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If I went out and copied 24 DVDs and gave them to random people I would be appalled if someone came after me suing for 54k. So no, I don't have any cognitive d

If I went out and copied 24 DVDs and gave them to random people I would be appalled if someone came after me suing for 54k. So no, I don't have any cognitive dissonance on the matter. It's just a ridiculous tort and a ridiculous award.

tptacek 17y ago
I think you find the tort "ridiculous" because it's so easy to do and so hard to stop, not because you fundamentally don't believe companies shouldn't be able to price their products as they see fit or to enforce their own property rights. I don't know, I can't read your mind, that's just my opinion. After all, you're commenting on a message board for startups, almost all of which rely heavily on IP and copyright law to survive.
- tomjen2 17y ago
  Look, you sound like a politician telling other people what they believe. This board is for technical things, so take the side of the technical people or get lost.
- invisible 17y ago
  I find it ridiculous because they are blaming an epidemic (somewhat caused by their own actions) on an individual's ignorance of computers (likely). She is not being sued for downloading music, she is being sued for sharing (to which she probably was ignorant to). The 54k in damages (or 2M? who knows) that they want to collect is not because some mother accidentally (or not) shared some files. Also, it can be said that they are not protecting their IP very well if she and one other person is being sued out of the likely 50 million or more people that are downloading music illegally (or have at some point).
- statictype 17y ago
  No, I think the reason many people (myself included) find this absurd is precisely because we don't think companies should be able to enforce whatever draconian property rights scheme they choose. Whether it makes sense or not to believe that,and what its possible economic implications is a different issue. And the fact that every court in western civilization seems to think otherwise, doesn't actually affect the way I feel about it.

tptacek 17y ago

I think you find the tort "ridiculous" because it's so easy to do and so hard to stop, not because you fundamentally don't believe companies shouldn't be able to price their products as they see fit or to enforce their own property rights. I don't know, I can't read your mind, that's just my opinion. After all, you're commenting on a message board for startups, almost all of which rely heavily on IP and copyright law to survive.

tomjen2 17y ago
Look, you sound like a politician telling other people what they believe. This board is for technical things, so take the side of the technical people or get lost.
invisible 17y ago
I find it ridiculous because they are blaming an epidemic (somewhat caused by their own actions) on an individual's ignorance of computers (likely). She is not being sued for downloading music, she is being sued for sharing (to which she probably was ignorant to). The 54k in damages (or 2M? who knows) that they want to collect is not because some mother accidentally (or not) shared some files. Also, it can be said that they are not protecting their IP very well if she and one other person is being sued out of the likely 50 million or more people that are downloading music illegally (or have at some point).
statictype 17y ago
No, I think the reason many people (myself included) find this absurd is precisely because we don't think companies should be able to enforce whatever draconian property rights scheme they choose. Whether it makes sense or not to believe that,and what its possible economic implications is a different issue. And the fact that every court in western civilization seems to think otherwise, doesn't actually affect the way I feel about it.