It was a bit unfair to the Smithsonian Institute, but my point was, if you expect companies to pick and choose laws to obey, that cuts both ways. The problem is bad laws, not law itself.
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You really think the Saudis had a problem with that particular episode because it broke their laws? Heck no; they just slapped it down because it made their Prince look bad. Citing the law was clearly just a post-hoc justification. It’s not even clear what about the episode is supposed to constitute “cybercrime.”
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The Saudis streisanded (is that a verb? it should be) themselves, quelle surprise. I continue to be baffled that nobody in power ever seems to understand that.
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Article 3 section 6 and Article 6 section 1. KSA law is valid only as written in Arabic, and as construed in Arabic, and I’ve read them in Arabic, and they are a little broader in Arabic because of those constructions. What constitutes “public order” in Saudi Arabia is well understood to mean “no mocking the royals.” Just because the law is stupid, doesn’t mean it isn’t the law. The KSA has rule by decree. It’s not like these laws are hard to pass. If that law doesn’t apply, they can just make one up tomorrow, enter it in the books, and have it take effect. They could also be charged under the 2014 Antiterrorism laws which are still broader. This is not taking into account the can of worms that is the KSA legal system in general, which has no binding precedents, and no predictability.
My point with this is not that the laws are great and wonderful, but that much like the Huwaei CEO, their reach has consequence for any company trying to conduct business regardless of where that company is located.
So what does that mean for Netflix? Should they just decide not to do business in the KSA as amoral stand? Here’s what I’m going to say: Actual, formal, and coordinated sanctions have tended not to work historically. What’s one company leaving going to do? If anything, I would say that the benefits of exposure to global media more broadly outweigh a more love-it-or-leave-it stance on Netflix’s part. What gets through is still valuable. The rise of free-to-air satellite television was a huge change in how the Arab world parsed information in the 90s and early 2000s and the Internet only continues that trend. I want to see the Arab world become more integrated in the global Internet and not devolve into numerous country-wide intranets. An episode of Patriot Act is a pawn sacrifice, from my perspective.
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logged in specifically to like this comment : )
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Well, yea, but I was concerned there was something else. Everything I’d seen previously indicated he was an OK person, and some googling seems to have confirmed that. I was worried he was a piece of garbage as we’ve found so many Hollywood types seem to be.
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Are you certain that’s not Bob Dylan?
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