I think it could be useful to have input on law-related matters from people with expertise in that area, though I'd suggest avoiding anything that comes close to a solicitor-client relationship. Both because of issues with jurisdictional competence, and because it would require clearing conflicts (or could create conflicts down the road with other clients).

I agree with @TorontoWill. As a lawyer who has served on the boards of many non-profits, the rule is always to educate and help identity issues, but not to actually give advice as how to resolve those issues. I could imagine one of the lawyers actually entering into a lawyer-client relationship to undertake the work, but that would need to be spelled out with an actual engagement letter. For my part, I’m just here as a volunteer to issue spot.

If there is work to be done, and qualified people who are interested in tackling it, then IMO it totally makes sense. I would just advise that we be open to putting it back into abeyance if they get through the inbox and don't have more to do. (It is easy for committees to continue indefinitely just because nobody is prepared to say "okay, we're done", and that's usually not a win in my experience.)

It's always less expensive to learn from other people's mistakes, and, mistakes in the legal side of things are usually longer-term problems, so are more expensive to fix. Places where we can share our experiences and get better advice would be great. :D

As both the Fediverse and socialcoop grows, seems like a sensible idea to have people on hand to educate and identify possible legal issues.

This area if far from my experience and I'm still new in this coop to cast any vote, so I trust the rest who express their opinions here. :)

Thanks a lot for the attention to this point, independently of what happens next. :)

makes sense to me. also thank you all for the attention to detail throughout this coop

Seems like having a circle / working-group would be lovely. Is there a Charter or something similar which describes the rights/responsibilities of the prior working-group; as well as onboarding/participation/offboarding? Or would y'all be starting that from scratch?

This is good and I can potentially pitch in with my legal skillz depending upon the timing. I'm generally under water lately, however.

This is absolutely necessary in light of GDPR, german data protection laws, sesta/fosta, etc. Some good resources re being posted around, including comments on this post https://mastodon.xyz/@johl/109364796050171555

We may want to have a look at https://legal.social/terms for some guidance

Others have already mentioned it: GDPR and German data protection law need to be taken into account too. Liability is a real risk, also at the personal level.

We live in a world where spaces like ours face a host of legal challenges. I think having a legal working group (ideally with at least some bona fide lawyers) would be a great idea.

Makes sense to me. I see Denise Paolucci, co-founder of Dreamwidth, just posted https://denise.dreamwidth.org/91757.html which discusses legal obligations we will need to cover.

If we have qualified and willing people, and I think we do, then this is a good idea.

After seeing recent discussions about liabilities that fall on those that run servers, I'd appreciate having a group looking into such risks on our behalf.

Sensible

This seems very important and I appreciate anybody who will volunteer to help with this.

Seems like a proactive move, just in case...

Add me to the list of members who thought "oh, that's probably a good idea" when they saw that DMCA thread.