NPM, in Shocking Turn, Complies with the Law

medium.com

8 points·vulpino··5 comments

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.

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!

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.

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

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