> For that matter, if I travel, and happen to do work while in another country that would also be in violation of immigration laws?
Usually yes. The clincher that it's basically unenforceable and undetectable is why it practically possible in the first place. I'm pretty sure enforcement starts happening when: you stay there longer than a typical tourist visa, money starts landing in their countries bank accounts. You'll still have to file income tax returns somewhere too.
>By that argument, everyone visiting open source conference "sprints" should be deported?
Usually that is covered by the B-1 visa they are entering. The B-1 visa is very expansive. The concept behind many US immigration laws is basically "Are you doing work a US person could do and getting money from a US source, be it corporation, person, etc? If your not, then we are far more OK with that than the opposite." If it's a conference hackathon where nobody usually gets paid anyway, then it should be ok.
Hm. But the article/discussion relates to forming a company (that charges for services) and doing the work "for free". So it would seem either that is legal, or open source work is also illegal?
Usually yes. The clincher that it's basically unenforceable and undetectable is why it practically possible in the first place. I'm pretty sure enforcement starts happening when: you stay there longer than a typical tourist visa, money starts landing in their countries bank accounts. You'll still have to file income tax returns somewhere too.
>By that argument, everyone visiting open source conference "sprints" should be deported?
Usually that is covered by the B-1 visa they are entering. The B-1 visa is very expansive. The concept behind many US immigration laws is basically "Are you doing work a US person could do and getting money from a US source, be it corporation, person, etc? If your not, then we are far more OK with that than the opposite." If it's a conference hackathon where nobody usually gets paid anyway, then it should be ok.