Be happy they somehow think they have enough of your personal data and metadata.
Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
141–150 of 300 posts
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#142I triggered some Discord flag where now they require me to give them my phone number to log in via the web. I won't give it to them. Luckily I have a still-logged-in instance on my home computer, do I can still use that for the time being. Super frustration though.
Same here. Still logged in through Firefox, but can't login through Chrome anymore. Exact same computer, exact same IP address. I contacted support and they refused to help me, quote: > I just checked with my team, and upon review of your account, it appears that our detection system has triggered successfully and we will not be removing the phone verification requirement on your account. You'll be required to regist…
> I just checked with my team, and upon review of your account, it appears that our detection system has triggered successfully
That's exactly the same response I got, word-for-word, to my lockout ticket [1]. Initially I thought it was a human replying to my ticket, now I'm not so sure.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
They can, it just takes extra steps and so probably won’t happen as nobody is likely to run a coordinated campaign to do it.
How would it work? I mean, I can imagine framing me for a felony and getting me banned from internet access as part of my sentence, but are there less extreme procedures? EDIT: Maybe breaking into my email server and sending out spam to poison my IP. That’s conceivable, and would partially ban me from sending out email.
DDOS, reporting your server/domain for TOS violations, etc.
As long as nobody cares enough to do it, it probably won’t happen.
Just never piss off the wrong person.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saying that people are complacent and expecting the audience of a site called Hacker News to be mindful of their self-sovereignty is far from "blaming users for their problems". The fact that an older individual shares one idea with the younger generation does not exclude the possibility of it being a generational divide. Kudos, though, for also sharing the younger trait of treating every argument as something about…
Something I also share with the younger generation is the understanding that the cowardice of their elders is what got us all in this situation to start with. "Self-sovereignty" and individualism are failed ideologies: we will solve this for all of us or for none of us. A large contingent of ""hackers"" throws up their hands and say "fine none of us then as long as I can insulate myself from the worse effects of it"…
You are putting "individualism" where none was mentioned.
> "fine none of us then as long as I can insulate myself from the worse effects of it".
No. More like "there is no way that any central entity will be able to solve the conflicts of everyone without turning into authoritarianism and tyranny, so let's stop pretending that we can do that and create a plethora of different communities where people are closer to those with decision-making power."
I can (and want) to help my neighbor and those close to me as equals, but I have no interest in being a mere subject serving as an instrument to whoever is in power above.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
the internet is, unfortunately, real life
I acknowledge your feeling that the internet is real life, and I respect your opinion, but I have to disagree. I'll repost part of a comment I made 5 months ago because I think it's very relevant: "Don't forget that everything you see online is a facade. 15+ years ago, I fell in love with the internet because it's somewhere I could go to be something that I'm not. I could be LOUD, or I could say things I would normal…
Many government functions (unemployment, DMV appointment scheduling, etc) can not be accessed from any place but the internet. It's one reason that Public Libraries are so important these days.
That our government requires you to use the internet puts lie to the idea that you can live a complete life without the internet.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#146The popularity of Discord always surprises me! It takes hard work and time to create an active community. Why put all that hard work and time into a corporate-controlled platform that can lock you out of it anytime they want? How do people feel ok taking such a big risk? Why not use an open protocol like Matrix (or IRC if you're savvy) to form your community?
People will do anything for the tiniest drop of illusionary power and will take the shortest path to it.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another idea would be legislature. Have these online public spaces serve under the same laws as real-life public spaces (museums, parks et cetera). If a town banned you from the train station because you refuse to give them your phone number, that would open them up to being sued. That should absolutely apply to Discord, Google Mail and Amazon AWS.
That should absolutely not apply to Discord, Google Mail, or Amazon AWS, because those are all private companies restricting the use of their private property. You may call them "public spaces" or "public services" but that is an abuse of the word "public".
I’m here to tell you in all probability, the “public” bus you ride every day is owned by a private company.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another idea would be legislature. Have these online public spaces serve under the same laws as real-life public spaces (museums, parks et cetera). If a town banned you from the train station because you refuse to give them your phone number, that would open them up to being sued. That should absolutely apply to Discord, Google Mail and Amazon AWS.
That should absolutely not apply to Discord, Google Mail, or Amazon AWS, because those are all private companies restricting the use of their private property. You may call them "public spaces" or "public services" but that is an abuse of the word "public".
This is incredibly short-sighted.
Just because a company is "private" doesn't mean they can do anything (manufacturing illegal goods, selling things that are harmful, not hire a certain category of people, etc.) We could add to the list of illegal behaviors the fact of denying service without justification and recourse.
Secondly, when those companies confiscate our accounts, they deprive us of what we had stored there (emails, messages, etc.), which should be considered stealing, even if they don't directly profit from the steal.
But most importantly, the size of these companies make them akin to utilities; while not impossible, it's incredibly difficult to operate in today's world without a Gmail account, or in certain circles without access to Instagram, Facebook, Discord, etc.
Given the impact to someone's life to be deprived of such access, the decision should not be left to companies, "private" or not, but supervised public authorities.
In France, the fact, for a professional, of refusing to sell something for no reason is punishable by up to three years in prison[0]. (If the victim sues, the reasons for not selling have to be presented to the judge, who then decides if they're valid or not.) I don't think this has ever been used against a FAANG but it would be a very interesting test.
[0] https://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/Publications/Vie-pratiqu...
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You wrote this like the ideas are mutually exclusive. No, I am writing like one of them has shown to be completely useless in effecting any type of real change, while the other is an equalizing force. > Software license has nothing to do with what rulings are possible. The software license has nothing to do with it. It is the economic and social forces that differ.
I wouldn't consider the abolishment of child labor or enforcement of the 40 hr standard workweek as "completely useless" If government is supposedly accountable to the people it should serve public ends. If it doesn't it should be replaced. I thought that was the entire "Amwrican experiment"? Huh, guess it's a generational thing
> I wouldn't consider the abolishment of child labor or enforcement of the 40 hr standard workweek as "completely useless"
Regulations haven't abolished any of that, they just pushed to China, where you still happily buy products from because they are so cheap.
> American experiment
First, the American experiment was to have a loosely coupled federation of states and to have spread power on the lower spheres of influence. That experiment has been abandoned for a while.
Second, the world should not not revolve around what American people and its government wants to do.
Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse
#150I don't get it. We keep seeing these dystopian stories again and again and again. Does anybody really believe it will ever stop? Or will we all live in fear of losing a lot of work and valuable connections by being banned from one of our social accounts? I already lost one Instagram account that I put a lot of work into. One day, Insta suddenly asked for my birthday. After me putting it in, all I saw is "Sorry, this…
Users keep using. Why would the companies change? If you object, don't click "I agree" to terms of service that you don't feel comfortable with. It's like a prisoner's dilemma. You can complain about how people always defect on you, but you're doing the exact same thing.
>If you object, don't click "I agree" to terms of service that you don't feel comfortable with.
Meanwhile everyone you know clicks "I agree" and you are now excluded from communicating with them. What did this accomplish?