This feels like a VERY good reason for the EU to start seizing any and all Microsoft assets in their countries. Microsoft just threatened the ability for sovereign nations to find justice - There is NO coming back from that
This situation is so much worse than just Microsoft shutting down an email account. Trump has threatened to even arrest American staffers at The Hague should they return to the US. This is bald faced authoritarianism.
They're protecting their assets and leverage rather than "criminals". His bank accounts in the UK (he's a UK citizen) have also been frozen for the same reason. But I can't disagree that it's really quite grating. The ICC is supposed to be impartial.
At what point do Microsoft think they have a right to interfere with anybody's email account, unless that account is behind on it's payments. I would not expect an international entity to be behind on it's payments. So ICC sue them till there broken.
And what sucks is that psychopaths will never go after bill gates for this type of shit and will instead focus on fictional child sex rings or whatever the fuck is the flavor of the month on Twitter is
It definitely is “over the line.” Just as everything else MAGA/Trump has done. Is it time now for open rebellion? Or is it yet more, “Nah, it’s not time yet to save our democracy. We’ll wait for something really bad”?
Because standing against it explicitly means standing against the United States in a field they appear willing to go nuclear over.
Regional instability also grants them economic benefits, but those aren't going to last forever. It's really just US appeasement at the end of the day.
I guess what is most puzzling about it, is why was Joe Biden so ready to collude in the murder of thousands & thousands of innocent people? He could have stopped it.
For anyone who thinks Bill Gates is some kind of hero, he’s also one of the major players in AI and that’s not here to help us. Seeing the Tech Oligarchs brought down is the one thing on my bucket list.
Yeah, they may have faced criminal prosecution for violating sanctions if they didn't. I mean they COULD have forced the issue. Made the admin force them to comply.
Microsoft wouldve done it without threat of prosecution. They dont like the icc either. Dont forget that microsoft personally produces tech for isreali military (specifically some of their surveillance stuff)
Anyone in a position of power who doesn’t refuse to comply with these fascist scum is collaborating and actively making it harder & worse on the actual victims of these filthy inhuman Nazis.
We’re all out here trying to take risks & do what we can, while these assholes help Nazis attack the ICC.
Per the articles below, trump has threatened employees returning to the States with detention, and NGOs are stopping work with the ICC for fear of American reprisals.
Maybe they are trying to limit exploitation from hacking. The ICC has been a target for Russia for many years. @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social @tristansnell.bsky.social @kenwhite.bsky.social @jenrubin.bsky.social @teapainusa.bsky.social @juliadavisnews.bsky.social @muellershewrote.com
The International Criminal Court confirmed that its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, will step down pending the results of an investigation into allegations against him.
That's certainly donald's leverage. Like Anti semitism on college campus is an invitation to apply leverage. He doesn't give a rat's ass about the man or the charge.
It’s genuinely insane that like the two major sources I’m hearing this from are a fucking Irish actor and a Hollywood director. No offence to either, but full offence to every fucking “journalist” alive whose fucking job this is.
Since Britain is a signatory to the ICC treaty (the US is not, by what authority can Trump unilaterally freeze a private British bank account that is subject to British banking authority. Perhaps Britain enabled Trump by looking the other way and letting the bank decide. That would be cowardly.
Perhaps the right retaliation is for the ICC to open an investigation and issue warrants for the arrest of Trump, Vance, Noem, Gabbard, and Homan for apprehending and shipping out Abrego Garcia in error and refusing to bring him back from El Salvador.
Use of "retaliation" was intentional. The US didn't sign the CCC treaty in which case a CCC arrest warrant is not enforceable in the US. Given the Trump admin's non-response to federal court/SCOTUS orders, the key value of a CCC irritant is the issue, not service. Thus the revenge factor.
also a reminder to use tor more, the only reason people think its bad is because the media has successfully gaslit you into thinking only criminals use it when the reality is its a perfectly valid way to protect yourself and your online identity.
As Microsoft Partner
I am deeply disturbed and disappointed by this action
I sincerely hope everyone gets away from Microsoft Cloud services because this is such a gross violation that it crosses all the lines and makes it very clear that Microsoft is going to do this again to someone else
Tech can be halted in their tracks. Consumers need to stop chasing product evolution they don’t need or know how to use. It’s grand theft. Keep your old phone. As long as you can. Don’t feed the wolves who are trying to eat us alive.
Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are helping Israell commit genocide. There is no bottom to what they will do for $ in Mideast, EU, US, anywhere in world. US tech/AI companies are also Pentagon contractors, & consuming unbelievable amounts of natural resources around globe. They have complete impunity.
