i did not expect people to advocate for ignoring licenses, and further, arguing that the rule of law should be selectively applied. but, i am too old to expend energy trying to convince people that the rule of law loses all meaning if it is selectively applied.

so, sure, fuck licenses. if someone pisses you off, just say they were born in the wrong country and steal their shit. thankfully i am retiring soon, so i probably wont see the winners of this race to the bottom.

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kube-system 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think you're entirely right. I also think that what you're warning about is already in the past, due to the practicalities of globalization.

There are so many laws around the world that apply to "websites", that currently, you can't operate any sort of online presence anymore without at least implicitly picking and choosing which laws on the planet that you're going to follow. Nobody hires hundreds of lawyers in every country of the world to comply with every website law on the planet, and if you did, I bet you'd find you probably can't practically operate one.

For example, the forum that we're on right now, doesn't comply with this law (although I believe HN blocks China anyway): https://www.cac.gov.cn/2022-06/17/c_1657089000974111.htm

In reality, people hire a lawyer in the jurisdictions where they have legal exposure and follow those laws.

This isn't to say that you should ignore software licenses, but rather sometimes, they're toothless instruments.

	▲	john_strinlai 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		there is some interesting and nuanced discussion to be had with your main point, but >This isn't to say that you should ignore software licenses, [...] the main/only reason that i started this comment chain, and continued it, is that the other commenters are saying you should (if they are from the "wrong" country, anyways).

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stackghost 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

>i did not expect people to advocate for ignoring licenses

> am too old to expend energy trying to convince people that the rule of law loses all meaning if it is selectively applied.

Again, for what feels like the third or fourth time, this is already happening all over the globe.

It's an open secret, for example, that the AI companies trained their models on pirated textbooks. It's not even an open secret, just the bare-faced truth, that the AI companies trained and continue to train on source-available software without regards for license. It's common knowledge that Russian and Chinese companies (among others) benefit from state-sponsored corporate espionage and sanctioned software piracy. The Rule of Law is dead in many countries, including the United States.

There's literally nothing to be gained by not following suit. You can't pay your rent with ethics.

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john_strinlai 4 hours ago | parent [-]

>Again, for what feels like the third or fourth time, this is already happening all over the globe.

this is weird logic. scams happen every minute of every day all over the globe, i do not advocate for more people to scam.

>It's an open secret, for example, that the AI companies trained their models on pirated textbooks.

yeah, and that was wrong.

>You can't pay your rent with ethics.

this is a sad sentence.

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stackghost 4 hours ago | parent [-]

>this is a sad sentence.

I don't disagree, but I'm talking about the real world that we inhabit, not the fictional idealized world we wistfully discuss in classrooms.

The world is a shitty place full of shitty people. Being an idealist is just asking to be taken advantage of.

	▲	john_strinlai 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		>fictional idealized world we wistfully discuss in classrooms. you can live in the real world without stealing software from people and justifying it because they were born in the "wrong" country. i have done it my entire life. "two wrongs dont make a right" is a pretty simple rule to live by, even in the real world. perhaps unsurprisingly, it is also good for ones mental health.