Well done, 2016. /sarcasm font

Originally posted by lynnenne at On LJ migrating to Russian servers

I work for a tech company that deals with data residency issues all the time, so I'm sharing what I know about the legalities of LiveJournal moving its physical servers to Russia. (I don't know for certain that they have moved, but siderea has posted some evidence.) 

What I know: 

When a company offers a service to the public, the laws governing that service are determined by where the physical servers reside. For most of its life, LiveJournal servers lived in California, so LJ had to abide by California laws. Among other things, it meant that:

- LJ couldn't share your personal data with advertisers, researchers, or other third parties without your permission
- You maintained the copyright to any stories or essays you wrote
- Whatever speech you published was protected by the first amendment, so they needed a valid reason to take it down (e.g. It violated LJ's terms and conditions, it constituted criminal activity, etc)
- LJ could not turn over your personal data to law enforcement without a warrant

With the servers in Russia, none of that applies anymore. They can basically remove any posts that they don't like (political or otherwise) without giving you a reason. They can delete your entire journal without explanation or recourse. They can also translate your fiction and sell it as their own. And, since they have your credit card info, they can share that with their Russian mafia buddies and use it to steal your identity, hack your bank accounts, etc.

Granted, LiveJournal has been owned by a Russian company for several years, so they might have been doing some of this stuff already. But last week, you could have sued them in a California court for doing it. From now on, you have no legal recourse.

This entry was originally posted at http://lynnenne.dreamwidth.org/305395.html. Comments welcome at either site.

Well done, 2016. /sarcasm font

Originally posted by lynnenne at On LJ migrating to Russian servers

I work for a tech company that deals with data residency issues all the time, so I'm sharing what I know about the legalities of LiveJournal moving its physical servers to Russia. (I don't know for certain that they have moved, but siderea has posted some evidence.) 

What I know: 

When a company offers a service to the public, the laws governing that service are determined by where the physical servers reside. For most of its life, LiveJournal servers lived in California, so LJ had to abide by California laws. Among other things, it meant that:

- LJ couldn't share your personal data with advertisers, researchers, or other third parties without your permission
- You maintained the copyright to any stories or essays you wrote
- Whatever speech you published was protected by the first amendment, so they needed a valid reason to take it down (e.g. It violated LJ's terms and conditions, it constituted criminal activity, etc)
- LJ could not turn over your personal data to law enforcement without a warrant

With the servers in Russia, none of that applies anymore. They can basically remove any posts that they don't like (political or otherwise) without giving you a reason. They can delete your entire journal without explanation or recourse. They can also translate your fiction and sell it as their own. And, since they have your credit card info, they can share that with their Russian mafia buddies and use it to steal your identity, hack your bank accounts, etc.

Granted, LiveJournal has been owned by a Russian company for several years, so they might have been doing some of this stuff already. But last week, you could have sued them in a California court for doing it. From now on, you have no legal recourse.

This entry was originally posted at http://lynnenne.dreamwidth.org/305395.html. Comments welcome at either site.

ETA: I'm already cross-posting from DW, so I don't know that I will change anything immediately. And Theresa May can read everything already...

Go Fund Me Campaign

Originally posted by a_phoenixdragon at Go Fund Me Campaign

(Because it does rather help if you post it, yes?)

This is the campaign set up to help us fold this tent and move - any and all help would be appreciated guys!:

Our Big Family Move

Thank you, guise - always, always! Wish us luck! Gonna be a bumpy (but hopefully fun!) ride!

*Squishes Everyone Tight, Tight*

Love~
Mandy

Remembering

The Guardian: Ask Carrie Fisher: I'm bipolar – how do you feel at peace with mental illness?
Living with mental illness is tough, Fisher says, and that’s why it’s important to find a community to share experiences and find comfort in the similarities

Vox: In remembering George Michael, don't forget the decades we spent shaming him
Genre snobbery and homophobia made his eulogy a careless whisper instead of a cultural reckoning.

And then youtube suggested this to me... It's a very old episode of 'V Graham Norton', back when it was on Channel 4 (so yes, parts are NSFW!!). It didn't have a date on it, but from the conversation it becomes evident that it's very early in the 2000s - after September 11th, but before they actually went to war. (It's funny how jokes and such date things - the beginning made me cringe. Although I wish he still had the half naked hunks...

If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, go to 19 minutes in and listen to him talk about the song he is performing, and then listen to the song itself.

Watch on YouTube

I think we forgot how difficult it was then. Dubya seems forever ago, but really wasn't. Guess Obama was just a reprieve.

Anyway, it's an excellent interview.

Oh joy... :(

Originally posted by rahirah at CONFIRMED: LJ Servers moving to Russia, now with all kinds of links and shit

LJ has been owned by a Russian company, SUP, for some years, but until recently, the servers were in California, and thus subject to US law. This is no longer be the case. Links on the ramifications of this (English speakers will need to use Google Translate on the last two):

http://madfilkentist.dreamwidth.org/77455.html
https://mdlbear.dreamwidth.org/1584905.html
http://siderea.livejournal.com/1330106.html
http://lynnenne.livejournal.com/285076.html
http://dolboeb.livejournal.com/3079690.html
http://dolboeb.livejournal.com/3081385.html

I have done a traceroute ( http://ping.eu/traceroute/ ) on my own LJ, and it appears to come through a Russian server now.

There are unconfirmed reports that journals with 'objectionable' content, such as pro-Ukraine blogs, are being deleted. There's also what looks like a mass migration of Russian users into Dreamwidth over the last week or so.

There are all kinds of ramifications for this move, most of them bad. For people located outside Russia, I think the greatest risk is simply that SUP has decided that the non-Russian side of LJ hasn't been profitable in ages, and is never going to be profitable, and this is the first step in shutting it down entirely. So if you have a Livejournal with content that you'd like to preserve, now is a real good time to back it up.

HOW TO BACK UP YOUR LJ:

https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=127 (importing personal blogs)
https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=230 (importing communities)

You can import tags, icons, filters, posts, and comments – the whole shebang. You can also set up crossposting to Livejournal (I've been crossposting to LJ from DW for years.)

If you have no Dreamwidth account, if someone imports a comment you made, it will be made under your Open ID account. If you make a DW account, you can claim these comments:

http://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=84 (How can I claim my OpenID account with my Dreamwidth account?)

If you're already on Dreamwidth, or is you're setting up a backup account there now, please let me know so I can friend you over there. I'd hate to lose track of everyone if we wake up one morning and find a big ol' 404 error where LJ used to be.

~~

What rahirah said: Please let me know who you are on Dreamwidth. (I'm elisi everywhere, except Tumblr.) (But Tumblr is not important...) ETA: I'm not going anywhere, and I don't particularly *like* DW, it's just... Not home. (And does not have a single layout that I like.) However, I like to have back-up plans. Let's all move to InsaneJournal!! :D (Tweak says, "i love you")