This is how Microsoft, Google, Palantir, Amazon are helping Israel commit genocide, providing cloud, tech support, AI for massive tracking database (and very likely handing over any info collected from their customers as well) https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
The US tech/AI companies are Pentagon contractors as well: Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Amazon, Palantir. It is the military-oil-AI-prison-surveillance-border complex.
DOGE is about surveillance & funnelling all our taxes & resources to billionaires, not about savings. Musk & Bezos were just given billions of $$ in Pentagon space contracts (while space is supposed to be a commons to be shared by all nations, not militarized, according to 1960s space treaty)
Excellent documentary by @andrewfeinstein.bsky.social about weapons company $$$ control over govts during Reagan/Bush/Cheney/Thatcher/Blair/Prince Bandar eras. Today Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other AI/tech companies have joined this shadow government, driving war, genocide, arms race for $$$:
Violence is not the answer. Take to the streets and hold them peacefully until Congress starts doing it's job. Every successful change comes through mass nonviolent protest.
It's not just the email server nowadays, it's the full MS Azure environment, an eco-system where mail, app servers, databases, dns, dhcp and other critical functions reside. If the Americans think they have the right to shut it down because their tyrant disagrees we'll need more alternatives
There was a Supreme Court case in 2017 or so that said any data on a Microsoft cloud regardless of the data center location is subject to full search and seizure by the US DOJ. I can't believe that didn't put them out of business.
Ok it Microsoft v US and the case was dismissed because Trump Administration passed the CLOUD act in 2018 rendering it moot. The law applies to *any* cloud storage.
Just 2 days ago they put out a half-assed apology claiming they did nothing wrong and just considered Israel a client, and here they are actively protecting them.
The DJT Tech Oligarchs are going to be handed a tech bro Mecca in any major city they want. Just like Musk who is destroying small but sprawling working class communities with noise, toxic waste, infrastructure stress they don’t invest in because of tax abatements,power & water suckage & death &
I grew up in Silicon Valley and live in San Francisco. They destroyed my city and now they think they are gods. How do we get our elected officials to understand the danger? I’m so frustrated with all of them.
Billionaires think: ME NOW WANT MORE. WHO cares about the impact? I’ll be dead by then and my heirs will have luxury bunkers. They destroyed Manhattan & LA & suburbs near big cities, their trucks destroying roads and peace.
Totally disagree. The income inequality they create alone has chased off so many artists and musicians, not to mention just normal people who aren’t rich. Plus they never become part of the culture of the city.
Greed greases the road to hell: in NJ legislators & city commissioners tout “access” to teen healthcare; it’s nothing more than allowing 14-17 yr olds to get psych meds & “counseling” w/out parents, billed to Medicare . And then they push for increased access to these meds. God forbid they restore
Hang on, US sanctions, which can and have historically been applied and enforced through feels and vibes, HAVE CONSEQUENCES? Really?! What’s next, are you going to tell me that the Department of Defense hasn’t defended the U.S. from anything in whole ass centuries?
If you just need the Microsoft Office equivalent apps, Freeoffice is free. Proton offers email, cloud storage (with a onedrive replacement app), a password manager, and a calendar.
I ended up going with Proton Family for $288/yr; 3TB storage and six accounts (i've got alts and domains lmao).
I love Coreys, but the sheer concentration of unhinged antics shot on a camcorder scratches an itch that i still get sometimes, and then i start messing around with Video8 cameras again lol
Something about fucking around in 4:3 just feels right idk
Is that THE Liam Cunningham? The actor? Fucking awesome if it is. Godamn we have all the good actors in the resistance.
and if this is TV Guy Adam McKay ? you should cast him in a thing. Just solid gold every time.
This is startling but it is what has been happening for years to people designated by the U.S. apparatus for isolating people from the global economy. Now more chaotic with Trump in charge. From @abenewman.bsky.social and my book and a more recent NYT piece ... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/opinion/trump-economic-security-crypto.html
Wait, the chief prosecutor who has stepped aside while being investigate for sexual misconduct?
Obviously this raises red flags, but it’s unclear if the email access issue is tied to sanctions (which would be bad) or him stepping down (which is fine).
European governments, businesses and citizens should begin moving away from American technology services such as Microsoft and Amazon. They cannot be trusted.
For anyone looking to move away from American tech companies or products owned by tech oligarchs: @purchase-w-purpose.bsky.social has great guides with alternatives. They mark where a company is located and whether they put emphasis on privacy or eco-friendliness. It gets updates every now and then.
You're not wrong, but the practicality is pretty low. Like, the easiest thing to do would be to shift to max, but that's also an American tech company. So is Android.
And while I love Linux, I don't see any large corporations moving in reality.
It's not about the OS your people are opening spreadsheets on. M$, Amazon, Google can't lock you out of a device you physically control, but they absolutely can lock you out of their cloud infrastructure.
