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There's no substance to the tweet. It wouldn't appear on HN except for the person that posted it. It's hard to see how something like this is going to generate

There's no substance to the tweet. It wouldn't appear on HN except for the person that posted it. It's hard to see how something like this is going to generate useful discussion.

breck 6y ago
Exactly. Reminds me of “Tear down this wall”. Nothing came of that. /s
- minimaxir 6y ago
  Comparing the banning of a Twitter account to the fall of the Berlin Wall is one hell of a false equivalency.
  - breck 6y ago
    I think you missed my point. It's time to #AbolishCopyright and #AbolishPatents. Tear down the walls that keep information in the hands of the 1% and keep the masses in the dark. (Speaking as someone who could live quite comfortably in the 1% but doesn't feel it is right)
    - mikestew 6y ago
      You quote one of Ronald Reagan's most famous lines, and you're telling the reader they missed your point if they didn't take it to be about copyright? Did I miss the real "/s"?
      - breck 6y ago
        > You quote one of Ronald Reagan's most famous lines, and you're telling the reader they missed your point if they didn't take it to be about copyright? Did I miss the real "/s"? The OP wasn't paying attention to important context. It would be like if someone at Reagan's speech said, "There's no substance to that line. It wouldn't have been on TV except for the person who said it. It's hard to see how something like this is going to generate useful discussion. Is it the color of the wall or the dimensions of the wall that he has a problem with?" PG, a man with a huge reach, nothing to gain (and a lot to lose) from taking a stand on such a controversial issue that the public is far from knowing what the just side is, who doesn't mince words and thinks deeply about topics until he arrives at the truth, just came out and stated his support for Sci-Hub. Beyond the practical matter that he is at least an acquaintence of @jack's, perhaps even a friend (I have no knowledge of their relationship, other than I had a YC dinner a long time ago with them), and this might lead to @Sci_hub's reinstatement, it is an inspirational message for those of us who are fighting so that every child has access to the world's best information. YMMV, but I personally would consider the abolition of copyrights and patents to be bigger than the reunification of Germany in the long run. Context matters. The substance is deep.
        mikestew 6y ago
        I still don't get it, but thanks for putting in the effort to try an explain it.
        breck 6y ago
        I agree it's sort of a weird stretch ;)
- hinkley 6y ago
  They sold a lot of copies of that album. Only took 10 years for it to go from talking/singing about it to actually happening, and even then it was supposed to take longer, but for once an accident of poor public planning worked out in humanity's favor. They didn't actually mean tear it down now, they meant we should form a committee to discuss a plan to fund a study to determine how you'd go about tearing down the wall. Then some busybodies showed up with crowbars and hammer drills and concrete saws and it was just chaos in the streets.
cheschire 6y ago
Especially when there's a thread on HN about this very topic. He could just post his thought as a reply to that topic and generate discussion.
mikestew 6y ago
It kind of reminds me of Axe Body Spray's condemnation of the event of January 6. We were all waiting with bated breath until you weighed in Axe, and we're glad to know that you don't approve: https://twitter.com/axe/status/1347325351668682752 https://twitter.com/axe/status/1347325351668682752
- dcwca 6y ago
  Their hand was forced by someone posting a photo of a can of axe body spray being left behind by the mob.
  - mikestew 6y ago
    Seriously? Oh, man, I almost feel bad for making fun of the tweet now. Thanks for the background on a tweet that came to me quite indirectly (what, you think I follow Axe's Twitter account?).
- hinkley 6y ago
  A defense attorney has to 'believe' that their client is innocent, or at least what they did wasn't so bad and gosh are they sorry, and can't we let bygones be bygones? In a similar way, advertising people have to believe that their company matters a great deal. Even if it's just Drakar Noir for a younger generation. I don't know what Paul's excuse is. Then again, I send stuff out into the universe all the time with no expectation of people actually acting on it. Sometimes, as they say, you need to get something outside of your head so it's not inside anymore (so you can stop dwelling on it).
tpmx 6y ago
Perhaps naively: I long for the post-Trump period mostly because we'll be able to discuss these things without this individual looming over every single discussion about censorship.
bitstan 6y ago
Preach. Cancel Paul Graham. Defending Sci-Hub is a dog whistle for people who want to preserve hate-speech! That's literally defending fascism! #cancel_pg

