5 ms·

What's unclear about this? You are publicly distributing intellectual property you have no rights over, and the owner is asking you to cease and desist. It does

What's unclear about this? You are publicly distributing intellectual property you have no rights over, and the owner is asking you to cease and desist. It doesn't matter how many people actually access it, that's not a valid defense.

shawn 8y ago
Sure. But are they really going to drag me into court? I’m not trying to defend myself, or say that I wasn’t doing that. But I was hoping to know whether it would be helpful to sacrifice myself for the greater good here. If this is a situation where it merits taking a stand, I’m willing to do so. But if everyone agrees it’s ok for magic leap to assert that those who are making them money need to toe the line and obey, then I guess I should back down. Mainly I was hoping to judge community sentiment.
- VectorLock 8y ago
  Throwing yourself under this legal bus isn't going to benefit you or anybody else. I mean you can poke them as much as you want, but is this the hill you want to die on?
  - shawn 8y ago
    If it benefits others. That’s all I care about. It seems like tolerating this may not be in the best interest of the community going forward. And I would find it interesting to be able to claim that magic leap has sued me for distributing 3 month old api docs to myself.
    - VectorLock 8y ago
      What benefit do you think it would give others? It looks like they're pretty clearly and understandably asserting their rights. Are you making their API docs publicly accessible?
      - shawn 8y ago
        All other arguments aside, I’m uncomfortable with a world in which developers are bullied and intimidated by large corporations over nothing. In this case, it’s 3 month old api docs distributed to myself, which may be absurd enough to possibly make a stand over. The central issue appears to be the idea that in order to defend against anyone, they have to defend against everyone. And in cases like this, I’m not sure that’s to the public benefit.
        VectorLock 8y ago
        People in that comment thread described it more eloquently and precisely than I could but it really comes down to "use it or lose it." Would it have been _nice_ for them to send you a politely worded message like "oh hey soo could you take down our docs kthx!" but it lacks the legal precision to defend their copyrights. Lawyer are, unfortunately, seldom paid to be nice.
        shawn 8y ago
        Nah, I don’t blame the formality. What seems true is that both ipfs and blockchain technologies will make these legal tools obsolete. What if we were to set up a project in response to this that made the Magic Leap API docs available in a distributed fashion? As well as a technical breakdown of everything that can be learned from them. Is there no way to disobey in a productive way? Or is our only choice to agree to being bullied into submission for pointless reasons?
        VectorLock 8y ago
        Sure go ahead if it makes you feel better. I appreciate the whole "information wants to be free, man!" mindset.
        bandushrew 8y ago
        I mean, as soon as those docs are out of date, which will happen naturally and probably pretty quickly, you will be providing access to out of date/wrong documentation....and that will hurt the developer directly. Just let them be the source of truth for documentation about the SDK. Honestly, its best for everyone concerned.
    - XR0CSWV3h3kZWg 8y ago
      > And I would find it interesting to be able to claim that magic leap has sued me for distributing 3 month old api docs to myself. Do you have that much money to burn?
    - arkades 8y ago
      > If it benefits others. That’s all I care about. I don’t see this benefiting anyone at all, so please put aside talking about this like a martyr. You took someone else’s property and publicly hosted it. Dropbox or gdrive or sticking it on a private ftp or emailing it to yourself all would have done the job just fine - but you chose to do it publicly. It’s not 1985; you have plenty of resources for making files conveniently accessible without violating folks’ IP rights. And then you got told to Stop It. You didn’t get sued, though you could have. You didn’t get DMCA’d, though you could have. You got the legalese version of “cut the shit”. So, what principle are you standing up for? Your right to appropriate other folks’ property against their wishes? To distribute it against their wishes? To then make sure they ask you pretty please to stop?q You’re not protecting the community. This isn’t a principle that people who make IP for a living are going to especially rally around. Frankly, I think the answers here have been exceedingly courteous - beyond the point of reason. It’s like Pirate Bay crying foul about being “bullied” by the companies whose property they’re stealing.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
- fatbird 8y ago
  Say you fight the good fight and tear down the edifice of intellectual property. Is that a better world than you feeling like they owe you some deference as a supporter?
- hotdog97 8y ago
  > Mainly I was hoping to judge community sentiment. You are behaving in a childish, immature way. Stop doing that, or face the consequences. Pro-tip: Grow up.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- thebeefytaco 8y ago
  >Sure. But are they really going to drag me into court? Only if you don't comply.
- threatofrain 8y ago
  If you believe your case is a civil rights case with substance, then you should be contacting a lawyer and avoid causing yourself trouble by talking about it over Hacker News.

shawn 8y ago

Sure. But are they really going to drag me into court? I’m not trying to defend myself, or say that I wasn’t doing that. But I was hoping to know whether it would be helpful to sacrifice myself for the greater good here. If this is a situation where it merits taking a stand, I’m willing to do so. But if everyone agrees it’s ok for magic leap to assert that those who are making them money need to toe the line and obey, then I guess I should back down. Mainly I was hoping to judge community sentiment.

