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Dennis Hackethal

Member since June 2024

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  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1394.

Copyright prevents the flow of ideas/information.

#1394·Dennis Hackethal, 6 months ago

No. Copyright never prevents consenting parties from sharing text freely as long as everyone agrees that that’s ok (see #1330).

  Dennis Hackethal submitted criticism #1394.

Copyright prevents the flow of ideas/information.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1386.

So it's not me who's pirating the book that is violating her right. It's whoever uploaded it for me to download it, right?

#1386·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

If someone steals a bike and then gifts it to you that doesn’t mean the owner can’t have it back just because you didn’t steal it. Same for copyright.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1389.

Lol no, I'm trying to understand your point. You're saying that buying a book is a bit like signing an NDA, where I can be held liable for breach of contract if I disclose information. Did I get that right?

#1389·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Not like signing NDA since you are free to talk about the ideas in the book in your own words, but kinda like breach of contract yeah.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1386.

So it's not me who's pirating the book that is violating her right. It's whoever uploaded it for me to download it, right?

#1386·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

If you’re looking for someone to assuage your guilt over having pirated copyrighted content in the past, you won’t get that from me.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1384.

Okay so without referring to current legislation. I understand that it is currently illegal, just like tax evasion, but that won't go far in persuading me that it isn't right.

#1384·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Ok let’s rewind the clock and say JK Rowling has finished writing Harry Potter but she hasn’t published it yet.

And she says: I’m going to publish and sell this book on condition that anyone who buys it not distribute it further. They can read it but they can’t redistribute it without my permission.

Those are the terms of publication. It’s a contract. And anyone who buys the book is then bound by the contract.

She would not publish the book otherwise.

She created a value and she wants to trade that value for something specific (money in exchange for reading, not redistributing).

Others are free to take her up on the offer or ignore her.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1382.

Why am I violating her rights?

#1382·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Because she owns the copyright.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1378.

Why? I don't get that. She's not losing anything.

#1378·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Your perspective on whether she loses anything really doesn’t matter. That’s the same even for cold hard property. If I exchange your tic tacs for $1,000,000 without your consent, you only win, you didn’t lose, but it’s still theft.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1378.

Why? I don't get that. She's not losing anything.

#1378·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

You’re violating her rights: specifically, her copyright. That’s an aggression.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1375.

Am I committing aggression against JK Rowling if I pirate a PDF copy of Harry Potter?

#1375·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Yes.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1338.

All that being said, I think crediting people for inspiration is good form and should be part of common polite behavior.

#1338·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Credit is a different matter from copyright. Plagiarism and copyright infringement aren’t the same thing.

  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #1371.

So… the law extending to others’ property is nothing new and not totalitarian in and of itself.

#1371·Dennis Hackethal, 6 months ago

I should be clear though that it is only right for the law to interfere with property to protect others’ rights. It’s not right for the law to confiscate your money to collect taxes, say.

  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #1370.

exactly

#1370·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

So… the law extending to others’ property is nothing new and not totalitarian in and of itself.

  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #1368.

Maybe? Kinda? Not sure.

You don't get to use your knife to aggress on others, that much is clear. So perhaps this can be understood as a right of others to do certain things with your property.

#1368·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Right, like preventing you from murdering them.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1366.

I can also think of ways this could be misused.

#1366·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Some people abuse the letter of the law to violate the spirit of the law, but that doesn’t mean the corresponding laws are bad per se. Those are problems, errors that can be corrected.

  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #1363.

So if someone publishes a blog post falsely but believably accusing you of being a pedophile and then all your business partners stop talking to you and you lose all your money and your friends and family ghost you, you wouldn’t want to have any legal recourse?

#1363·Dennis Hackethal, 6 months ago
The comment has since been removed.
  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #1362.

I'm not sure it's a good thing.

#1362·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

So if someone publishes a blog post falsely but believably accusing you of being a pedophile and then all your business partners stop talking to you and you lose all your money and your friends and family ghost you, you wouldn’t want to have any legal recourse?

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1360.

Reputation is scarce in the sense that it’s limited.

#1360·Dennis Hackethal, 6 months ago

But it isn’t scarce in a physical sense.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1359.

Take someone’s reputation. That isn’t a ‘scarce’ thing yet it’s a good thing there are laws against defamation.

#1359·Dennis Hackethal, 6 months ago

Reputation is scarce in the sense that it’s limited.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1346.

The issue is scarcity. Digital money is also scarce since you cannot double spend it. If it wasn't scarce, it wouldn't be money and neither would it be private property.

#1346·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Take someone’s reputation. That isn’t a ‘scarce’ thing yet it’s a good thing there are laws against defamation.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1335.

Intellectual property is a contradiction in terms because information isn't scarce the same way that private property necessarily must be.

#1335·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Duplicate of #1346.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1346.

The issue is scarcity. Digital money is also scarce since you cannot double spend it. If it wasn't scarce, it wouldn't be money and neither would it be private property.

#1346·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

Imagine living on a flat planet that extends infinitely in all directions.

Land is not scarce on this planet.

You build a house, mixing your labor with an acre of land. Someone comes and takes your land, saying you have no cause for complaint since land isn’t scarce.

See how scarcity isn’t necessary for something to be property?

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1354.

I don't care about current law, there are lots of dumb laws. I care about what's right and why.

#1354·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

It’s right for the law to address and prevent the arbitrary, and that’s about more than just property. See #1345.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1354.

I don't care about current law, there are lots of dumb laws. I care about what's right and why.

#1354·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

But the law against murder isn’t a dumb law even though it doesn’t refer to someone’s body being scarce property.

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #1352.

No. I don't expect to find it, but that doesn't make it less true. That's how I make sense of the difference between IP and real property.

#1352·Amaro Koberle, 6 months ago

If current law isn’t based on what you claim it’s based on then that does make it less true.