3 ms·

I do think there is some issue here, whether it's legal or not is irrelevant in my mind. Users' expectations have become that creating a <channel,twitter,tumbl

by ohashi 17y ago

I do think there is some issue here, whether it's legal or not is irrelevant in my mind. Users' expectations have become that creating a <channel,twitter,tumbler,subdomain,account> is THEIRS, they put the work in, built it up, only to have it taken away. It's the little guy getting screwed and it's an emotional issue. The closer you get to brand squatting the less sympathy of course, but the issues like pitchfork or the last one I remember (can't remember exactly what it was - but it was his name that was taken by a big corp) are legitimate gripes. The internet is supposed to be a level playing field for individuals and fortune companies alike in many ways, and if users keep having their trust broken the whole notion of community and UGC could be threatened in the long run. Why work hard if companies are just going to steal it?

kn0thing 17y ago
You've got a good point here: tumblr violated that trust it had with its users. I think we'll become a bit more careful as a result (tho, maybe fortunately, not everyone reads HackerNews) but more powerful than that, I think we ought to champion the companies that aren't doing this so users can make informed decisions about which service they'll use. But surely the majority of people uploading to YouTube, tagging their facebook photos, or tweeting about their breakfast aren't thinking about who owns that content or what rights they have to it. Should they? Absolutely. But how to raise that level of awareness? This is the real story here (not about any individual - myself included - who is making a fuss over losing a username/subdomain from a free service they're using).
- ohashi 17y ago
  I think there is a growing concern among people using these social sites, about the type of information and the access to it. Every story that runs about 'employer sees employee's drunken pics instead of going to work' or 'she didn't get the job because she believes in <something>', etc raises awareness at least a little bit for some people about the issues surrounding these types of services. I also think the real content generators (I am using this in opposition to the ones that create it unknowingly - facebook albums, status updates, etc that are not meant for public consumption) are becoming more aware of the risks as each story goes on. There is the HN/tech savvy crowd that gets outraged each time this happen, there is a larger, but quieter group of people actually working in a relevant area and then the masses... the masses certainly don't care, but that middle group who participate, might or will soon as more of these incidents occur. Also, agree 100% on championing companies that treat people right, people love to be treated like human beings and it's sad it such a rare phenomena that we get giddy with excitement when a company does it.

by ohashi 17y ago

kn0thing 17y ago

You've got a good point here: tumblr violated that trust it had with its users. I think we'll become a bit more careful as a result (tho, maybe fortunately, not everyone reads HackerNews) but more powerful than that, I think we ought to champion the companies that aren't doing this so users can make informed decisions about which service they'll use. But surely the majority of people uploading to YouTube, tagging their facebook photos, or tweeting about their breakfast aren't thinking about who owns that content or what rights they have to it. Should they? Absolutely. But how to raise that level of awareness? This is the real story here (not about any individual - myself included - who is making a fuss over losing a username/subdomain from a free service they're using).

ohashi 17y ago
I think there is a growing concern among people using these social sites, about the type of information and the access to it. Every story that runs about 'employer sees employee's drunken pics instead of going to work' or 'she didn't get the job because she believes in <something>', etc raises awareness at least a little bit for some people about the issues surrounding these types of services. I also think the real content generators (I am using this in opposition to the ones that create it unknowingly - facebook albums, status updates, etc that are not meant for public consumption) are becoming more aware of the risks as each story goes on. There is the HN/tech savvy crowd that gets outraged each time this happen, there is a larger, but quieter group of people actually working in a relevant area and then the masses... the masses certainly don't care, but that middle group who participate, might or will soon as more of these incidents occur. Also, agree 100% on championing companies that treat people right, people love to be treated like human beings and it's sad it such a rare phenomena that we get giddy with excitement when a company does it.