A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Censorship, and Backlash

Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by meepmorp on Thursday February 01, 2024 @05:13PM (#39222184)

So, if you don't do business in India, why follow the court order?

I understand Reuters taking down the article, but why would Lawfare or other blogs comply? What could an Indian court possibly do to someone entirely outside of their jurisdiction? It seems like the most appropriate response is "no, and we're going to publish the demand letters," which is exactly what techdirt did.

Let Rajat Khare - the guy who is likely behind Appin - file in a US (or EU, or wherever) court. In the US, at least, he'd have to provide some evidence that the article isn't true, which he probably can't.

Fuck Rajat Khare and Appin, the hacking company he almost certainly controls.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by gsdofthewoods on Thursday February 01, 2024 @08:04PM (#39223678)

Reuters has many employees in India, and the Khare legal threats are issued by a US firm, Clare Locke, that describes its attorneys as "media assassins" [1] who have represented Russian oligarchs and people like Matt Lauer.

[1] https://www.thedailybeast.com/metoo-media-assassins-clare-lo...

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by solardev on Thursday February 01, 2024 @05:47PM (#39222581)

> In the US, at least, he'd have to provide some evidence that the article isn't true, which he probably can't.

Realistically, he just has to be able to throw more money and lawyers at the situation than his opponents could. Maybe a bigger journalistic outfit could/would fight it, but the small blogs would probably be easy pickin'.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by lolc on Thursday February 01, 2024 @05:38PM (#39222447)

Being right can be time consuming and expensive. So unless they are prepared to defend themselves, people fold under the vaguest of threats.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by toast0 on Thursday February 01, 2024 @06:48PM (#39223147)

You've got to at least have a vague threat in my jurisdiction though.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by lolc on Thursday February 01, 2024 @06:49PM (#39223169)

The vague threat is legal bills.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by fakedang on Friday February 02, 2024 @07:49AM (#39227981)

That depends on the jurisdiction. In UK (and jurisdictions following Commonwealth law), loser pays.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by solardev on Saturday February 03, 2024 @06:59AM (#39239523)

How do you win a case if you can't afford to see it through to the end?

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by lolc on Saturday February 03, 2024 @10:26AM (#39241180)

Yea if I'm lucky, a lawyer takes me on contingency. That still leaves me with sunk time.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by oh_sigh on Thursday February 01, 2024 @05:48PM (#39222594)

Well, the courts might not be able to do anything (unless some officer goes to India). But Rajat could direct his cadre of hackers at whoever ignores his demands.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by lmm on Thursday February 01, 2024 @06:04PM (#39222784)

How do you feel about people who don't do business in the US defying US court orders? Ignoring a court order may be something you can do, but it's generally not a good look.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by cmcaleer on Thursday February 01, 2024 @08:12PM (#39223719)

I understand that US courts are not sovereign everywhere in the world, just as North Korea's courts are not sovereign everywhere in the world. So I guess I'd feel indifference.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by pmontra on Friday February 02, 2024 @02:15AM (#39225991)

Maybe, but the USA have more global reach than NK. Depending on how much those courts want to push their requests and where you live or travel to, you might even end up extradated to the USA.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by progbits on Thursday February 01, 2024 @07:31PM (#39223457)

I feel great, for example when local ISPs or seedbox providers take DMCA notices and flush them down the toilet.

(Yes, not the same as court order but same story)

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by solardev on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:00AM (#39239529)

I'd pay extra to get a livestream of that.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by meepmorp on Thursday February 01, 2024 @11:09PM (#39224914)

I don't especially care, particularly in a case where someone is suing to hide (ostensibly truthful) reporting on their shady dealings. If a US person were doing this in another country, I'd expect them to be told to fuck right off.

Would you just accede to the dictates of a court in a country to which you have no connection? That a much worse look, imo.

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Re:A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Cen... by thecatspaw on Friday February 02, 2024 @04:02AM (#39226648)

the better question is: why should a company be bound by laws outside of the areas they operate in?

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