4 ms·

Regardless of what the actual situation is, I wonder what people think it should be, and how far towards either direction (anarchy and whatever the opposite is)

Regardless of what the actual situation is, I wonder what people think it should be, and how far towards either direction (anarchy and whatever the opposite is) we'll go. For example, What if you sell someone some pencils and they stab someone to death with them? If I run a forum about gardening and someone is using the PMs as a slave market, am I responsible for not monitoring every single message on the platform, and should I be? What if I own an office and I rent it out for people to have meetings, and they meet there in person and hold a slave market, am I also supposed to be monitoring their in-person meetings?

jacquesm 7y ago
If you have trouble telling all these apart I suggest you don't start anything online. One thing is for sure: sticking your head in the sand and pretending there is no problem isn't going to work in the longer term. See TFA.
- DenisM 7y ago
  1. You didn’t have to be rude, did you? 2. If someone asks where to draw the line along the sequence of a|b|c|d that does not mean they cannot tell these apart, it means they are pondering which of these are ok and which are not. Distinguishing things and bucketing things are not the same activity.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    As to (1), I've seen these so called thought experiments used more often than not to try to defend inaction. This includes free speech and all kinds of other important principles that then get stretched into the most warped definitions on order to justify acting in a way that benefits the bottom line. See Mark Zuckerberg's recent performances for some samples. As for (2). It's simple: there is the law and there is ethics. Anything illegal you should work hard to stop and collaborate with LE to get it stamped out on your properties. Anything unethical is up to you where you draw the line. Ethics come at a cost.
    - DenisM 7y ago
      1) Your assumption of bad faith is unfair, baseless, and runs afoul of HN guidelines [a]. I see nothing but attempt to discuss and understand where we should stand on these things. Are you reading whitewashing into those questions? 2) Anything unethical is up to you where you draw the line. Seriously? You do not think one should be discussing boundary of ethicals choices with one's peers? Please explain. [a] Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
      - jacquesm 7y ago
        > Assume good faith. Sorry, but you're the one not assuming good faith to begin with.
hrktb 7y ago
The key points could be how you react when other users report these activities to you, or you have tangible signs that would be suspicious to an average reasonable person. These problem would be the same if you had a hot dog stand and customers reported to you a child prostitution ring massively buying your hot dogs for the kids. What would you do ?
- chii 7y ago
  you inform the police, and ask them to investigate. You cooperate when feasible, but not at a cost that affects your business's ongoings.
erikpukinskis 7y ago
> What if I own an office and I rent it out for people to have meetings, and they meet there in person and... If you are the property owner, taking care that the people on your property is safe. As a steward of the land that’s your job. By purchasing the land you are saying: no one else has title to watch over the people on this land, only I do. So yes, you then have a responsibility to do so.

jacquesm 7y ago

If you have trouble telling all these apart I suggest you don't start anything online. One thing is for sure: sticking your head in the sand and pretending there is no problem isn't going to work in the longer term. See TFA.

DenisM 7y ago
1. You didn’t have to be rude, did you? 2. If someone asks where to draw the line along the sequence of a|b|c|d that does not mean they cannot tell these apart, it means they are pondering which of these are ok and which are not. Distinguishing things and bucketing things are not the same activity.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  As to (1), I've seen these so called thought experiments used more often than not to try to defend inaction. This includes free speech and all kinds of other important principles that then get stretched into the most warped definitions on order to justify acting in a way that benefits the bottom line. See Mark Zuckerberg's recent performances for some samples. As for (2). It's simple: there is the law and there is ethics. Anything illegal you should work hard to stop and collaborate with LE to get it stamped out on your properties. Anything unethical is up to you where you draw the line. Ethics come at a cost.
  - DenisM 7y ago
    1) Your assumption of bad faith is unfair, baseless, and runs afoul of HN guidelines [a]. I see nothing but attempt to discuss and understand where we should stand on these things. Are you reading whitewashing into those questions? 2) Anything unethical is up to you where you draw the line. Seriously? You do not think one should be discussing boundary of ethicals choices with one's peers? Please explain. [a] Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
    - jacquesm 7y ago
      > Assume good faith. Sorry, but you're the one not assuming good faith to begin with.

hrktb 7y ago

The key points could be how you react when other users report these activities to you, or you have tangible signs that would be suspicious to an average reasonable person. These problem would be the same if you had a hot dog stand and customers reported to you a child prostitution ring massively buying your hot dogs for the kids. What would you do ?

chii 7y ago
you inform the police, and ask them to investigate. You cooperate when feasible, but not at a cost that affects your business's ongoings.

erikpukinskis 7y ago

> What if I own an office and I rent it out for people to have meetings, and they meet there in person and... If you are the property owner, taking care that the people on your property is safe. As a steward of the land that’s your job. By purchasing the land you are saying: no one else has title to watch over the people on this land, only I do. So yes, you then have a responsibility to do so.