wrote:
         | the USSR didn't do too bad. NK just didn't start with much.
         | Russia has a lot of tech. but look at NK: they have internet,
         | developed nuclear weapons, trying to launch satellites,
         | surviving covid (I assume), did not get invaded by US, still
         | chugging along
        
           | VincentEvans wrote:
           | Oh yeah, NK isn't that bad. USSR didn't do too badly...
           | 
           | USSR in 90ies was equivalent technologically to the West in
           | 60ies-70ies. I was born in USSR. And when I got to travel
           | Europe in the 90ies - the difference was astounding.
        
         | trevorboaconstr wrote:
         | I suspect Russia will soon enough find itself closely
         | intertwined with Chinese ecosystems and standards. I think
         | Putin has envy for Xi's autocratic-techno-state and wishes to
         | emulate it. What better way than to become a part of it.
        
           | rektide wrote:
           | Thankfully we're not seeing a total fuck-off-world axis
           | forming here, a 100% antagonist alliance-versus-world
           | relationship forming. China has recently refused to resupply
           | parts for the Russian air transport systems[1] (so claims
           | Russia).
           | 
           | I don't think you are wrong at all. But I don't think this
           | intertwining will be as mutually desired & reinforcing as
           | Russia might perhaps have hoped.
           | 
           | [1] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-
           | defense/russia-sa...
        
           | mytailorisrich wrote:
           | More broadly, I think what's happening vindicates China's
           | strategy and will be a watershed moment.
           | 
           | We're seeing that most key global infrastructures for
           | telecoms, internet, finance, etc. and pretty much all global
           | tech companies are controlled by the USA and that they will
           | weaponise _everything_ against you as they see fit.
           | 
           | The logical conclusion is that, if you can, you should build
           | your own alternatives, which is what China has been doing.
           | Things are going to become more fragmented from now on.
        
             | signatoremo wrote:
             | China have done it because they have superpower ambition,
             | and because they can. There are areas where they still
             | haven't been able to do the same such as jet engine.
             | 
             | Also, not everyone can build their own. Most of the world
             | will continue to use the current one. Some other like
             | Russia will use China's one. Do you think China will be
             | less aggressive than the US in weaponizing everything
             | against you as they see fit? Russia will be a lesser
             | partner to China. The dream of Russia Empire glory will
             | still be a dream only.
        
           | polski-g wrote:
           | China will be collecting vassal states like I do in EU4. But
           | eventually the vassal swarm will be powerful enough for a WC.
        
             | DwnVoteHoneyPot wrote:
             | what is EU4? what is WC?
        
               | fire wrote:
               | EU4: europa universalis 4
               | 
               | WC: win condition
        
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       (page generated 2022-03-10 23:01 UTC)