VectorLock 8y ago
Throwing yourself under this legal bus isn't going to benefit you or anybody else. I mean you can poke them as much as you want, but is this the hill you want to die on?
- shawn 8y ago
  If it benefits others. That’s all I care about. It seems like tolerating this may not be in the best interest of the community going forward. And I would find it interesting to be able to claim that magic leap has sued me for distributing 3 month old api docs to myself.
  - VectorLock 8y ago
    What benefit do you think it would give others? It looks like they're pretty clearly and understandably asserting their rights. Are you making their API docs publicly accessible?
    - shawn 8y ago
      All other arguments aside, I’m uncomfortable with a world in which developers are bullied and intimidated by large corporations over nothing. In this case, it’s 3 month old api docs distributed to myself, which may be absurd enough to possibly make a stand over. The central issue appears to be the idea that in order to defend against anyone, they have to defend against everyone. And in cases like this, I’m not sure that’s to the public benefit.
      - VectorLock 8y ago
        People in that comment thread described it more eloquently and precisely than I could but it really comes down to "use it or lose it." Would it have been _nice_ for them to send you a politely worded message like "oh hey soo could you take down our docs kthx!" but it lacks the legal precision to defend their copyrights. Lawyer are, unfortunately, seldom paid to be nice.
        shawn 8y ago
        Nah, I don’t blame the formality. What seems true is that both ipfs and blockchain technologies will make these legal tools obsolete. What if we were to set up a project in response to this that made the Magic Leap API docs available in a distributed fashion? As well as a technical breakdown of everything that can be learned from them. Is there no way to disobey in a productive way? Or is our only choice to agree to being bullied into submission for pointless reasons?
        VectorLock 8y ago
        Sure go ahead if it makes you feel better. I appreciate the whole "information wants to be free, man!" mindset.
        bandushrew 8y ago
        I mean, as soon as those docs are out of date, which will happen naturally and probably pretty quickly, you will be providing access to out of date/wrong documentation....and that will hurt the developer directly. Just let them be the source of truth for documentation about the SDK. Honestly, its best for everyone concerned.
  - XR0CSWV3h3kZWg 8y ago
    > And I would find it interesting to be able to claim that magic leap has sued me for distributing 3 month old api docs to myself. Do you have that much money to burn?
  - arkades 8y ago
    > If it benefits others. That’s all I care about. I don’t see this benefiting anyone at all, so please put aside talking about this like a martyr. You took someone else’s property and publicly hosted it. Dropbox or gdrive or sticking it on a private ftp or emailing it to yourself all would have done the job just fine - but you chose to do it publicly. It’s not 1985; you have plenty of resources for making files conveniently accessible without violating folks’ IP rights. And then you got told to Stop It. You didn’t get sued, though you could have. You didn’t get DMCA’d, though you could have. You got the legalese version of “cut the shit”. So, what principle are you standing up for? Your right to appropriate other folks’ property against their wishes? To distribute it against their wishes? To then make sure they ask you pretty please to stop?q You’re not protecting the community. This isn’t a principle that people who make IP for a living are going to especially rally around. Frankly, I think the answers here have been exceedingly courteous - beyond the point of reason. It’s like Pirate Bay crying foul about being “bullied” by the companies whose property they’re stealing.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
fatbird 8y ago
Say you fight the good fight and tear down the edifice of intellectual property. Is that a better world than you feeling like they owe you some deference as a supporter?
hotdog97 8y ago
> Mainly I was hoping to judge community sentiment. You are behaving in a childish, immature way. Stop doing that, or face the consequences. Pro-tip: Grow up.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
thebeefytaco 8y ago
>Sure. But are they really going to drag me into court? Only if you don't comply.
threatofrain 8y ago
If you believe your case is a civil rights case with substance, then you should be contacting a lawyer and avoid causing yourself trouble by talking about it over Hacker News.