[HN Gopher] A startup allegedly 'hacked the world', then came ce...
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       A startup allegedly 'hacked the world', then came censorship, and
       now backlash
        
       Author : coloneltcb
       Score  : 63 points
       Date   : 2024-02-01 20:53 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wired.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wired.com)
        
       | BLKNSLVR wrote:
       | So it appears that Rajat Khare is behind the shady Indian company
       | Appin who appear to offer "hack for hire" services whilst
       | fronting as a cyber security training company and aren't shy
       | about using lawyers to manipulate the public record.
       | 
       | Just wanted to make sure that was clear.
        
         | ThinkBeat wrote:
         | Thank you for the summary. I found the article convoluted.
        
           | dang wrote:
           | (This was posted to
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39221337 before we
           | merged the threads, so "the article" is actually
           | https://www.techdirt.com/2024/02/01/sorry-appin-were-not-
           | tak...)
        
       | sydbarrett74 wrote:
       | Is this the same Rajat Khare who owns a VC fund?
        
         | w1 wrote:
         | Per [this story](https://www.thedailybeast.com/who-is-killing-
         | all-these-stori...), yes.
        
       | mellosouls wrote:
       | Being discussed here (different article):
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39221337
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Thanks! Macroexpanded: _Sorry Appin, we 're not taking down our
         | article about your attempts to silence_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39221337 - Feb 2024 (21
         | comments)
         | 
         | I'm having trouble figuring out which one of these articles has
         | more information. Since the this one was posted earlier and is
         | currently ranked higher on the frontpage, I guess it can be
         | 'the one' for now. There are a bunch of techdirt-specific
         | comments in the other thread that don't make sense to merge, so
         | readers may want to check both.
        
       | __MatrixMan__ wrote:
       | The difference between ads and news is that people will pay to
       | publish ads and they will pay to keep news quiet.
       | 
       | It seems that we've built quite a capable ad machine. I wonder
       | what it would look like if we built something for news. Certainly
       | there would be less of this nonsense going on.
       | 
       | Like, kudos to those standing up to Appin, but the fact that
       | facing down a bully is necessary at all is a design failure that
       | I'd like to work to rectify.
        
         | hosteur wrote:
         | > It seems that we've built quite a capable ad machine. I
         | wonder what it would look like if we built something for news.
         | 
         | Like Wikileaks?
        
           | babypuncher wrote:
           | Yes, but without the Kremlin dictating which content is
           | actually worth leaking.
        
             | BlueTemplar wrote:
             | The Kremlin ?
        
         | staplers wrote:
         | People also pay to publish ads disguised as news.
        
       | meepmorp wrote:
       | So, if you don't do business in India, why follow the court
       | order?
       | 
       | I understand Reuters taking down the article, but why would
       | Lawfare or other blogs comply? What could an Indian court
       | possibly do to someone entirely outside of their jurisdiction? It
       | seems like the most appropriate response is "no, and we're going
       | to publish the demand letters," which is exactly what techdirt
       | did.
       | 
       | Let Rajat Khare - the guy who is likely behind Appin - file in a
       | US (or EU, or wherever) court. In the US, at least, he'd have to
       | provide some evidence that the article isn't true, which he
       | probably can't.
       | 
       | Fuck Rajat Khare and Appin, the hacking company he almost
       | certainly controls.
        
         | lolc wrote:
         | Being right can be time consuming and expensive. So unless they
         | are prepared to defend themselves, people fold under the
         | vaguest of threats.
        
         | solardev wrote:
         | > In the US, at least, he'd have to provide some evidence that
         | the article isn't true, which he probably can't.
         | 
         | Realistically, he just has to be able to throw more money and
         | lawyers at the situation than his opponents could. Maybe a
         | bigger journalistic outfit could/would fight it, but the small
         | blogs would probably be easy pickin'.
        
         | oh_sigh wrote:
         | Well, the courts might not be able to do anything (unless some
         | officer goes to India). But Rajat could direct his cadre of
         | hackers at whoever ignores his demands.
        
       | FergusArgyll wrote:
       | This feels pretty easy but I don't really know. Someone should
       | make a bot that archives any stories with his name in it
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-01 23:00 UTC)