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> The company says it’s just following its DMCA takedown policy. They are a Dutch company (Gitlab B.V.). So why do they even bother with the DMCA?
by jsiepkes 3y ago
> The company says it’s just following its DMCA takedown policy.
They are a Dutch company (Gitlab B.V.). So why do they even bother with the DMCA?
- slimsag 3y agoGitLab Inc. is a Delaware corporation[0] like pretty much all other startups that seek US-based VC funding. [0] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1653482/000162828021024605/gitlabincderestatedcertifi.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1653482/000162828021...
- itake 3y agoIsn't Gitlab listed in the Nasdaq?
- azundo 3y agoEven if they are you can't do business in a country and ignore that country's laws just because you're domiciled somewhere else.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- lozenge 3y agoYou often can actually. Unless the country you're trying to ignore is the US.
- Kwpolska 3y agoOr the EU.
- astkaasa 3y agoEven EU.
- warkdarrior 3y agoOr China. Or the EU. Or many other countries who don't like having their laws ignored.
- skissane 3y ago> Unless the country you're trying to ignore is the US. Well, that really depends on where in the world you are. If you are in a Western country, the US will probably find a way of getting to you. If you are in China or Russia, maybe not – especially if your business isn't dependent on the US (and its allies) for its inputs or outputs.
- captn3m0 3y agoGitLab is a US listed remote-only company with no HQ: https://ir.gitlab.com/ir-resources/investor-faqs https://ir.gitlab.com/ir-resources/investor-faqs.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Kelteseth 3y agoYes but they have EU sub companies. They also have a GmbH here in Germany.
- School-Cotton 3y agoWhy does that matter?
- lgbr 3y agoBecause a user sitting in the United States could be served copyrighted content by GitLab. It would likely even come from one of GitLab's servers in the US. In that hypothetical instance, GitLab is in clear violation under US law. In theory GitLab could decide to ignore the DMCA, as you suggest, but that would mean removing all US servers, firing all US staff and cancelling all contracts with US customers (including those that GitLab has with the US government itself). Even in that instance, you would just move the copyright lawsuit to Dutch courts.
- shiroiushi 3y agoI'm no expert on Dutch copyright law, but it seems like such a lawsuit would go nowhere. Presumably, there's no copyright violation at all here: the emulator's source code is FOSS and contains no Nintendo source code, as is usually the case with emulators. What it's used for is irrelevant; the only thing that matters is whether someone actually copied something without authorization from Nintendo, which (I assume) they did not. The use of the code only becomes relevant with the US DMCA, with its stupid "infringing uses" clause. US law only applies inside the US though. But a company like that, which does a lot of business in the US, can't afford to thumb its nose at the US's stupid copyright law, if they want to continue doing business there. So business and money take priority over copyright ethics.
- mort96 3y agoMy understanding of the DMCA is that whether or not there's any infringing actually going on is irrelevant, you have to take the content down first and then have a court battle to decide whether you can put it back up.
- indeyets 3y agoOnly if the entity who published the content does not oppose. And then it doesn’t have to go to the court. But if they oppose, the content should stay online until the court decision
- Agingcoder 3y ago
- johncoltrane 3y agoFor the same reason US sites must comply with EU regulations.
- eemil 3y agoMany sites block EU users because they don't want to deal with GDPR. Seems to me that Gitlab could just block US users from DMCA'd repos.
- johncoltrane 3y agoWell, like others here, I was under the impression that GitLab was a Dutch company but it turns out that they are actually incorporated in the US, which makes that whole line of thinking pointless.
- elzbardico 3y agoWell, that would cut a sizable portion of gitlab's revenues
- flipbrad 3y agoDMCA is sometimes just used as shorthand for all similar notice-and-takedown regimes.