<story><title>Microsoft Shuts off HTTPS in Hotmail for Over a Dozen Countries</title><url>https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/microsoft-shuts-https-hotmail-over-dozen-countries</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>zcrar70</author><text>why would the fact that the countries are in turmoil cause MS to remove HTTPS for hotmail? Do you think that MS has links to the governments of those countries (and is somehow trying to make it easier for the local governments to crack down on dissidents by tapping their email communications)?</text></item><item><author>ajays</author><text>Looking at the list, I bet they included Congo, Nigeria, etc. to hide the fact that most of the countries in that list are currently in some state of turmoil. It would have looked really ugly if they had done it just for those countries; so they threw in the Congolese and Nigerians too.&lt;p&gt;MSFT has 90,000 employees; surely some of them can speak up about this, and how it jeopardizes the people in those countries who are struggling for freedom?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ajays</author><text>I hope you don&apos;t take offense, but: I think you&apos;re being extremely naive.&lt;p&gt;Here&apos;s how the logic works:
MSFT does business in these countries.
These countries have a sudden desire to monitor some citizens&apos; communications (which include Hotmail accounts). HTTPS prevents this monitoring, so these countries lean on MSFT. Ergo, MSFT shuts down HTTPS access to Hotmail.&lt;p&gt;For a lot of these regimes, it&apos;s a matter of survival to crush dissent. MSFT just made that a little bit easier.</text></comment>
<story><title>Microsoft Shuts off HTTPS in Hotmail for Over a Dozen Countries</title><url>https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/microsoft-shuts-https-hotmail-over-dozen-countries</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>zcrar70</author><text>why would the fact that the countries are in turmoil cause MS to remove HTTPS for hotmail? Do you think that MS has links to the governments of those countries (and is somehow trying to make it easier for the local governments to crack down on dissidents by tapping their email communications)?</text></item><item><author>ajays</author><text>Looking at the list, I bet they included Congo, Nigeria, etc. to hide the fact that most of the countries in that list are currently in some state of turmoil. It would have looked really ugly if they had done it just for those countries; so they threw in the Congolese and Nigerians too.&lt;p&gt;MSFT has 90,000 employees; surely some of them can speak up about this, and how it jeopardizes the people in those countries who are struggling for freedom?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Vivtek</author><text>I can&apos;t tell if you&apos;re speaking ironically or not, but just in case you aren&apos;t, the answer is clearly &quot;yes&quot;.  What non-political reason could Microsoft have to select just those specific countries?</text></comment>