international liability disclaimers
I want to provide a online service/app to the world which might not legal in all countries/jurisdictions but mine. What next?
<p>If i provide an online service/app to the world which is legal in my country/jurisdiction but might not be legal in other locations, what i have to do or what might happen to me?</p>
<p>I mean every jurisdiction cant expect that i check the laws of every country/jurisdiction and do country blocks for example, right?</p>
<p>Might some informations in my terms be enough, something like (for example):</p>
<p>... We do not intend to offer the service in prohibited jurisdictions. If you are located in a prohibited jurisdiction, you may not use the service, even if it is accessible on your device. You will be solely responsible for any legal consequences of using the service in a prohibited jurisdiction. ...</p>
<p>Best wishes</p>
<p>Dan</p>

<h2>I mean every jurisdiction cant expect that i check the laws of every country/jurisdiction and do country blocks for example, right?</h2>
<p>Right? <strong>Wrong!</strong></p>
<p>It is <em>your</em> duty to know the law that applies to you. If you make your service/app available in a jurisdiction then you are deemed to know what the law is and you are required to follow it.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.claytonutz.com/knowledge/2016/april/acl-reach-broadened-as-accc-wins-case-against-valve-corporation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Valve</a> software (the owners of the Steam platform) thought Australian Consumer Law didn’t apply to them because they were a US corporation and the contract was under Washington, USA law. A multi-million dollar mistake.</p>

<p>There are no magic disclaimers that can immunize you against legal actions in all jurisdictions in the world. Theoretically there are tens of thousands of jurisdictions that might come after you, and you cannot possibly know all of the laws. You cannot even know with certainty what the law is in your own state in the US, because courts are constantly &quot;discovering&quot; the true meaning of what vague legal documents assert. This is why you hire an attorney: to get the best-possible advice as to the legal risks. You can't be sure if your actions will be deemed to violate anti-trust laws, but you can get reasonable advice as to how likely it is that an action of yours will end you up in legal trouble. So you need an awful lot of lawyers, or a really well-read lawyer, one competent in law not just of the US, but also Canada, Australia... hard to say where to draw the line. There are myriad legal firms that specialize in knowing the laws of multiple major jurisdictions.</p>
<p>If you are sued in North Korean court, the chances that any judgment against you will ever be enforced are negligible, because NK judgments (if there is such a thing) are not recognized in US courts. Step one is the Uniform Foreign Money Judgments Recognition Act, which your state may have adopted (or maybe not) – of course that is irrelevant if you are in Mongolia and not the US. If the basis of the foreign judgment in the foreign country is contrary to US constitutional law, the judgment will not be recognized. If your app insults national leaders and you are sued in Germany for this, you may lose your assets in Germany but they can't get the judgment recognized in US courts (you have a First Amendment right to insult national leaders).</p>
