Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lolinder 1054 days ago
It's worse than that—within 6 months of them starting to operate Shopify updated the ToS to make it clear that the app they already knew was a grey area was actually formally banned. They received an email that said they wouldn't be shut down right away, which the author took to mean "carry on!" Then Shopify's COO called them personally to tell them to knock it off, and they used a technicality in the phrasing of the ToS to keep operating.

Shopify shouldn't have to play whack-a-mole with these guys—they made their stance very very clear and the author willfully ignored it. This isn't just a case of platform dependence, it's a case of deliberately ignoring the platform's repeated warnings that you aren't authorized to be running your business.
3 comments
matsemann 1054 days ago
Why should Shopify be allowed to decide what two other businesses (merchant and OP) willingly do just because they own the platform?

No, they shouldn't have to play whack-a-mole, I'd argue they shouldn't be allowed to.

link
lolinder 1054 days ago
What OP did was bypass Shopify entirely for the checkout part of the process, thereby taking away Shopify's revenue for OP's customers. That's not software freedom, that's theft.

Any two businesses are welcome to transact with each other, as long as they're not using resources that belong to a third party who doesn't want to be involved in the transaction.

link
Dylan16807 1054 days ago
It's not theft. Calm your horses.

And if shopify actually didn't want to be involved they would just fire those customers.

link
chiefalchemist 1054 days ago
Agreed. At that point, he should have turned around and offer to be bought out by Shopify. Instead, he was greedy and figured running it into the ground was the only way out. Maybe that was true. Maybe not.
link
drited 1054 days ago
Aren't authorised? You seem to be way to accepting of authority for my liking.

We should be rooting for the small guys like this who shake monopolies out of their complacency.

link
lolinder 1054 days ago
I'm perfectly happy for someone to shake up a monopoly. I'm not okay with people acting entitled to do so on top of someone else's platform when that someone else has made it clear they're not welcome.
link