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October 02, 2002
Ethical File-Sharing (or not):
Evan said that Kazaa, the peer-to-peer file-sharing software, is "software...designed to steal things." Meg objected. Ev rebutted. Jason commented that "If it is truly designed to steal, Kazaa should function much like Amazon with recommendations, top 10/25/whatever lists, and collaborative filtering, except with a 'Steal now with 1-Click' button in place of the 'Buy now with 1-Click' one."
Regarding Jason's comment, I think that's like saying the Mafia isn't designed as a criminal organization because they don't advertise under "Crime, Organized" in the Yellow Pages.
An activity that was explicitly designed to circumvent the law in the way he described would likely fail because it would lack the "plausible deniability" that Napster and now Kazaa have tried to maintain.
I believe Ev is expressing that while there are legitimate, legal uses for Kazaa technology, no reasonable person would assume that the majority -- or even a significant minority -- of Kazaa file transfers are legal according to copyright, nor would any reasonable developer create such a tool with the expectation that its usage would be legal. I would say that Kazaa and similar tools perhaps are not "designed to steal," but are designed with the full knowledge that their primary usage will not be legal, given current laws.
I don't have an ethical problem with file sharing per se & think the recording industry is really ignorant of the opportunity they're missing. However, when you look at the practices of Kazaa (including realizing they are making and profiting from software used for illegal activities, sticking spyware in their product, hijacking affiliate program revenue from other sites, etc.), this doesn't strike me as an ethical company.
Posted October 2, 2002 08:38 AM