[HN Gopher] Urban Dead is shutting down
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       Urban Dead is shutting down
        
       Author : ColinWright
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2025-03-03 18:38 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (urbandead.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (urbandead.com)
        
       | ColinWright wrote:
       | In case the site itself goes away:
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20250303181731/https://urbandead...
        
       | Rebelgecko wrote:
       | This was a super fun game back in the day. It was really cool to
       | see the social structures forming on both the human and z sides
       | during being events like mall sieges
        
         | cmrx64 wrote:
         | I forgot about it so long ago and now that I'm aware of it
         | again, it's because it shut down... damn. This OSA has been so
         | destructive to early web communities :/
        
       | NoboruWataya wrote:
       | Damn, this was such a fun game back in the day. I used to love
       | logging on after school to go on raids with friends. Recently I
       | had been logging back on every few weeks to play for a bit. Or
       | even just read through the wiki for some nostalgia.
       | 
       | "19 years, 8 months and 11 days" is a damn good run for a game
       | like this (though it seems extra sad for it to die just shy of
       | its 20th birthday)! There was certainly still activity in the
       | game - I wonder how much of it was bots.
        
       | 9283409232 wrote:
       | Can someone explain why the OSA is forcing this to shut down?
       | Merican here.
        
         | ColinWright wrote:
         | Although probably intended to target large platforms, the OSA
         | is worded in such a way as to apply to nearly everyone who
         | provides any kind of service that allows user-to-user
         | interaction. It is (rightly) ostensibly intended to prevent
         | abuse, terrorism, grooming, and similar activities, but it
         | requires a full risk assessment against around 10 different
         | possible interactions, and the paperwork is potentially
         | onerous.
         | 
         | But worse, the fines are potentially in the tens of millions of
         | pounds, and even inadvertent non-compliance can result in
         | extensive prison time.
         | 
         | Of course, the government says they won't go after the small
         | organisations, but if the wind changes, the legislation is
         | there. Even if the risk is extremely small, the penalties are
         | life-destroying.
         | 
         | As a result, many are deciding it's simply not worth the risk.
         | 
         | Also explained here:
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152178
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152154
         | 
         | This comment is especially useful:
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152930
         | Liability is unlimited and there's no provision in law
         | for being a single person or small group of volunteers.
         | You'll be held to the same standards as a behemoth with
         | full time lawyers.
        
       | true_blue wrote:
       | The reason for the shut down is especially sad. it feels so
       | common that the smaller players are disproportionately hurt by
       | acts like this.
        
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       (page generated 2025-03-03 23:01 UTC)