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Being pro/anti specific companies in a very binary way, like you point out, is a false path. However, placing all companies in the same bucket is committing a
by GuiA 7y ago
Being pro/anti specific companies in a very binary way, like you point out, is a false path.
However, placing all companies in the same bucket is committing a similar mistake.
There is definitely a “gradient of morality” amongst companies, despite all of them doing things because they think it is what will make them the most money in the long run.
A company building products that end up aiding the carrying out of genocides, for instance, is clearly on a more extreme end of the spectrum than a company making money selling music streaming subscriptions.
- Stratoscope 7y ago> A company building products that end up aiding the carrying out of genocides, for instance, is clearly on a more extreme end of the spectrum... Couldn't that describe just about any company or open source project? A database and office software end up helping you manage and track your genocide. A camera company's products and photo/video editing software end up helping people create beheading videos and child porn. When we create a general purpose product and release it to the world, we lose control of who uses it and for what purposes. In fact, that is a specific requirement for free and open source software licenses.
- GuiA 7y agoThat's fair. But perhaps you'd agree with me that there's a line between a company making products like cameras - which can certainly be used to cruel ends, but typically easily replaced by any of your competitor's products, and not pivotal to such efforts - and a company building a product that has no real replacement, is central to anti-human practices, and routinely ignores the criticisms and suggestions of human rights groups around the world.
- Stratoscope 7y agoI agree 100%! In fact your comment reminded me of something from nearly 20 years ago. A friend was putting together a startup for some kind of "interactive advertising email" and asked a couple of us if we would find it objectionable if we did a joint promotion with a porn company. I said that if I worked for a camera company, of course I would know that our products would be used for all sorts of different purposes beyond our control, but if the camera company was doing special partnerships with porn companies I would probably quit. (For anyone who is thinking "what's wrong with adult porn?" I'm just sharing my feeling from that time. Substitute "child porn traffickers" or "genocidal maniacs" to get an idea of where I was coming from.)
- whenchamenia 7y agoHow are videos of consenting adults in any way like "genocidal maniacs"? You raise more questions than you answer.
- Stratoscope 7y agoYou're really misrepresenting what I said. I wasn't comparing videos of consenting adults with genocidal maniacs. I was sharing a real life example of a situation where I had no problem building a general purpose product that anyone could use, while at the same I might object to special deals or promotions with an industry I was uncomfortable with at the time. The only reason I even mentioned porn and genocide in the same sentence was to say "you may not relate to my porn example, but there is probably some other situation - like a custom feature for genocidal maniacs - that you would personally object to." And I didn't bring up genocide out of the blue, it was the very topic of the thread I was replying to.