SO is something that is perhaps based (located) in the US, but it has an international span - a sort of international company if you will. The problem with such companies and legalities is that each franchise must follow rules of country it is located in. But SO doesn't have franchises, so its legal issues are mostly determined by popular vote (using the website is deemed as ok
, not using the website is deemed as not ok
) and one could argue that location of the website is under jurisdiction of where servers are located at (or the seat of the company) - but in that example, and ever moving-moving servers are then difficult to place under any jurisdiction - since servers (or itstheir content) can change location, and the company can relocate.
And as that, it shows that any presumed legality of any company that has an online presence is enforced by the country it is in, but since the span of such a company overreaches its territorial borders, it is easily circumvented.
One can argue that the ILA (International Law Association ) could get this case, but the issue here is basis of all countries’ constitutions (and by proxy their laws) that are built upon up to 5five international papers among which are Human Rightshuman rights as the original base (among monarchy succession, what constitutes independence of the country... ). So ILA often just translates from the laws of one country to the laws of another - among bigger issues.
The reason why any petition often doesn't work here is because we need laws to further explain how people should govern themselves, and any international case must beforehand follow (first) Internationalinternational law and (second) everything else. That is the reason why most terms of services first list the country a company (product) originates from, and then in general laws that are from thosethat country. Since I am in Serbia, Apple will not prosecute me if I mess with its branding/product - I mean they can try... but good luck.
And this is also the reason why most international rules in internetthe Internet society follow basic discrimination (and/or oppression) act with no more than that (constituted by Human Rightshuman rights).
So, as conclusion: There is no chance in hell, that SO can be beaten in court (or any other legal object) in this case, since everyone already moderating here are:
- Doing it on their own volition - which means they are willingly breaking the law in their state/country by act of intent
- Laws don't work retroactively (laws that are made/constituted after company is established don't work on prior issues ) - aka they start working at the moment they are announced public.
- "I didn't know" - is never a good defending policy. And SO has our data inon the server, so any misnomer (however minuscule) in our part can be bad for us in a court of law. Their lawyers know a lot of loopholes, and differences.
And even if someone (by luck/or something else) succeeds in prosecuting SO, that someone is effectively shutting down their own country from SO , and due to nuances in international law differences next modsmoderators could be of anything but American nationality.
In reality, internetthe Internet social community is poorly regulated since nooneno one knows under which law to regulate it. We are used to have local laws as our guides, and nooneno one to take our side. Aside from basic Human Rightshuman rights (which are further detaillydetailed implemented by law) even if Human Right ishuman rights are broken, no one can actually pursue it. We don't have our international government, international laws, and international courts.
So I understand that probably you have found this law of your own curiosity (or desire to be payed for your modshipmodeatorship), but SO has no desire (or need) to grant you your request unless you have some leverage.