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On principle, a country shouldn't be able to compel a non-resident non-citizen to enter the country and become subject to it's laws. Except in the case of some
by wmil 7y ago
On principle, a country shouldn't be able to compel a non-resident non-citizen to enter the country and become subject to it's laws. Except in the case of some sort of criminal extradition.
- undersuit 7y agoWhat principle? Facebook is in Canada. They have offices in Canada. They hire citizens. They sell products to citizens, and they are selling citizens as products. Facebook is already subject to Canada's laws, and they should continue following them if they want to continue being subject to those laws.
- bin0 7y agoSo? Maybe canada's laws say they can compel Zuck to show up, but America's certainly don't. Those are the ones that matter, as Facebook is based in America and Zuck is currently in America.
- mikeash 7y agoOf course. Facebook should feel free to ignore this subpoena. In exchange, Canada should feel free to bar Facebook from doing business in their country.
- mikeash 7y agoDoes it count as “compelling” if it’s a requirement for doing business in that country?
- bin0 7y agoDepends. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Facebook runs servers in America (not canada). A canadian accesses their site and uses it. Is Facebook now "doing business" in canada? The problem with internet companies is that the rules are different: I no longer need any kind of physical presence to do business there (though servers are often necessary, but that's buying something not selling from a physical location).
- mikeash 7y agoLet’s talk about the real Facebook, which has physical offices in Canada and sells products in Canada. The question of whether a company should be subject to legislative summons like this when that company is only incidentally involved with the country is an interesting one, but it’s also completely irrelevant to this discussion.
- jwalton 7y ago> Is Facebook now "doing business" in canada? And then in the very next sentence you appear to answer this: > I no longer need any kind of physical presence to do business there Doing business is doing business.