Comment by notahacker
13 years ago
Well it's nice to know that "one of the most important movements in Sweden for freedom of speech, working against corruption and censorship" wouldn't let concerns over something as insignificant as totalitarianism deter them from "forming a special bond" with a state to distribute warez.
They acknowledge the irony in their own post - the only way that they can promote freedom of speech is by forming a partnership with the least free country in the world, not by forming an alliance with the supposedly 'free' countries in Western Europe/North America.
In other words, the Western countries' belief in 'freedom of speech' is starting to seem as shallow as the word 'Democratic' in the 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea'.
Piracy is not freedom of speech. It is the copying and syndication of the intellectual works of others. I suspect more HNers would be upset about piracy, if they weren't using SaaS business models which are not as vulnerable to it.
It's really easy to brush off the fact that hundreds of people worked to make that movie you downloaded for free, especially when you never have to look any one of them in the eye.
These days with things like netflix, itunes, and amazon prime, the only excuse one can make for participating in piracy is destitution. I totally understand those who wouldn't have been able to acquire the goods anyway doing so by using the pirate bay and other services. In this sense, they're kind of a decentralized information welfare program. Most countries have this already, and it's called a library. Too bad most libraries haven't caught up with the information age yet. So the piracy services have been filling a very important spot.
I'd strongly urge everyone not to use the pirate bay. North Korea is an oppressive country that would nuke the US in a heartbeat.
It makes me sick that so many people idolize these guys.
Before you rationalize your piracy in response to my post, please sound out the word: "rational" "lies"
"Piracy is not freedom of speech."
Of course it is. It's the free exchange of information. If you don't support piracy you don't support absolute free speech.
For the record, I do not support absolute free unrestricted speech as it applies to exchange of (for instance) child pornography. I am happy to admit this.
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>Piracy is not freedom of speech. It is the copying and syndication of the intellectual works of others. I suspect more HNers would be upset about piracy, if they weren't using SaaS business models which are not as vulnerable to it.
Or, if they realized how much wealthier they would be if they didn't have to resort to SaaS business models in anticipation of frequent piracy.
>> It's really easy to brush off the fact that hundreds of people worked to make that movie you downloaded for free, especially when you never have to look any one of them in the eye.
How much of your Netflix subscription do you think actually makes it to those hundreds of people?
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The bottom line is it frees up disposable income and its relatively anonymous and easy.
No rationalization needed. No excuses.
I don't believe for one second that North Korea was their only possible option for survival. If anything, getting set up in NK probably took significantly more work and planning than any number of more conventional routes (eastern europe et. al).
If this is in fact true, and not a gag, it's an overt political statement, and one I couldn't disagree with more.
They moved to Norway and Spain, and were forced out of Norway as well. I haven't heard about Spain yet.
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Alternately, you know, it might just be that their conception of "freedom of speech" does not jibe well with that of the "supposedly free"?