Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post. • Hacker News Board

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#111

Post by smazero » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 4:32 PM UTC

All a bit petty and grubby isn't it? I don't think the claims of libel or defamation really hold much water given the evidence presented (I am not a lawyer), but it seems to me DOs clause of avoiding embarrassment could cover pretty much anything.

That said the tone and approach of the original poster's blog posts leave an unpleasant taste in my mouth in that way that something can be technically correct, whilst simultaneously feeling morally repugnant; more self aggrandising than injustice fighting, and it's interesting how keen the original poster is to explicitly name and shame the random dude from Google, while remaining conveniently anonymous himself.

Bah, I feel grubby just from having commented on this.

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#112

Post by nknighthb » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 4:34 PM UTC

jacques_chester wrote: post #66

Argorak wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats interesting. As a liberalish European, I think DigitalOcean shouldn't be allowed to police their content, just as ISPs shouldn't be allowed to block websites at their whim. Thats clearly in the realm of courts and lawyers. DigitalOcean can cancel the contract once others found the blog post to be defamatory.

> DigitalOcean can cancel the contract once others found the blog post to be defamatory. Well ... that's what's happening. It's not "policing content", it's holding up their side of the contract.

I see this sort of non-argument on HN a lot. Why do you believe that just because someone has the right to do something, that changes its nature? I have the right in the US to walk down the street shouting racist slogans. If I did so, should I be immune from criticism because it's within my rights? Is one magically not-racist just because the law says racist behavior is legal?

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#113

Post by jasonlotito » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 4:40 PM UTC

hect0r wrote: post #104

All DO are asking the blog author to do is to just honour the Terms of Service that he himself agreed to. I don't see any controversy here; it is all very simple. Maybe, the blog author is attention-seeking and trying to manufacture outrage by trying to cast himself as a "victim". The real victim, if there is one, is the Googler who has had his conversations in a closed forum relayed to the world and editorialised by…

Replace DO with AWS and the Googler with Jeff Bezos, and the blog format with the NYTimes.

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#114

Post by nknighthb » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 4:41 PM UTC

jacques_chester wrote: post #85

imdsm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. It seems to me that they wanted editorial control via proxy. "You change this for me or I'll delete your droplet." The thing in this which really irks me is that the staff were neither co-operative nor reasonable. If you're a paying customer, the least they could do is put the complaint into a state of investigation whilst they looked into the claim. Instant ultimatum seems a bit steep. I use Digital Ocea…

I understand where you're coming from, but while the shape is similar, "editorial control" and "upholding a ToS" are essentially different things. For example. Suppose instead that DigitalOcean staff wanted him to write about penguins. If they said "write more about flightless antarctic birds or we will pull the plug", they would be trying to exercise editorial control, because they'd be making positive assertions ab…

> When I studied law I learnt that different things, even when they lead to identical outcomes, are different, and should be dealt with independently.

That may be true in a court of law. This is not a court of law. Insistence on treating it like one is a great example of why people hate lawyers.

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#115

Post by jdhendrickson » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 4:41 PM UTC

How many times is this story going to be killed and reposted?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7015191

I get that he is trying to get this to go viral and thereby bring attention to his pathetic muck raking but maybe a ban for gaming the system is in order I believe it's been submitted three times and killed or flagged each time, how many times can you submit the same lame, self aggrandizing content?

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#116

Post by gnu8 » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 5:11 PM UTC

macspoofing wrote: post #36

Am I the only one who sees Digital Ocean as acting ethically here? This guy is a jerk. He harassed a guy, because the guy works at Google, into giving him his opinion about a semi-controversial topic in a private forum. Then he writes a blog hit-piece in which he explicitly identifies him and disparages him for the opinion he gave! I don't know if he has a legal right to do this, but you don't just do things like tha…

I think you are the Googler who was harassed, based on your distorted justification for Digital Ocean's unethical behavior and the fact that you don't see it as unethical.

Here's a major reason why Digital Ocean was unethical: they took unilateral action based on a complaint from some googler transmitted to a highly placed Digital Ocean executive who the googler knew personally. If that's an acceptable resolution to someone being mean to someone on the internet, then is Digital Ocean going to provide the entire world with personal access to this executive, in case one of their customers is ever mean to anyone else? No. So it's a recovery only available to privileged technocrats.

This is by no means the only reason why Digital Ocean's action is unacceptable, but it deserves more consideration. Google itself is well known for being impossible to deal with unless you know someone on the inside. This googler should carefully consider whether he was really the wronged party here, or whether he is part of a larger problem.

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#117

Post by nobodyshere » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 5:15 PM UTC

andrewfong wrote: post #106

nobodyshere wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find me another service that praises you for violation of their TOS. I'd be really pleased to find at least one.

TOSes are what they are, but at least Rackspace's TOS doesn't prohibit acts that "embarrass" someone.

However a lawsuit against them would. And it is very logical to try and avoid having such a lawsuit as you'd have to spend quite a few bucks on a decent lawyer.

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#118

Post by Sidis » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 5:30 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #113

hect0r wrote: post #104

All DO are asking the blog author to do is to just honour the Terms of Service that he himself agreed to. I don't see any controversy here; it is all very simple. Maybe, the blog author is attention-seeking and trying to manufacture outrage by trying to cast himself as a "victim". The real victim, if there is one, is the Googler who has had his conversations in a closed forum relayed to the world and editorialised by…

Replace DO with AWS and the Googler with Jeff Bezos, and the blog format with the NYTimes.

...and it wouldn't make any difference.

If the NY Times signed an agreement with AWS that stated that they couldn't do X against anyone and, at a later date, they did X against Jeff Bezos then AWS would be well within their rights to demand that either NYT adhere to their agreement or leave.

I note that you use the example of two related entities (AWS and Jeff Bezos). Are you implying that there is a relationship between DO and the Googler equivalent to that between Jeff and AWS?

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#119

Post by ommunist » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 5:35 PM UTC

Leave DO. Go to goip.com, publish whatever you want. Its Netherlands.

To those who say the guy is jerk and his blog does not deserve the publicity. This is typical orwellian situation with some animals more equal than others. DO hosts a lot of things and does not police them, but this one was voluntary attempt of editorial control (censorship) and it is not acceptable from infrastructure provider. As it seems, DO is not behaving ethically (nor does the guy).

Re: Digital Ocean said it would shut down my blog if I didn’t edit a blog post.

#120

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 07, 2014, 5:42 PM UTC

gnu8 wrote: post #116

macspoofing wrote: post #36

Am I the only one who sees Digital Ocean as acting ethically here? This guy is a jerk. He harassed a guy, because the guy works at Google, into giving him his opinion about a semi-controversial topic in a private forum. Then he writes a blog hit-piece in which he explicitly identifies him and disparages him for the opinion he gave! I don't know if he has a legal right to do this, but you don't just do things like tha…

I think you are the Googler who was harassed, based on your distorted justification for Digital Ocean's unethical behavior and the fact that you don't see it as unethical. Here's a major reason why Digital Ocean was unethical: they took unilateral action based on a complaint from some googler transmitted to a highly placed Digital Ocean executive who the googler knew personally. If that's an acceptable resolution to…

[deleted]