The US Treasury has announced an exemption of Internet services from the sanctions against Russia, which likely also affects CA services.
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The full document is here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/russia_gl25.pdf
It will probably take lawyers a while to untangle the web of laws. I'm not sure if this affects CAs in any meaningful way, as they may have blocked utilization by the government of the Russian Federation and entities on the SDN under other sanctions. This does seem to clarify/ensure that CA's may service ordinary citizens and promote free speech and dissidence - but LetsEncrypt had not blocked that.
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Thank you for the link. I know LE hasn't denied service to these sites, but there has been so much tension and debate about the subject that I thought I'd post this story/headline.
Hopefully the naysayers will get a grip.
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Yeah, I believe (have not looked at the details recently) that general country-based sanctions have already had exemptions for telecommunications and information services, and so this seems like it would be in line with that.
Long-time forum members will recall that Let's Encrypt's practice has been to comply with sanctions targeting specific entities (which may include specific people or companies, or a government and government bodies in a specific country) but has also been not to deny services to entire countries, even if that country's government is targeted by sanctions. So for example, Let's Encrypt has routinely issued certificates to non-governmental users in Cuba or Iran, even though their governments have been under very strict sanctions by the U.S. government since long before Let's Encrypt existed.
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Very few people who casually visit this forum seem to understand the depth of these issues. Some people freak out because they think LE should be blocking all private entities with ‘.ru’ domains, and don’t understand how that is counterproductive; others freak out because they think LE is blocking these private entities and not merely the governments and entities named directly in sanctions.
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Hence the post. I think we should all get a handle on our emotions and look at the facts. (Scary thought in these times).
People selling trinkets on their sites shouldn't be judged by their leadership. JUST LIKE US!
I know folks who believe like some of the "haters" posting here. Most don't have their own servers and don't look at the logs. Some sites are bad, most are not. For me it is a lot like walking down the street. The people I pass are from all over the planet. Some have accents. Some speak no English at all. One of the finest feelings I have experienced was showing a Russian citizen how to find the store so his group could taste some American beer.
Works for me.
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Tasting encrypted 
online ...
Sign me up!
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