So for the record, as a cloud engineer, this is a thing I did not need to be told.
But also as a cloud engineer I can tell you that it is a good bit more complicated than this due to security requirements and best practices, not to mention that a lot of software assumes you're in 0365.
many corporations already use Linux since it's the default under a lot of sandboxed systems. people have just been trained to be used to Windows and MacOS, but employees have to learn new systems all the time and there should be momentum behind this
Tech corporations use a lot of Linux (and to be fair to the point, this would be a lot easier for research companies) but I think it's a non-starter for stuff like retail (which is where I've spent most of my career so I'm biased)
there's definitely the tech corp side of it, but I was thinking of retail and other businesses. like a lot of public libraries have computers running a pared down version of Linux. a lot of POS systems use Linux. in the past few years you can get something basically 1:1 to Windows for basic use
Oh for sure. All the servers are Linux. All the dev machines are Linux.
But if you tried to switch desktops to Linux my company would shit a brick. (And sadly rightfully so. So many people can only interface with Linux by way of windows software)
Yes the point isn’t that it’s easy to move away from American technology because it dominates the world. The point is that American tech company dominance threatens the sovereignty of much of the world and it’s critical to develop alternatives.
Fully agree. I don't predict it will happen, but it would be nice if we could see some shifts toward open source standards, which would allow for tons of interoperability without being tied to one system.
It’s not healthy or safe for one nation to so completely dominate operating systems, core applications, email, and artificial intelligence. The last four months are a wake up call to the Folly of believing that because it was America it was OK.
Sure, but most of the big ones are still American companies. Managing your own exchange server is fine but it's more than most companies want to take on, especially because 365 also offloads a lot of interoperability work. It's a shortcut. Businesses love those.
The biggest issue for any huge company is that they don't care what the OS is, they just want everyone to be able to work without thinking about the technology platform. That's a thing windows provides (much as I hate it).
You can do that with Linux but you can't do that with Linux without at least 3-4 people on a platform team supporting the desktops, managing images, etc. they could make it seamless internally, but not with other companies.
Yes, somebody with billions of dollars and 30 years of secret development. To say that the business world rests on MS foundations is a dramatic understatement, it's the foundation, the walls, the ceiling, the fucking continental crust below.
windows for enterprise absoluetly requires a platform team with images already, and it hasn't provided the user-friendly plug-n-play "it just works" experience for like a decade
The Mussolini photo is evocative, too. But the gallows photo has a DIY quality that might inspire citizens when this nightmare ends and retribution is possible. I didn’t realize when posting it that those executed may have been blameless victims of the Nazis.
The ICC's chief prosecutor, also known as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), investigates and prosecuts individuals accused of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
The ICC should be able to issue warrants for the Microsoft CEO and the minions who did the dirty work. And haul them before the Court if they ever set foot in an ICC member nation.
Do you love your country & freedom? Are you willing to step up, lose your slave wage jobs, starve, suffer, bleed, & die for it?
Serious business, put your money where your mouth is, speak loud, arm up, & show out. Right now, this country needs its people. Live free, be an American, & fight for it.
Comments
This hitler wannabe we have living in the white house is afraid the ICC will put out a warrant for his arrest.
He should be.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trumps-sanctions-on-iccs-chief-prosecutor-have-halted-tribunals-work-officials-and-lawyers-say
Regional instability also grants them economic benefits, but those aren't going to last forever. It's really just US appeasement at the end of the day.
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/g-s1-67183/icc-karim-khan-sexual-misconduct-investigation-leave
Prove me wrong.
Reliance on services that can be controlled by the whims of a select few will always lead to the struggle for the power to do so.
Someone will always want to own it.
It's inevitable.
We must make it impossible to do so.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-icc-sanctions-israel-order-01beee050ae84d0d9eae66d00bc8ead9
It’s possible that it’s just a 💩 email server.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trumps-sanctions-on-iccs-chief-prosecutor-have-halted-tribunals-work-officials-and-lawyers-say
It was because of Trump's sanctions.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/british-icc-chief-prosecutor-lost-email-bank-accounts-frozen-trump-sanctions/
This is dark, dark stuff.
Banks sanctioned his accounts also. Dont see them being put under the microscope like Microsoft is.
"See what my loyal friends and I can do"
moment.
Imho
We’re all out here trying to take risks & do what we can, while these assholes help Nazis attack the ICC.
Mr. Khan is a UK citizen. How could US freeze his bank accounts? Was this done w/help fr UK gov't?
also BIG: "The Hague-based court’s American staffers have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest"
https://apnews.com/article/icc-trump-sanctions-karim-khan-court-a4b4c02751ab84c09718b1b95cbd5db3
References frozen bank account and email shut down
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trumps-sanctions-icc-prosecutor-halted-tribunals-work-121824057
INSANE!!!!!!
