Ask HN: Why IBM World Community Grid bans Donors from Cuba, Iran, Syria?
IBM World Community Grid (worldcommunitygrid.org) claims that it enables anyone with a computer, smartphone or tablet to donate their unused computing power to advance cutting-edge scientific research on topics related to health, poverty and sustainability.
I also wanted to contribute some processing power to help fight Cancer, but I guess my laptop doesn't qualify because of my citizenship.
https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/stat/viewStatsByCountryAT.do?sort=members
What are some non-for-profit organizations that allow any human being to contribute and donate CPU-time for the sake of mankind, without being rejected because of his nationality, skin-color, or religion? Based on the countries you're mentioning, I'd guess that it's a legal limitation. It's not a business transaction to make profit. Nothing is exported to benefit citizens of these countries, rather they're donating their resources. Donating "unused computing power" implies code gets transferred to the device for execution. Parts of the code may be under export control.