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Punishment has a very simple pragmatic goal: to discourage this behavior from other people in the future.

by omni 12y ago

justin66 12y ago
In this case the "punishment" (seriously?) had the immediate effect of forcing them to change the design they stole.
- davemel37 12y ago
  Yes,but not immediately, the initial reaction of the perpetrator was to defend the decision on twitter, thats what happens when you attack someone, they go on the defensive... ..but that same objective could have been achieved privately. A nice email from the victim stating that they see they copied their design and would greatly appreciate them changing it ASAP...would have likely yielded a quicker and cleaner result. Regardless, my initial comment was less addressed to the victim here, but rather to the HN community for pouncing all over it.
  - justin66 12y ago
    I don't disagree that people get weird about YC companies here, but let's be honest: YC can take it. This startup can take it. A week of bad publicity is a minimal amount of adversity compared to what they'll endure in the future, and there were a few lessons they needed to learn. What we're seeing isn't some kind of lynch mob, it's a few people shooting the breeze on the internet. More importantly, I think the notion that a victim - a real victim, making a truthful accusation - is obligated to remain silent is very badly thought out.
davemel37 12y ago
Do you really think this story will prevent someone who plans on stealing a design from stealing it? It's one thing if you seeked punitive damages from a court...but just tooing your horn on a blog, twitter and HN...will not only not yield results, but will likely be forgotten tomorrow by everyone else. Besides, even if the victim's intention was altruistic and intended to prevent others from stealing designs in the future, who made society or the HN community responsible for raising that flag? You can disagree, but I would put my money on the notion that your argument is built on a schadenfreude foundation, not a "I care about the world" platform.

Punishment has a very simple pragmatic goal: to discourage this behavior from other people in the future.

by omni 12y ago

Punishment has a very simple pragmatic goal: to discourage this behavior from other people in the future.

justin66 12y ago

In this case the "punishment" (seriously?) had the immediate effect of forcing them to change the design they stole.

davemel37 12y ago
Yes,but not immediately, the initial reaction of the perpetrator was to defend the decision on twitter, thats what happens when you attack someone, they go on the defensive... ..but that same objective could have been achieved privately. A nice email from the victim stating that they see they copied their design and would greatly appreciate them changing it ASAP...would have likely yielded a quicker and cleaner result. Regardless, my initial comment was less addressed to the victim here, but rather to the HN community for pouncing all over it.
- justin66 12y ago
  I don't disagree that people get weird about YC companies here, but let's be honest: YC can take it. This startup can take it. A week of bad publicity is a minimal amount of adversity compared to what they'll endure in the future, and there were a few lessons they needed to learn. What we're seeing isn't some kind of lynch mob, it's a few people shooting the breeze on the internet. More importantly, I think the notion that a victim - a real victim, making a truthful accusation - is obligated to remain silent is very badly thought out.

davemel37 12y ago

Do you really think this story will prevent someone who plans on stealing a design from stealing it? It's one thing if you seeked punitive damages from a court...but just tooing your horn on a blog, twitter and HN...will not only not yield results, but will likely be forgotten tomorrow by everyone else. Besides, even if the victim's intention was altruistic and intended to prevent others from stealing designs in the future, who made society or the HN community responsible for raising that flag? You can disagree, but I would put my money on the notion that your argument is built on a schadenfreude foundation, not a "I care about the world" platform.