4 ms·

Incidentally, @dang you're currently in violation of the law. HN has to be age-gated now.

by b800h 3y ago

switch007 3y ago
How do UK laws apply to a US hosted website run by a company whose only legal entity AFAIK is in the US? What action do you think the UK can take?
- gambiting 3y ago
  >>How do UK laws apply to a US hosted website run by a company whose only legal entity AFAIK is in the US? If you serve content to UK users, UK government thinks you should be bound by this law. >>What action do you think the UK can take? Short term it can order ISPs to ban HN traffic until it complies(as it already does with many websites), and prosecute dang if he should ever vist the UK. Of course the chances of that happening are very small given the size of this website, but you never know and it's this permanent state of "everyone is doing something bad we are just choosing not to prosecute it" that creates a surveilance state for everyone. UK ISPs are already required to keep 12 months of browsing history from everyone and it can be accessed warrant free by 17 different agencies including department of agriculture. As a Brit, I can only conclude that the majority of the population doesn't care, or is too mesmerized by whatever is the current topic in the media instead.
  - kwhitefoot 3y ago
    > As a Brit, I can only conclude that the majority of the population doesn't care, or is too mesmerized by whatever is the current topic in the media instead. I'm a Brit too and I can do nothing about it, not even vote because I live outside the UK. But what exactly do you propose that people who can vote do? It's not as if one can vote on this particular law. You can just vote for a Conservative or a Labour MP, the rest don't matter. Do you really expect people to vote against the MP or party that they otherwise support merely to get this one law defeated?
    - gambiting 3y ago
      The honest answer is - I don't know. But what I would like to happen is for my friends and colleagues to say "This sort of thing is unacceptable in a democratic society and it makes me upset" and not "meh what are you going to do". Going further you could support foundations fighting for our privacy rights, they have much better experience and are better connected to lobby on our behalf. I agree that merely voting for major parties is not enough - but there are organisations within this country that bring these issues up to the attention of the parliment, lords and various commissions and regulatory bodies.
      - isaacremuant 3y ago
        Your first point is very important but, what can you expect when a large percentage of the world population went "meh, what are you going to do" or, worse, "it's necessary" when govs implemented inconstitucional Draconian laws and policies on the "war on covid". People at large have shown they'll go with whatever power pushes them to go because they're quite afraid to lose what they little material position they have.
    - b800h 3y ago
      The bill has cross-party support, so you can't even vote for it to be repealed.
  - b800h 3y ago
    This is the issue. They've effectively made an enormous amount of stuff illegal, and we're in the realm of "you'll get prosecuted arbitrarily / if you piss the wrong person off" which isn't really conducive to civil society.
petecooper 3y ago
>HN has to be age-gated now. "May contain nuts."

Incidentally, @dang you're currently in violation of the law. HN has to be age-gated now.

by b800h 3y ago

Incidentally, @dang you're currently in violation of the law. HN has to be age-gated now.

How do UK laws apply to a US hosted website run by a company whose only legal entity AFAIK is in the US? What action do you think the UK can take?

gambiting 3y ago
>>How do UK laws apply to a US hosted website run by a company whose only legal entity AFAIK is in the US? If you serve content to UK users, UK government thinks you should be bound by this law. >>What action do you think the UK can take? Short term it can order ISPs to ban HN traffic until it complies(as it already does with many websites), and prosecute dang if he should ever vist the UK. Of course the chances of that happening are very small given the size of this website, but you never know and it's this permanent state of "everyone is doing something bad we are just choosing not to prosecute it" that creates a surveilance state for everyone. UK ISPs are already required to keep 12 months of browsing history from everyone and it can be accessed warrant free by 17 different agencies including department of agriculture. As a Brit, I can only conclude that the majority of the population doesn't care, or is too mesmerized by whatever is the current topic in the media instead.
- kwhitefoot 3y ago
  > As a Brit, I can only conclude that the majority of the population doesn't care, or is too mesmerized by whatever is the current topic in the media instead. I'm a Brit too and I can do nothing about it, not even vote because I live outside the UK. But what exactly do you propose that people who can vote do? It's not as if one can vote on this particular law. You can just vote for a Conservative or a Labour MP, the rest don't matter. Do you really expect people to vote against the MP or party that they otherwise support merely to get this one law defeated?
  - gambiting 3y ago
    The honest answer is - I don't know. But what I would like to happen is for my friends and colleagues to say "This sort of thing is unacceptable in a democratic society and it makes me upset" and not "meh what are you going to do". Going further you could support foundations fighting for our privacy rights, they have much better experience and are better connected to lobby on our behalf. I agree that merely voting for major parties is not enough - but there are organisations within this country that bring these issues up to the attention of the parliment, lords and various commissions and regulatory bodies.
    - isaacremuant 3y ago
      Your first point is very important but, what can you expect when a large percentage of the world population went "meh, what are you going to do" or, worse, "it's necessary" when govs implemented inconstitucional Draconian laws and policies on the "war on covid". People at large have shown they'll go with whatever power pushes them to go because they're quite afraid to lose what they little material position they have.
  - b800h 3y ago
    The bill has cross-party support, so you can't even vote for it to be repealed.
- b800h 3y ago
  This is the issue. They've effectively made an enormous amount of stuff illegal, and we're in the realm of "you'll get prosecuted arbitrarily / if you piss the wrong person off" which isn't really conducive to civil society.

petecooper 3y ago

>HN has to be age-gated now. "May contain nuts."