There's no substance to the tweet. It wouldn't appear on HN except for the person that posted it. It's hard to see how something like this is going to generate useful discussion.

breck 6y ago

Exactly. Reminds me of “Tear down this wall”. Nothing came of that. /s

minimaxir 6y ago
Comparing the banning of a Twitter account to the fall of the Berlin Wall is one hell of a false equivalency.
- breck 6y ago
  I think you missed my point. It's time to #AbolishCopyright and #AbolishPatents. Tear down the walls that keep information in the hands of the 1% and keep the masses in the dark. (Speaking as someone who could live quite comfortably in the 1% but doesn't feel it is right)
  - mikestew 6y ago
    You quote one of Ronald Reagan's most famous lines, and you're telling the reader they missed your point if they didn't take it to be about copyright? Did I miss the real "/s"?
    - breck 6y ago
      > You quote one of Ronald Reagan's most famous lines, and you're telling the reader they missed your point if they didn't take it to be about copyright? Did I miss the real "/s"? The OP wasn't paying attention to important context. It would be like if someone at Reagan's speech said, "There's no substance to that line. It wouldn't have been on TV except for the person who said it. It's hard to see how something like this is going to generate useful discussion. Is it the color of the wall or the dimensions of the wall that he has a problem with?" PG, a man with a huge reach, nothing to gain (and a lot to lose) from taking a stand on such a controversial issue that the public is far from knowing what the just side is, who doesn't mince words and thinks deeply about topics until he arrives at the truth, just came out and stated his support for Sci-Hub. Beyond the practical matter that he is at least an acquaintence of @jack's, perhaps even a friend (I have no knowledge of their relationship, other than I had a YC dinner a long time ago with them), and this might lead to @Sci_hub's reinstatement, it is an inspirational message for those of us who are fighting so that every child has access to the world's best information. YMMV, but I personally would consider the abolition of copyrights and patents to be bigger than the reunification of Germany in the long run. Context matters. The substance is deep.
      - mikestew 6y ago
        I still don't get it, but thanks for putting in the effort to try an explain it.
        breck 6y ago
        I agree it's sort of a weird stretch ;)
hinkley 6y ago
They sold a lot of copies of that album. Only took 10 years for it to go from talking/singing about it to actually happening, and even then it was supposed to take longer, but for once an accident of poor public planning worked out in humanity's favor. They didn't actually mean tear it down now, they meant we should form a committee to discuss a plan to fund a study to determine how you'd go about tearing down the wall. Then some busybodies showed up with crowbars and hammer drills and concrete saws and it was just chaos in the streets.

cheschire 6y ago

Especially when there's a thread on HN about this very topic. He could just post his thought as a reply to that topic and generate discussion.

mikestew 6y ago

It kind of reminds me of Axe Body Spray's condemnation of the event of January 6. We were all waiting with bated breath until you weighed in Axe, and we're glad to know that you don't approve: https://twitter.com/axe/status/1347325351668682752 https://twitter.com/axe/status/1347325351668682752

dcwca 6y ago
Their hand was forced by someone posting a photo of a can of axe body spray being left behind by the mob.
- mikestew 6y ago
  Seriously? Oh, man, I almost feel bad for making fun of the tweet now. Thanks for the background on a tweet that came to me quite indirectly (what, you think I follow Axe's Twitter account?).
hinkley 6y ago
A defense attorney has to 'believe' that their client is innocent, or at least what they did wasn't so bad and gosh are they sorry, and can't we let bygones be bygones? In a similar way, advertising people have to believe that their company matters a great deal. Even if it's just Drakar Noir for a younger generation. I don't know what Paul's excuse is. Then again, I send stuff out into the universe all the time with no expectation of people actually acting on it. Sometimes, as they say, you need to get something outside of your head so it's not inside anymore (so you can stop dwelling on it).

tpmx 6y ago

Perhaps naively: I long for the post-Trump period mostly because we'll be able to discuss these things without this individual looming over every single discussion about censorship.

bitstan 6y ago

Preach. Cancel Paul Graham. Defending Sci-Hub is a dog whistle for people who want to preserve hate-speech! That's literally defending fascism! #cancel_pg