[Rapzid]

So just claims without citations? I know government entities and certain government contractors can require no foreign nationals, and perhaps even non residents?, have access to their data.

Requiring that people living in countries with no effective legal structuring in place preventing government coercion of residents not have access to data seems reasonable in certain contexts. Certainly more so for countries that are also adversarial.

I'd be surprised to find out there were real legal obstacles to this. On the surface it looks like somebody trying to build a case for their personal stance on the situation. Is she their legal council? Was this run by legal council? "Legal has concerns" would have been a power play and I don't see that..

[throwawaypolicy]

Anti boycott laws are a real thing, you can read about them here https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/enforcement/oac

I don't pretend to know whether restricting country of residence counts as discriminating on any of race, national origin, or nationality... but at least at first glance it seems very plausible.

Edit: And according to her linkedin she is a lawyer licensed to practice in (at least) Minnesota, i.e. she is (was) part of "legal".

[jacquesm]

That seems to mostly focus on declarations of being non-Jewish which is a thing in some countries and the enforcing of a boycott against Israel.

Technically it could be made to apply to employing people in Russia or China but such restrictions are found with some regularity, if they are problematic that does not just affect GitLab but also lots of other companies.