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> The more interesting question in my opinion is "should there be laws regulating voluntary agreements". Yes, and they serve important function -- leveling the
by dexen 14y ago
> The more interesting question in my opinion is "should there be laws regulating voluntary agreements".
Yes, and they serve important function -- leveling the playing field in case of strong imbalance between the parties.
Consider for example employment -- in many cases, employers have stronger bargaining position against singular employees or candidates, and could strong-arm individuals into one-sided deals. Thus most countries have certain degree of regulation of employment, providing some basic standard for the employment deals.
Having said that, I still can't reconcile with the idea of every website being subject to local laws of every country it is accessed from, merely by the fact that somebody visited the site from within this particular country.
In case of using a website, the active party is the user, and the website operator is the passive party. If anything, local law should bind the users, not the operators.
How about the German government went instead, ``Under penalty of XYZ, citizens ((of Germany)) may not use social networking website which require disclosure of real names as a precondition''? While this apparently puts pressure on users alone, Facebook would have to weight the real-name policy vs. losing a large, country-wide market.
- tallanvor 14y agoBut Facebook is not a passive party here. They are actively using your information to market products towards you and your friends, much more so than most sites.
- VMG 14y agoI just don't see the imbalance. There are many happy people out there who don't have Facebook and live a happy, fulfilled life. The argument in this instance is "many people like your free product and don't agree with the way you make money".
- salvadors 14y agoThe landlord and tenant relationship is another example, where courts in many jurisdictions will simply strike out many types of clause, whether they were entered into knowingly/willing or not.