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But Aaron Swartz did it for the benefit of other people. These fine people did it to uphold american values and enrich themselves at the expense of others. The
by 314 3mo ago
But Aaron Swartz did it for the benefit of other people. These fine people did it to uphold american values and enrich themselves at the expense of others. The law is clearly on their side.
- dan_i 3mo agoQuick refresher on American values: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_colonial_history_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_colonial_histor...
- batch12 3mo agoThe article talks about European colonies, so would these have been European values then since America did not yet exist?
- dan_i 3mo ago> The article talks about European colonies, so would these have been European values then since America did not yet exist? Slavery is an expression of capitalist values. Frederick Douglass is Karl Marx's ideological predecessor. You aren't wrong that the European powers were slavers. That being said, the culture of the 13 American colonies is the first appearance of the unique Euro-American culture that dominates the United States. It's wrongheaded to deny the central importance of slavery to American culture and values. In the United States, the land of the small business owner, slaves mixed socially and sexually with their captors and with the culture of their captors. For this reason, the culture of the United States is deeply affected by the institution of slavery in ways that are alien to the European powers.
- abenga 3mo agoThat's just the label that changed. Same people, same values.
- petcat 3mo agoNot sure what that is supposed to indicate? USA was a big place, even then. Most northern states had abolished slavery even before Britain, France, and especially Spain did. Maybe we should have a quick refresher on European values?
- zahlman 3mo agoI thought this thread was about Alibaba's internal policies. How did we get here?
- dan_i 3mo ago[dead]
- stingraycharles 3mo agoI think this comment is missing a /s, right?
- gruez 3mo agoThis but unironically. "did it for the benefit of other people" is redistribution, which is straightforward copyright infringement, even if you think it's a laudable act. AI training was the reverse, because courts have so far ruled is fair use. When AI companies were engaging in piracy, they were sanctioned as well.
- matheusmoreira 3mo ago> When AI companies were engaging in piracy, they were sanctioned as well. Some token settlement for an insignificant fraction of their revenue is not in any way a "sanction".
- gruez 3mo agoThat just feels like more of a general complaint about how the justice system is set up. The same logic applies to how a $300 speeding ticket "is not in any way a "sanction"" for someone making $1M/year, or even a well paid SWE reading HN.
- sbayg 3mo agoI feel you but are you possibly conflating civil and criminal justice? Tickets don’t scale with net worth of defendants, but class action penalties often do.
- gruez 3mo ago>but class action penalties often do. Do they? Or only so far as "if you have 1000x the revenue, you probably also have 1000x the customers that you have wronged, each of which are entitled to damages as well"?
- sbayg 3mo agoCourts do award higher damages, specifically punitive damages, to punish and deter wealthy or large corporate defendants. In civil law, the defendant's net worth is a recognized legal factor because a small penalty on a massive corporation wouldn't incentivize them to change their illegal behavior.