Month old news.
Some previous discussions:
Microsoft blocked the email account of Chief Prosecutor of the ICC
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44039719
Microsoft's ICC blockade: digital dependence comes at a cost
>> Casper Klynge, a former Danish and European Union diplomat who worked for Microsoft, said the episode was in many ways the “smoking gun that many Europeans had been looking for.”
Damn right. Strong evidence that Europe should look after their own, and not rely on the good old US of A. Written by an Australian who thinks we should do the same down here.
This is insane. They aimed his corporate account. Europeans move away from the US even faster now. This guy is literally breaking decades old relationships.
They didn't even resist/appeal the order? It is an EO, not a law. Goes to show just how subservient and feckless Microsoft is. Nominative determinism much?
US tech dominance has long been seen as a benefit and this administration is ruining that position.
In related news, the Danish government announced the switch to Linux this month, apparently to protect their sovereignty.
https://politiken.dk/viden/tech/art10437680/Caroline-Stage-u...
Europe had a plan after they learned Merkel’s blackberry contents were going to Fort Meade, but they never enacted it. They planned their own MS Office (and email) replacement. Even got as far as scouting data centre sites and identifying first 40M accounts.
This administration is destroying US soft power in a way that no rival could ever have imagined possible. The big winner here is China.
DOGE? Absolutely performative. Even things like USAID are a trival amount of money and miss the point that it's a very cheap way of getting influence. Plus I'm sure there's some CIA money buried in there too.
Abusing the power in such a trivial manner like suspending this account does nothing but hasten this downfall.
It's always worth adding that 20+ years ago the US passed a law colloquially known as the "Hage Invasion Act" [1], which not only authorized but requires the US to invade the Hage if ever any US servicemember are brought up on charges to the ICC. And this extends to servicemembers and leaders of allies.
Empires don't die quietly or quickly. This is going to be long, drawn out and chaotic.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Pr...
Microsoft should’ve sued the government instead of immediately complying.
I cant see the Azure salespeople in EU having a good day after this
In the late 90's Microsoft suspended my email, thepimp@hotmail.com, with no warning or possibility to recover. We should view this latest ICC prosecutor suspension as part of a much larger, more sinister pattern.
It looks like Microsoft is doing everything it can to avoid repeating this in the future:
> Microsoft said the decision to suspend Mr. Khan’s email had been made in consultation with the I.C.C. The company said it had since enacted policy changes that had been in the works before the episode to protect customers in similar geopolitical situations in the future. When the Trump administration sanctioned four additional I.C.C. judges this month, their email accounts were not suspended, the company said.
> Microsoft and other U.S. companies have sought to reassure European customers. On Monday, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, visited the Netherlands and announced new “sovereign solutions” for European institutions, including legal and data security protections for “a time of geopolitical volatility.” Amazon and Google have also announced policies aimed at European customers.
One more reason our on premises products and services, in the European company I work for, have a bright future.
Do we know by now whether this was an Office 365 enterprise account or a regular "Hotmail" (Outlook.com) account?
not trying to justify it even a bit, but shouldn't people in his position (actively acting against the US-supported position) use something more secure? Like proton for starters?
I think most of the activists know the drill (not to use gmail/outlook/icloud... in their activism-related communications).
This clearly shows the risk of letting someone else run your email services.
Great way to build up European comms business and take revenue from American companies.
Not surprising that the biggest tech companies are complicit in the biggest war crimes and atrocities of a generation. In the 1940s it was IBM providing holocaust tabulation machines. In the 2020s, it's companies like Microsoft providing the tech infrastructure for AI-assisted targeting and pervasive surveillance in the ongoing Gaza holocaust.
This is why my company will never, ever use any Microsoft product.
Israel strikes again.
Disgusting. Yet another reason for Europe to ditch US-tech. Its also interesting to see how the US managed within a couple of month to destroy its trust, influence and soft-power it has built over many decades. Kinda like Musk did, but on a nation-wide scale. the orange emperor truly has a talent for wrecking anything he touches. maga all the way baby
How on earth does the ICC plan to arrest Netanyahu or Putin? Even if one of them does make the mistake of setting foot in a compliant country, do they really think arresting a foreign head of state wouldn't be seen as an act of war?
Completely appropriate.
Israel can do no wrong apparently
about as shocking as if a russian company did the same. if you dont get it yet, do you get it now?
Perhaps Europe should try building their own tech industry so they have fewer problems like this.
Get angry at Europe, not Microsoft and USA.
Europeans live in a fairy land dream and need to wake up.
Did everyone miss the last line of the article and/or is everyone unaware of the fact this particular prosecutor has been suspended and is being investigated by the police for rape? Kind of pertinent to the story...
His official work email was suspended because he's suspended from the organization...
https://archive.ph/tjJgW