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You will never win by directing your anger at the people who are just responding to the incentives provided by the system.
by waqf 14y ago
You will never win by directing your anger at the people who are just responding to the incentives provided by the system.
- mfringel 14y agoThey are willfully responding, and that makes all the difference in the world.
- monochromatic 14y agoWhat does that even mean?
- svachalek 14y agoThey are not robots, they make choices. If I offered money to steal babies, that's an incentive. If someone did it and tried to defend themselves by saying "I was just responding to the incentive" that does not make them any less reprehensible.
- monochromatic 14y agoWhat I meant was to question whether responding to an incentive is ever not willful.
- waqf 14y agoI was deliberately not talking about whether it was reprehensible. I was talking about how and whether you would succeed in inducing everyone to stop doing it.
- rdwallis 14y agoSadly, when people are offered money to steal babies they steal babies.[1] The moral outrage is important because it increases the cost of the action but removing the incentive is generally a more effective way to change behavior. [1] http://www.economist.com/news/china/21570762-curb-widespread-trafficking-abducted-children-officials-and-parents-are-turning-social http://www.economist.com/news/china/21570762-curb-widespread...
- arbuge 14y agoThis is indeed true. What is needed for a long term solution is to fix incentives. In the sense that it shows patent trolls that there is at least some risk involved to their dirty game, the Newegg verdict does that a little bit. Real reform must come from (a) Washington and/or (b) multiple companies banding together into industry associations to fight the trolls. The patent trolls have made tens of billions at this point - around $20B last year alone in fact. They have deep pockets and will not go away easily. It will take a real fight to change things, and it will require the support of many industry players.
- SageRaven 14y agoGiving your anger a focal point can be productive, as it may inspire you to promote change. Since IP lawsuits entered my field of awareness, starting with the Napster Trial, I've always wanted to set up a web site called "idancedonyourgrave.com" (or something with a similar sentiment). Morbid, but I want user-submitted pics of people actually dancing on the graves of people who have damaged our society through policy and abuse of the system. My current candidates are: Lars Ulrich (Metallica, figurehead of the Napster lawsuit), Jack Valenti (former president of the MPAA -- hey, he's dead now, too!), Hillary Rosen (former president of the RIAA), and now I'll add Katherine Wolanyk (from the article, a co-founder of Soverain, patent troll).