SksksjsDec 21, 2022
Justin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿

If you are considering running your own Mastodon server (or similar service) and it will be hosted in the United States, please read this general best practice guideline from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/12/user-generated-content-and-fediverse-legal-primer

#eff #electronicfrontierfoundation #law #legaladvice #bestpractices #fediverse #dmca #digitalmillenniumcopyrightact #section230 #corynnemchserry #rights #anonymity #copyrightlaw

User Generated Content and the Fediverse: A Legal Primer

A growing number of people are experimenting with federated alternatives to social media like Mastodon, either by joining an “instance” hosted by someone else or creating their own instance by running the free, open-source software on a server they control. (See more about this movement and joining...

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Dec 21, 2022 at 3:27amWeb
Show threadChad KirbyDec 21, 2022
@koavf TYVM! I'm thinking about spinning up a home server. Last time I did this, it was way too complicated. Hopefully it's streamlined now!
Show threadJustin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 21, 2022
@chad Please let me know if you end up doing it: I have had a backburner goal of doing the same myself for years. Do you think you would have a single-person server to just post your own stuff or would you try to make a community?
Show threadChad KirbyDec 21, 2022
@koavf my plan was just to host my own family’s data. I’ll report back, though! I’ve got for couple SBCs floating around that would be great for this.
Show threadAphrodite (recharging)Dec 21, 2022

@koavf

Does US hosting matter or does US exposure matter (eg: let’s say holding company is USian but physical server is on metal in Germany)?

Show threadJustin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 21, 2022
@Aphrodite Sounds like a great lawyer question (I am not one and not qualified to give legal advice). Generally, my understanding is that foreign courts can _try_ to penalize you for not following their laws, but good luck enforcing it.
Show threadAphrodite (recharging)Dec 21, 2022

@koavf

an upcoming project crosses at least four potential jurisdictional lines so we’re attempting plot out policies that comply with all X as best as possible anyways

Show threadJustin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 21, 2022
@Aphrodite In my not-at-all-professional opinion, host things in the place that has the most liberal laws for speech and hiring (e.g. if you host in the United States, do not have an Iranian employee or if you host in the United Kingdom, beware that they have no real free speech laws). Can you update me when the project is live?
Show threadmsgbiDec 21, 2022
@koavf @aloa5 @charles_ex not here with our laws
Show threadJoe ❌👑Dec 21, 2022
@msgbi @koavf @aloa5 @charles_ex Depending on where you are, you will have different sets of laws to comply with. Ideally we should be able to point to guides to legal issues for each country. But wherever an instance is hosted, there will be rules about copyright complaints, illegal content like child porn and the like and how this must be handled.
Show threadmsgbiDec 23, 2022
@not2b @koavf @aloa5 @charles_ex Germany extra annoying inside EU. Normal homepage can be subject of lawyers. Recommend organisations... @Ginger149
Show threadRamon Fincken 🇺🇦Dec 21, 2022
@mbootsman wellicht interessant
Show threadJamieDec 21, 2022
@koavf The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a terrible law designed to protect corporate intellectual property. The @eff has provided @mayfirst with invaluable legal assistance fighting this law when it's used against us by corporations trying to shutdown criticism (see https://support.mayfirst.org/wiki/legal for more details).
legal – Support

Show threadDavid ColettaDec 21, 2022

@koavf I found this very helpful thread: https://nitter.net/rahaeli/status/1593819064161665024

Which led me to this CC-licensed DMCA Policy: https://www.dreamwidth.org/legal/dmca

Which I then adapted for my Mastodon instance quakers.social. I made a subdomain for meta stuff like this, and hosted my policy at meta.quakers.social/dmca-policy.

(And I signed up as a DMCA Registered Agent.)

#mastoadmin

rahaeli (@rahaeli)

Hey, US folks newly running Mastodon instances: do Future You a *huge* favor, mitigate your potential liability, and register with the copyright office and designate an agent to receive DMCA reports *right now*. https://www.copyright.gov/dmca-directory/

Nitter
Show threadJustin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 21, 2022
@dcoletta Beautiful. Thanks for the perspective.
Show threadRob BosDec 21, 2022
@koavf If anyone has a similar reference for Canadian hosts, that would be helpful. I'm not sure the extent of my exposure to, eg, the DMCA.
Show threadJustin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 21, 2022
@rbos As I recall, the EFF have a presence in Canada (I may just be thinking of expatriate Canadian Cory Doctorow, tho...) Maybe write to their legal contacts for guidance? https://www.eff.org/pages/legal-assistance
Legal Assistance from EFF

Please be respectful of the time of our attorneys. Direct all legal inquiries, not to the individual attorney, but to [email protected]. All inquiries will be routed to [email protected]. For expedited responses to media inquiries, please email [email protected]. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been...

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Show threadMary OliviaDec 22, 2022

@koavf Thanks for this!

Would you happen to know anyone I could ask about running a proxy for my prospective instance-dwellers in the event they need to file a DMCA or counter-DMCA? It's difficult to do as an individual without revealing your address, so I've always absently dreamed of running some sort of artist's co-op that pitched in together to fund an authorized representative for that stuff.

Show threadJustin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 22, 2022
@amalgamary As a non-lawyer and altogether ignorant person, no. Thinking out loud, some leads may be to start here: https://www.eff.org/pages/legal-assistance or even find a state that is amenable to forming LLCs with minimal reporting for ownership, such as (as I recall) Wyoming. Not the best advice, but I hope that is useful. :/
Legal Assistance from EFF

Please be respectful of the time of our attorneys. Direct all legal inquiries, not to the individual attorney, but to [email protected]. All inquiries will be routed to [email protected]. For expedited responses to media inquiries, please email [email protected]. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been...

Electronic Frontier Foundation