4 ms·

But why would the law be vague about this? What if I accidentally link a copyrighted work and I happen to run ads on my site? In fact, what if I link to somet

But why would the law be vague about this? What if I accidentally link a copyrighted work and I happen to run ads on my site? In fact, what if I link to something and it is changed to a copyrighted work silently?

immibis 3y ago
Computers don't care what you intended, but the law cares a whole lot. As programmers we sometimes aren't used to that. There law isn't executed by a computer, but by judges who can see that the clear purpose of a website like this is piracy.
Aurornis 3y ago
> What if I accidentally link a copyrighted work and I happen to run ads on my site? If you make a site that legitimately serves a different purpose, then you accidentally post a single link to pirated content in a truly good-faith accidental manner, then you response to any requests to take it down with a good-faith action in a timely manner, you are in a completely different category than dedicated piracy websites. There is no equivalence. Furthermore, the law generally takes intent into account. You can start reading on the general concept on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea
coldtea 3y ago
>But why would the law be vague about this? Because the real world is vague too. The law is dynamic, not static, any specifics are taken into account by judges and prosecutors, non specifics are speculated, intent and malice is considered, and so on. >In fact, what if I link to something and it is changed to a copyrighted work silently? Then you'll 99.99999% just get away with it, as nobody cares for some lowly link. If (and it's a big if) it attracts attention for some reason (perhaps it gains tons of traffic and suddenly some music/movie label is calling for your prosecution), then you might be prosecuted. In which case your prosecutor will assume your guilt, your lawyer will argue that you are innocent and somebody switched your original link, and the court will try to find what really went on, after hearing all of them, and checking any evidence, looking into whether there was intent and malice involved, and so on. Same as if you stayed in a hotel with a friend, and the other day you were found sleeping, and the friend murdered. The law doesn't have a special provision for "but what if somebody else came in the room with a spare key and murdered my friend" either.

immibis 3y ago

Computers don't care what you intended, but the law cares a whole lot. As programmers we sometimes aren't used to that. There law isn't executed by a computer, but by judges who can see that the clear purpose of a website like this is piracy.

Aurornis 3y ago

> What if I accidentally link a copyrighted work and I happen to run ads on my site? If you make a site that legitimately serves a different purpose, then you accidentally post a single link to pirated content in a truly good-faith accidental manner, then you response to any requests to take it down with a good-faith action in a timely manner, you are in a completely different category than dedicated piracy websites. There is no equivalence. Furthermore, the law generally takes intent into account. You can start reading on the general concept on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea

coldtea 3y ago

>But why would the law be vague about this? Because the real world is vague too. The law is dynamic, not static, any specifics are taken into account by judges and prosecutors, non specifics are speculated, intent and malice is considered, and so on. >In fact, what if I link to something and it is changed to a copyrighted work silently? Then you'll 99.99999% just get away with it, as nobody cares for some lowly link. If (and it's a big if) it attracts attention for some reason (perhaps it gains tons of traffic and suddenly some music/movie label is calling for your prosecution), then you might be prosecuted. In which case your prosecutor will assume your guilt, your lawyer will argue that you are innocent and somebody switched your original link, and the court will try to find what really went on, after hearing all of them, and checking any evidence, looking into whether there was intent and malice involved, and so on. Same as if you stayed in a hotel with a friend, and the other day you were found sleeping, and the friend murdered. The law doesn't have a special provision for "but what if somebody else came in the room with a spare key and murdered my friend" either.