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> Perhaps Facebook believes that the regulator has stepped beyond its legal authority and would prefer to have a court decide the matter? Then they can contest

> Perhaps Facebook believes that the regulator has stepped beyond its legal authority and would prefer to have a court decide the matter? Then they can contest the injunction and if wasn't justified, it will be revoked. But they can't just ignore it.

asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
Apparently they can just ignore it, though, at the risk of whatever consequences would apply. I confess I do not know the details of the legalities around this particular injunction, whether it behaves like an American injunction, etc. I notice that not a court but a commissioner issued this injunction, and not even a commissioner with authority over all of Germany, but one just within the (state? province? municipality?) of Hamburg. I'm not sure whether that is of any import but it does seem odd to me. Like, if the city of Atlanta had a privacy commission and ordered Facebook not to do something, Facebook would probably just ignore that since cities in the U.S. do not have the power to regulate interstate commerce. I have no idea whether the same type of limitation exists in this case. Presumably Facebook weighed the risks before going ahead. We'll see if their decision turns out to be the right one.
- fakedang 5y ago
  Just pointing out that Hamburg is a free city republican state within the federal republic of Germany. So I don't think it carries any water.
- anoncake 5y ago
  Hamburg is a state, and laws are generally executed by the states in Germany. That includes federal and union laws. So that's perfectly normal. I don't know if the the injunction technically applies to all of Germany, but since Facebook doesn't necessarily know if someone is from Hamburg, it probably doesn't matter in practice. In the long run, you can only operate in a jurisdiction in which you are welcome. Especially when your position is unique like Facebook's. A foreign company that openly ignores the law is not and I can only attribute Facebook's behaviour to arrogance.

asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago

Apparently they can just ignore it, though, at the risk of whatever consequences would apply. I confess I do not know the details of the legalities around this particular injunction, whether it behaves like an American injunction, etc. I notice that not a court but a commissioner issued this injunction, and not even a commissioner with authority over all of Germany, but one just within the (state? province? municipality?) of Hamburg. I'm not sure whether that is of any import but it does seem odd to me. Like, if the city of Atlanta had a privacy commission and ordered Facebook not to do something, Facebook would probably just ignore that since cities in the U.S. do not have the power to regulate interstate commerce. I have no idea whether the same type of limitation exists in this case. Presumably Facebook weighed the risks before going ahead. We'll see if their decision turns out to be the right one.

fakedang 5y ago
Just pointing out that Hamburg is a free city republican state within the federal republic of Germany. So I don't think it carries any water.
anoncake 5y ago
Hamburg is a state, and laws are generally executed by the states in Germany. That includes federal and union laws. So that's perfectly normal. I don't know if the the injunction technically applies to all of Germany, but since Facebook doesn't necessarily know if someone is from Hamburg, it probably doesn't matter in practice. In the long run, you can only operate in a jurisdiction in which you are welcome. Especially when your position is unique like Facebook's. A foreign company that openly ignores the law is not and I can only attribute Facebook's behaviour to arrogance.