4 ms·

"It's a link to the torrent of the illegal copy." Technologically speaking, that's not really any different then saying "That's a link to a page that solely co

by ptomato 17y ago

"It's a link to the torrent of the illegal copy." Technologically speaking, that's not really any different then saying "That's a link to a page that solely consists of a link to the illegal copy." Whether the protocol is HTTP or BitTorrent isn't really relevant. "Oh we don't host illegal stuff we only provide torrents, all the stuff is distributed elsewhere" may be (though quite possibly isn't) a valid legal defense for the torrent site hosting it, but doesn't really have any place when discussing the appropriateness of linking to it from here. And obtaining an unlicensed copy of the fonts from those foundries will be illegal (definition: something that you can be successfully sued for by said foundries in court) in essentially any First-world country. Certainly in the U.S., where OP, you, I, and probably the majority of news.yc are located.

sailormoon 17y ago
Illegal != immoral. And personally I cannot understand why foundries don't just give free downloads of their fonts anyway. It's utterly trivial to find "illegal" copies if you wish. The people who pay do so to license them for commercial use; they're not paying for the actual files and would pay regardless. I really hate people talking about "illegal stuff". I don't see why it's natural or obvious that there is even such a thing as illegal information, or an illegal action you can take with information. The idea that you can incriminate yourself merely by copying a file, no matter what that file is, is abhorrent to me.
- ptomato 17y ago
  "I cannot understand why foundries don't just give free downloads of their fonts anyway." And that makes it okay for you to use them? If you object philosophically to their position then don't use the product they produce; justifying your desire to use their product without paying them certainly doesn't indicate high moral standards on your part. "The idea that you can incriminate yourself merely by copying a file, no matter what that file is, is abhorrent to me." Because information has value and without a way of getting recompensed for that value nobody will take the time to create the information. What do you do, and why should you get paid for it?
pbhjpbhj 17y ago
This is effectively what canonical do with video codecs - "if you have the right licenses or you have rights in your legal jurisdiction to use these codecs then here's a pointer to find them". This is no more illegal than saying to someone how to produce alcoholic drinks from grapes, say, in some jurisdictions that will be illegal (under Sharia law) in others not.

by ptomato 17y ago

sailormoon 17y ago

Illegal != immoral. And personally I cannot understand why foundries don't just give free downloads of their fonts anyway. It's utterly trivial to find "illegal" copies if you wish. The people who pay do so to license them for commercial use; they're not paying for the actual files and would pay regardless. I really hate people talking about "illegal stuff". I don't see why it's natural or obvious that there is even such a thing as illegal information, or an illegal action you can take with information. The idea that you can incriminate yourself merely by copying a file, no matter what that file is, is abhorrent to me.

ptomato 17y ago
"I cannot understand why foundries don't just give free downloads of their fonts anyway." And that makes it okay for you to use them? If you object philosophically to their position then don't use the product they produce; justifying your desire to use their product without paying them certainly doesn't indicate high moral standards on your part. "The idea that you can incriminate yourself merely by copying a file, no matter what that file is, is abhorrent to me." Because information has value and without a way of getting recompensed for that value nobody will take the time to create the information. What do you do, and why should you get paid for it?

pbhjpbhj 17y ago

This is effectively what canonical do with video codecs - "if you have the right licenses or you have rights in your legal jurisdiction to use these codecs then here's a pointer to find them". This is no more illegal than saying to someone how to produce alcoholic drinks from grapes, say, in some jurisdictions that will be illegal (under Sharia law) in others not.