4 ms·

Why do you think this is different than hosting a normal website with file uploads? Literally millions of people have made such websites (especially around 2000

by qyi 5y ago

Why do you think this is different than hosting a normal website with file uploads? Literally millions of people have made such websites (especially around 2000-2010).

hanklazard 5y ago
That’s true but when you host a website, you can decide what types of files can be uploaded. With this sort of decentralized storage network, people will include whatever files they want. And to put a finer point on it, no doubt some significant portion of the file content will be horrifying video content, some of which will be illegal. My question is more around the liability for that, even if it is encrypted and the miner doesn’t know what it is. A small filecoin operation would not have the legal funds to defend against an aggressive prosecutor trying to “take down a network of dangerous pornographers” and would get little sympathy from a general public that doesn’t understand the tech. Until there is strong legal precedent, I wouldn’t entertain a mining operation. Maybe I’m paranoid but it just doesn’t seem worth the risk.
- qyi 5y ago
  It's infeasible to make sure a server is only accepting "legal" content. I've never heard of a case of someone being jailed because his system involuntarily received some data that happens to be illegal. Normally what happens if there is illegal data that anyone cares about, the hoster is contacted and told to remove it. >it just doesn’t seem worth the risk. Well, the concern is only yours. This does raise the point that if police contact you to remove some data you are hosting for someone, you lose money, and they will likely not give you back whatever money you lost (all the more reason it should be fully anonymous like Freenet but IPFS and co are obsessed with trying to solve every use case in the world including legal compliance).

4 ms·

Why do you think this is different than hosting a normal website with file uploads? Literally millions of people have made such websites (especially around 2000

by qyi 5y ago

Why do you think this is different than hosting a normal website with file uploads? Literally millions of people have made such websites (especially around 2000-2010).

hanklazard 5y ago
That’s true but when you host a website, you can decide what types of files can be uploaded. With this sort of decentralized storage network, people will include whatever files they want. And to put a finer point on it, no doubt some significant portion of the file content will be horrifying video content, some of which will be illegal. My question is more around the liability for that, even if it is encrypted and the miner doesn’t know what it is. A small filecoin operation would not have the legal funds to defend against an aggressive prosecutor trying to “take down a network of dangerous pornographers” and would get little sympathy from a general public that doesn’t understand the tech. Until there is strong legal precedent, I wouldn’t entertain a mining operation. Maybe I’m paranoid but it just doesn’t seem worth the risk.
- qyi 5y ago
  It's infeasible to make sure a server is only accepting "legal" content. I've never heard of a case of someone being jailed because his system involuntarily received some data that happens to be illegal. Normally what happens if there is illegal data that anyone cares about, the hoster is contacted and told to remove it. >it just doesn’t seem worth the risk. Well, the concern is only yours. This does raise the point that if police contact you to remove some data you are hosting for someone, you lose money, and they will likely not give you back whatever money you lost (all the more reason it should be fully anonymous like Freenet but IPFS and co are obsessed with trying to solve every use case in the world including legal compliance).