4 ms·

So many people are filesharing (or have been at some point). It is like making alcohol illegal...

by Derbasti 15y ago

jrockway 15y ago
More like making drugs illegal, which has made many people very rich.
- muuh-gnu 15y ago
  Subverting the legal system and making common things illegal is just one way of artificially skewing a natural balance in order to make a profit purely out of arbitrage. There is a reason why drugs and copyright have basically no democratical backing and are routinely decided by "experts" behind closed doors. The crazy copyright reality just shows that there is a deep, underlying problem with the whole system, which makes it possible for a few to have enough power to simply not allow a widely perceived skewness to be democratically corrected by the populace. We have to obey minority-made laws which a majority of our peers doesnt support. Certain things are simply not allowed to be voted on, and at the moment this is no more apparent than on the issues of drugs and copyright.
corin_ 15y ago
Without wanting to get into a debate on filesharing itself, the fact that many people do something doesn't mean the law should follow them. The majority of people used to be racist. The majority used to be homophobic. The majority used to be sexist. Three quick examples to outline that public opinion isn't automatically the correct opinion. Thanks to journalists adopting the term "vox populi" to mean that public opinion is all-important, it's worth remembering the actual quote it is taken from, which translates to: "And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.
- Goladus 15y ago
  Even though a majority of people "used to be racist" (I'd say the majority still are) the vast majority of racist behavior is NOT outlawed. Specific behaviors are outlawed and laws are not allowed to be discriminatory based on race. Besides, the whole idea with anti-discrimination law is that you identify a politically disadvantaged group and ensure they aren't unjustly exploited by a system they have no hope of changing. It's very clear that anti-discrimination laws are designed as an exception to the rule of democracy. In the case of copyright holders, especially large companies, they are usually the least politically disadvantaged of anyone.
  - corin_ 15y ago
    What laws there are isn't relevant, my point is simply that what the majority thinks or does, isn't always the right thing to think or do. Obviously laws regarding discrimination can't be identical to laws regarding piracy, but the point is simply that, just because a huge number of people download content for free, that in itself doesn't make it the right thing to do (nor does it make it the wrong thing to do - all it does is make it the thing that lots of people do).
    - Derbasti 15y ago
      Is that so? You see, I thought, democracy was about what what the majority thinks or does. Commercialism however is only concerned with what the powerful and wealthy want.
      - corin_ 15y ago
        There's more than one form of democracy, and the one in the US (and over here in the UK) isn't about what the majority wants. It's about what politicians who the majority elected decide. And as many flaws as that system has, and as much corruption as there can be, I'm still bloody glad there is, because frankly I'm scared to think of how much less we might have developed societally.
      - roel_v 15y ago
        "You see, I thought, democracy was about what what the majority thinks or does." Yeah well you're wrong. There is much more to democracy than the tyranny of the majority.

So many people are filesharing (or have been at some point). It is like making alcohol illegal...

jrockway 15y ago

More like making drugs illegal, which has made many people very rich.

muuh-gnu 15y ago
Subverting the legal system and making common things illegal is just one way of artificially skewing a natural balance in order to make a profit purely out of arbitrage. There is a reason why drugs and copyright have basically no democratical backing and are routinely decided by "experts" behind closed doors. The crazy copyright reality just shows that there is a deep, underlying problem with the whole system, which makes it possible for a few to have enough power to simply not allow a widely perceived skewness to be democratically corrected by the populace. We have to obey minority-made laws which a majority of our peers doesnt support. Certain things are simply not allowed to be voted on, and at the moment this is no more apparent than on the issues of drugs and copyright.

corin_ 15y ago

Without wanting to get into a debate on filesharing itself, the fact that many people do something doesn't mean the law should follow them. The majority of people used to be racist. The majority used to be homophobic. The majority used to be sexist. Three quick examples to outline that public opinion isn't automatically the correct opinion. Thanks to journalists adopting the term "vox populi" to mean that public opinion is all-important, it's worth remembering the actual quote it is taken from, which translates to: "And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.

Goladus 15y ago
Even though a majority of people "used to be racist" (I'd say the majority still are) the vast majority of racist behavior is NOT outlawed. Specific behaviors are outlawed and laws are not allowed to be discriminatory based on race. Besides, the whole idea with anti-discrimination law is that you identify a politically disadvantaged group and ensure they aren't unjustly exploited by a system they have no hope of changing. It's very clear that anti-discrimination laws are designed as an exception to the rule of democracy. In the case of copyright holders, especially large companies, they are usually the least politically disadvantaged of anyone.
- corin_ 15y ago
  What laws there are isn't relevant, my point is simply that what the majority thinks or does, isn't always the right thing to think or do. Obviously laws regarding discrimination can't be identical to laws regarding piracy, but the point is simply that, just because a huge number of people download content for free, that in itself doesn't make it the right thing to do (nor does it make it the wrong thing to do - all it does is make it the thing that lots of people do).
  - Derbasti 15y ago
    Is that so? You see, I thought, democracy was about what what the majority thinks or does. Commercialism however is only concerned with what the powerful and wealthy want.
    - corin_ 15y ago
      There's more than one form of democracy, and the one in the US (and over here in the UK) isn't about what the majority wants. It's about what politicians who the majority elected decide. And as many flaws as that system has, and as much corruption as there can be, I'm still bloody glad there is, because frankly I'm scared to think of how much less we might have developed societally.
    - roel_v 15y ago
      "You see, I thought, democracy was about what what the majority thinks or does." Yeah well you're wrong. There is much more to democracy than the tyranny of the majority.