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> The Contest is void in Cuba, Quebec, Saudi Arabia and Syria > and where prohibited by law. Individuals and entities > restricted by applicable export control

by mryan 14y ago

> The Contest is void in Cuba, Quebec, Saudi Arabia and Syria > and where prohibited by law. Individuals and entities > restricted by applicable export controls and sanctions > programs are ineligible to participate in the Contest Some could perhaps be explained by export restrictions on crypto code, although I would expect to see some other countries (Iran) banned if that were the case. Quebec has rather stringent data privacy laws - perhaps these are not compatible with Google's personal data storage policy.

p_l 14y ago
Quebec's case is rather their laws regarding contests, lotteries etc. Basically any contest from outside Canada won't give a damn about working all of those rules in (if it's even possible at all), so they are simply banned from essentially all international competitions of this kind :)
- TheCoreh 14y ago
  Since the competition is being held by a company outside of Quebec, do they need to abide to these laws at all?
  - p_l 14y ago
    In their interactions with Quebec residents, apparently yes.
  - Mordak 14y ago
    If they want to offer their contest to residents of Quebec, yes, they must abide by local laws and regulations. Running a contest in a given jurisdiction is a form of doing business in that jurisdiction, and so of course the contest is subject to whatever regulations that jurisdiction applies to that activity (contests, in this case). Imagine if this were not the case, and anybody could avoid complying with local laws just by calling their activity a 'contest' and running it out of some foreign jurisdiction. So, by saying people in Quebec can't play, Google is not required to abide the unusual laws that they have there around contests and lotteries.
  - kintamanimatt 14y ago
    Probably, because Google has a Canadian subsidiary with offices in Montreal; they're subject to local law. If this wasn't the case they'd gladly not exclude Quebecois.
    - pc86 14y ago
      Why are we just making stuff up? This is not true. Contests must abide by any local laws or regulations in any jurisdiction they're run in. If you don't run the contest in Quebec (e.g. if you disallow Quebecois entrants) then and only then are you exempt from their laws.
      - kintamanimatt 14y ago
        We're not making stuff up. If I run a competition and someone from Belgium enters (and wins) but I have no presence in Belgium, I'm in no way subject to Belgian laws. How can I possibly be? Google doesn't have offices in Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, or South Africa. I highly doubt they're complying with local laws regarding competitions in these jurisdictions! Google are subject to Quebec's laws because they have offices there and a Canadian subsidiary. If these things weren't, they wouldn't have to abide by such laws. Even if Quebec said they had to, they wouldn't have jurisdiction.
        ubernostrum 14y ago
        I understand that this is something people don't get, but: yes, if you are doing something that can be construed as "doing business" in a country, then you get to be subject to that country's laws regardless of whether you have offices there or have ever set foot on that country's territory. This is not particularly new. What is new is the general belief I've seen in many people that "but I did it on the internet!" is a magical answer.
        kintamanimatt 14y ago
        Such laws would be really, really difficult, if not impossible to enforce. I seem to remember there are certain laws the British government thinks applies to foreign companies that have no ties to the UK but otherwise do business with British residents, but in the same breath says they have no way to enforce them.
HadiAsiaie 14y ago
> although I would expect to see some other countries (Iran) banned if that were the case. I remembered several years ago Iranian was also banned from the competition, but after sometimes they allowed Iranian, but I think they don't give prize in the case of winning.

by mryan 14y ago

p_l 14y ago

Quebec's case is rather their laws regarding contests, lotteries etc. Basically any contest from outside Canada won't give a damn about working all of those rules in (if it's even possible at all), so they are simply banned from essentially all international competitions of this kind :)

TheCoreh 14y ago
Since the competition is being held by a company outside of Quebec, do they need to abide to these laws at all?
- p_l 14y ago
  In their interactions with Quebec residents, apparently yes.
- Mordak 14y ago
  If they want to offer their contest to residents of Quebec, yes, they must abide by local laws and regulations. Running a contest in a given jurisdiction is a form of doing business in that jurisdiction, and so of course the contest is subject to whatever regulations that jurisdiction applies to that activity (contests, in this case). Imagine if this were not the case, and anybody could avoid complying with local laws just by calling their activity a 'contest' and running it out of some foreign jurisdiction. So, by saying people in Quebec can't play, Google is not required to abide the unusual laws that they have there around contests and lotteries.
- kintamanimatt 14y ago
  Probably, because Google has a Canadian subsidiary with offices in Montreal; they're subject to local law. If this wasn't the case they'd gladly not exclude Quebecois.
  - pc86 14y ago
    Why are we just making stuff up? This is not true. Contests must abide by any local laws or regulations in any jurisdiction they're run in. If you don't run the contest in Quebec (e.g. if you disallow Quebecois entrants) then and only then are you exempt from their laws.
    - kintamanimatt 14y ago
      We're not making stuff up. If I run a competition and someone from Belgium enters (and wins) but I have no presence in Belgium, I'm in no way subject to Belgian laws. How can I possibly be? Google doesn't have offices in Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, or South Africa. I highly doubt they're complying with local laws regarding competitions in these jurisdictions! Google are subject to Quebec's laws because they have offices there and a Canadian subsidiary. If these things weren't, they wouldn't have to abide by such laws. Even if Quebec said they had to, they wouldn't have jurisdiction.
      - ubernostrum 14y ago
        I understand that this is something people don't get, but: yes, if you are doing something that can be construed as "doing business" in a country, then you get to be subject to that country's laws regardless of whether you have offices there or have ever set foot on that country's territory. This is not particularly new. What is new is the general belief I've seen in many people that "but I did it on the internet!" is a magical answer.
        kintamanimatt 14y ago
        Such laws would be really, really difficult, if not impossible to enforce. I seem to remember there are certain laws the British government thinks applies to foreign companies that have no ties to the UK but otherwise do business with British residents, but in the same breath says they have no way to enforce them.

HadiAsiaie 14y ago

> although I would expect to see some other countries (Iran) banned if that were the case. I remembered several years ago Iranian was also banned from the competition, but after sometimes they allowed Iranian, but I think they don't give prize in the case of winning.