Top all-time · #2799
Heather Burns
Personal blog · webdevlaw.ukwebpoliticswriting
Heather Burns's personal blog at webdevlaw.uk covers web, politics and writing. Since 2016, 27 different Hacker News readers have linked it 32 times, most often “Why Generation X will save the web”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-07, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (9) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link Heather Burns's posts on UK online regulation, including the Online Safety Bill, compliance obligations, and visa rules for speakers. The comments cite them as background on those topics.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 9 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Why Generation X will save the web5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2021-02-01
- Your compliance obligations under the UK’s Online Safety Bill3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-07-11
- /about/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-06-17
What Hacker News says?
*she Although i can't find any clear statement of pronouns [1] https://webdevlaw.uk/about/ [2] https://twitter.com/WebDevLaw
Comment linking /about/
on “The bait-and-switch hidden in today’s cookie announcement”Submitted Your compliance obligations under the UK’s Online Safety Bill as a story · 621 points
HN discussionSome would say the Bill is a symptom of Facebook Derangement Syndrome https://webdevlaw.uk/2020/12/09/facebook-derangement-syndrom... Based on those they are consulting with that seems justfied.
Comment linking /2020/12/09/facebook-derangement-syndrome/
on “UK MP speech about freedoms censored by YouTube”Submitted What if we talked about over-60s’ screen time as we talk about young people’s? as a story · 418 points
HN discussionSimpler and monolith (an endlessly re-suggested reply) has it's place, but I see it as impossible for any "simple" solution to ever gain enough mindshare to win. A lot of people suggesting monoliths & hosted services, but they are never going to have the community, the presence of something like Kubernetes, which unites people, which people collaborate over, in the same way we all got to learn & experience & co-deve…
Comment linking /2021/01/30/why-generation-x-will-save-the-web/
on “Ask HN: What do you think will come after Kubernetes?”Submitted The bait-and-switch hidden in today’s cookie announcement as a story · 334 points
HN discussionIt's not unique to the US. See this story related to the UK for example: https://webdevlaw.uk/2016/08/22/uk-conference-speaker-visa/ In fact, the UK appears to require a different visa for this purpose. (And it's not clear to me from a couple of things I've read that the Tourist Waiver Program covers paid engagements in the US arranged in advance--though there is a Business Waiver Program.) Getting paid to speak at…
Comment linking /2016/08/22/uk-conference-speaker-visa/
on “French historian Henry Rousso held for 10 hours and threatened with deportation”Submitted Why Generation X will save the web as a story · 78 points
HN discussionRelated: https://webdevlaw.uk/2021/01/30/why-generation-x-will-save-t...
Comment linking /2021/01/30/why-generation-x-will-save-the-web/
on “Generation X Is Sick of Your Bullshit (2011)”Submitted Why Generation X will save the web as a story · 5 points
HN discussionFrom the actual bill: > whose content is viewed more widely than a minimum threshold to be defined and set by OFCOM. Given the recent history of UK online regulation [2], I think it's save to assume the "minimum threshold" will be extremely low. [1] https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/onlinesafety_rm_rep_0708.pdf [2] https://webdevlaw.uk/2022/07/11/your-compliance-obligations-...
Comment linking /2022/07/11/your-compliance-obligations-under-the-uks-online-safety-bill/
on “UK lawmaker John Penrose proposes dystopian idea to give citizens a truth score”Submitted Why Generation X will save the web as a story · 4 points
HN discussionThis is a vile bit of legislation. See https://webdevlaw.uk/2022/07/11/your-compliance-obligations-...
Comment linking /2022/07/11/your-compliance-obligations-under-the-uks-online-safety-bill/
on “UK Online Safety Bill put on hold”Submitted Check Your Privacy Privilege as a story · 3 points
HN discussionDisclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, just someone who read the bill a couple of months ago because I was checking to see whether the idea I have in the back of my head for a social media platform was still viable. Heather Burns[0] is an actual lawyer who's a leading authority on this. The basic principle is that what people do online can have negative consequences in the real world, and the bill basically holds online serv…
Comment linking /about/
on “List of online activities to be made impossible by the UK Online Safety Bill”Submitted Cookie law reform announcement: farewell popups, hello settings as a story · 3 points
HN discussionPerhaps I am being naive, and I will confess that I'm not entirely sure that the future will be as I predicted (but I'm not going to edit my initial comment, out of respect for those disagreeing with me). But I will think this quote from one of the bill's most dogged critics is illustrative[0]: > ... this Bill, whatever DCMS and its ministers may claim, is not a “fixing” Bill, one which has been designed to be const…
Comment linking /2022/07/13/heres-why-your-project-is-in-scope-of-the-online-safety-bill/
on “List of online activities to be made impossible by the UK Online Safety Bill”Submitted Are we doing this again? Yes, we're doing this again as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Fixing the UK’s Online Safety Bill, part 1: we need answers as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted When it comes to your privacy, the UK has decided that you’re a bunch of C-words as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The speculative fiction novel I want to read this year as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Labour just lost the tech sector’s vote as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Policy needs more of me – Webdevlaw as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Brexit and you: what’s next for digital laws? #wceu as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted I will not be writing a post about Ofcom's Online Safety Act consultation as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The cavalry have arrived. But not for long as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Disinformation about the Disinformation as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted A hypothetical situation, or, your crash introduction to the Online Safety Bill as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Fixing the UK’s Online Safety Bill, part 0: no, it’s not fixable as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted UK tech policy predictions for 2022 as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
