News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on WhatsApp, Used by 100M Brazilians, Shut Down Nationwide Today by a Single Judge. Parent comment

Re:WhatsApp, Used by 100M Brazilians, Shut Down Nationwide T... by rglullis on Monday May 02, 2016 @04:58PM (#11615553)
That's quite an overstatement. People know how to adapt. On the first court order, people were posting on Facebook about how to connect using VPN providers. Millions others downloaded Telegram.

I, for one, think that this kind of thing is a very good example on why we should NEVER rely on closed services. Whatsapp may be doing all of the right things (creating new features, improving privacy, keeping the product free and separate from FB), but it is still closed.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:WhatsApp, Used by 100M Brazilians, Shut Down Nationwide T... by krschultz on Monday May 02, 2016 @05:23PM (#11615778)
What's your definition of 'closed'?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:WhatsApp, Used by 100M Brazilians, Shut Down Nationwide T... by a3_nm on Monday May 02, 2016 @05:30PM (#11615827)
I cannot interact with WhatsApp users without registering an account with WhatsApp and running proprietary code published by WhatsApp. Compare with email, where I can email friends at whatever provider without registering with them or having to run their code.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:WhatsApp, Used by 100M Brazilians, Shut Down Nationwide T... by Freak_NL on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @07:10AM (#11619532)
Additionally, you can't even use WhatsApp without a mobile phone number, and effectively you need a smartphone with a supported mobile operating system of their choosing. That's pretty closed.
[ Parent | on HN ]