But, like when they would say in their EULA, that people from Texas and Florida are not allowed, then by using the service would be breaking of EULA and the wikipedia foundation could theoretically say that they’re not operating there and it’s the users fault.
Comment on Wikimedia Foundation calls on US Supreme Court to strike laws that threaten Wikipedia
Bread@sh.itjust.works 8 months agoFines I would assume. Lawsuits even.
KmlSlmk64@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You can’t just put illegal discrimination in your EULA and expect it to be legally binding for the user. Also, you don’t even have to sign a EULA to use Wikipedia. It’s an open dictionary, not a proprietary app from a for-profit company.
KmlSlmk64@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Why can’t you restrict usage if you don’t comply with local laws? Why can companies like Facebook restrict usage of their new features like Threads in the EU then? Or some US news network restricting access from the EU?
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Why can companies like Facebook restrict usage of their new features like Threads in the EU then?
They can’t. The EU is constantly fining them and suing them for not complying with EU law.
some US news network restricting access from the EU?
The EU law says that they can’t force cookies on EU residents. It doesn’t say that they can’t accomplish that by geoblocking.
As for Wikipedia, maybe they’re legally allowed to block all of Texas and Florida, maybe they’re not.
Regardless, such a move would be the opposite of the mission and function of Wikipedia: to be a free source for unbiased information available to everyone.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
I don’t believe “location you currently are” is a protected class.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 8 months ago
True, but I’m pretty sure collective punishment is illegal or at least frowned upon in most countries…
Regardless of legality, it would go against the whole mission statement of being the world’s largest freely available encyclopedia to just start geoblocking everyone from states with ridiculous laws…
Buttons@programming.dev 8 months ago
How does that work?
Like, let’s say I’m born in Oregon, I live my whole life in Oregon, I get to vote for national representative and Oregon representatives. I set up a server in Oregon, my server responds to electronic requests that it receives from an Oregon company which I connect to with a wire that goes through Oregon.
Then I get sued for breaking Texas laws. At what point did I become subject to Texas law?
emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
If I remember correctly, at least some of Wikipedia’s servers are in Florida. So Florida would definitely be able to take action against them.