Belgium Tries to Fine Yahoo for Protecting US User Privacy 267
Techdirt is reporting that Belgium is trying to extract fines from Yahoo for not producing user data that was recently demanded of the US company. Instead of following normal diplomatic channels Belgian officials apparently made the data demands directly to Yahoo's US headquarters and then took the company to criminal court, where a judge issued the fine. "The implications of this ruling are profound and far-reaching. Following the court's logic would subject user data associated with any service generally available online to the jurisdiction of all countries. It would also subject all companies that offer services generally available on the global Internet to the laws of all jurisdictions, potentially exposing individual employees to a variety of criminal sanctions."
Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:3, Funny)
If it reaches the point where Belgium, which is notorious for its disruptive behavior on the Internet, tries to extract money out of Yahoo! on the grounds of tortuous logic, as its press wing has tried to extort money out of Google, then maybe it is now time to dissolve the Belgian State and distribute its three regions between the Netherlands (Flanders), France (Wallonia) and Germany (Eupen). These groups do not get along, anyway; and the only reason there is still a Belgium is that nobody knows what to do with the capital, Brussels, when the country does break up.
If Bush were still President (Score:1, Funny)
If Bush were still President, the bombs would already be falling on Belgium.
Re:Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:5, Funny)
What about the beer?
Won't anyone think of the beer?
Re:If Bush were still President (Score:2, Funny)
Serves you IT geeks right. now ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If Bush were still President (Score:5, Funny)
twice. Once in English, once in tortured "Belgish".
This will, naturally, piss of the Gremans, who will then be forced to bomb Pearl Harbor.
Re:Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Who gives a shit about Belgium? (Score:3, Funny)
FAL fanatics as well... mmm... nice crisp waffle, with a nice Browning G series FAL... I can do the waffle, can't afford the FAL. :(
Re:Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:3, Funny)
don't forget the Belgian chocolates for the women too. Though I am 99.9999% sure that any woman reading slashdot would be a beer aficionado.
Re:Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:2, Funny)
So she claims.
Re:Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:2, Funny)
Re:How do they enforce the ruling? (Score:1, Funny)
Google removed those links, too!
Re:Let's Put Belgium To Sleep (Score:2, Funny)
Their french fries are also about the best in the world. They have some mutant growth gene that creates ginormous potatoes and horses.
They put horse in the french fries?
Re:If Bush were still President (Score:3, Funny)