WTF!!!!!!!!!
Omg
Unbelievably, they have pre-approved authorization to invade the Netherlands.
No congress approval req’d. Diaper Don can invade at will to destroy ICC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Service-Members%27_Protection_Act
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/g-s1-67183/icc-karim-khan-sexual-misconduct-investigation-leave
Fuck Nazi Israel.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trumps-sanctions-icc-prosecutor-halted-tribunals-work-121824057
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/14/global-covid-pandemic-response-bill-gates-partners-00053969
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/g-s1-67183/icc-karim-khan-sexual-misconduct-investigation-leave#:~:text=Karim%20Khan%2C%20chief%20prosecutor%20of,stage%2C%20the%20court%20announced%20Friday.
Fuck Jake Tapper in particular
I am deeply disturbed and disappointed by this action
I sincerely hope everyone gets away from Microsoft Cloud services because this is such a gross violation that it crosses all the lines and makes it very clear that Microsoft is going to do this again to someone else
You can use 5 Calls. https://5calls.org
When X does Y, it's not just X. it's Y.
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
https://apnews.com/article/technology-politics-amazoncom-inc-cloud-computing-us-department-of-defense-bfaeb3549b4d42328f35e579d7cb40b0
Palantir, Musk with his stolen DOGE govt data, and ICE are making a similar AI tracking system to what Israel is using for genocide.
Where do you aim your energy when the whole world is going to sh*t and there are too many targets?
Any cloud service can theoretically be managed by Microsoft, because they host the applications and data on their servers.
If this is true, then a LOT of companies need to rethink their MS environments. Its a huge security concern.
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/g-s1-67183/icc-karim-khan-sexual-misconduct-investigation-leave
I think we have another word for that
However, there is also this.
So which is it? SC misconduct or Dummy interference?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trumps-sanctions-on-iccs-chief-prosecutor-have-halted-tribunals-work-officials-and-lawyers-say
It would be easy for Microsoft to challenge these sanctions in the courts.
But they’re a giant publicly traded Corp and it’s more profitable in the short term to roll over for fascism.
Why couldn’t Microsoft say no?
You can do it, as long as you’re willing to face the consequences.
TBC, it. is. wrong, but this is what authoritarianism looks like.
Trump signed the sanctions and Khans e-mail was magically cut off by no one in particular.
Really earning that slot on the BDS list.
Depending on Microsoft software becomes a major security issue and a major liability.
Can we have a 😱 button 🦋?
Who can you even trust anymore?!
If you need cloud compute, Hetzner and Cloudscale.
Fuck Azure, AWS, and GCP.
Have a look homie: https://proton.me/mail/pricing
I ended up going with Proton Family for $288/yr; 3TB storage and six accounts (i've got alts and domains lmao).
capitalism demands that i show my wares, but all i have is a music video that i shot with my bestie that was SO FUN to make
it's about going on a bar run with the boys, but also your mom, who is one of the boys
https://youtu.be/gR2gNozG3Ew?si=Pz3j4jQkv4NohL2I
Something about fucking around in 4:3 just feels right idk
Props though, it's dicey sometimes.
and if this is TV Guy Adam McKay ? you should cast him in a thing. Just solid gold every time.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trumps-sanctions-icc-prosecutor-halted-tribunals-work-121824057
Countries and their boundaries don’t matter anymore. Nationalism is foolishness.
They have control of the entire world. The more we plug in, the more they control us.
I’m shocked..
Obviously this raises red flags, but it’s unclear if the email access issue is tied to sanctions (which would be bad) or him stepping down (which is fine).
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/may/16/international-criminal-court-chief-prosecutor-karim-khan-to-step-aside-until-investigation-ends
And while I love Linux, I don't see any large corporations moving in reality.
But also as a cloud engineer I can tell you that it is a good bit more complicated than this due to security requirements and best practices, not to mention that a lot of software assumes you're in 0365.
But if you tried to switch desktops to Linux my company would shit a brick. (And sadly rightfully so. So many people can only interface with Linux by way of windows software)
That's gonna push the needle towards alternatives. How far? Depends on how nuts the White House has become
I Just think that it's going to have to hit more bottom lines before you can make businesses care.
You can probably make science-based companies care a lot sooner.
The biggest issue for any huge company is that they don't care what the OS is, they just want everyone to be able to work without thinking about the technology platform. That's a thing windows provides (much as I hate it).
Porsche too.
Lots of companies that were cool with third richt are still in business.
Serious business, put your money where your mouth is, speak loud, arm up, & show out. Right now, this country needs its people. Live free, be an American, & fight for it.