NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

#1

Post by vulpino » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 3:57 PM UTC

NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law
medium.com

Re: NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

#2

Post by CarolineW » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 4:05 PM UTC

Note: This is tagged "humor". I suppose some people will find it funny.

Re: NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

#3

Post by dkhenry » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 4:17 PM UTC

This would be funny if NPM was obeying the law, but they weren't there was no court order forcing them to do this. So they were simply valuing the opinion of a lawyer above their users and developers.

Re: NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

#4

Post by nikolay » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 4:25 PM UTC

No, that's not the law - NPM simply got scared. That's why these organizations, domains, and servers should not reside in the US where it's much easier to twist arms!

Re: NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

#5

Post by Artur_Gaspar » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 4:34 PM UTC

That was the first thing I thought too.

Laws are scary, lawyers are scary. Maybe npm's legal team (if they have one) concluded the Kik company was in the right, or that it was useless or not worth the risk to be taken to court.

Re: NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

#6

Post by vulpino » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 4:50 PM UTC

dkhenry wrote: post #3

This would be funny if NPM was obeying the law, but they weren't there was no court order forcing them to do this. So they were simply valuing the opinion of a lawyer above their users and developers.

I'd imagine that, if NPM were contacted by a lawyer as the developer states, that there was the threat of legal action. So, then, you are correct and technically I should title the article "NPM, Under Threat Of Legal Action, Removes Package From Registry," or "NPM Complies With Request Made By Lawyer."

I don't think NPM at any point valued the lawyer's opinion. But do you really think it's feasible for them to go to court? An app with millions of users is not going to change its name. A command line tool with less than 100 stars on github can surely afford to.

Was removing the package the morally "right" thing to do? Unlikely. It's clear he wasn't intentionally infringing on the kik trademark. But he (the developer) acts as if it was something NPM did willingly, and clear proof that NPM is a malicious organization designed to usurp the community of its power. That's an absurd claim.