Poch Peralta

Freelance Writer / Blogger,


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How Tolerable Do you Think is our Digital Ethics or Netiquette?

The Ethical Implications of our Work
Being a writer and a blogger, I frequently stumble upon ideas that would be dangerous to publish -- how to hack something, where to get thrills, etc... Netiquette is so vast you even have to learn how to use CC and BCC in emailing. You might even publish your friend's private photos without knowing. Even UK pols are accusing Amazon of tax-avoidance.

'As such, netiquette -- how we communicate, treat others, portray ourselves, and protect ourselves online -- is a question of ethics. Ethics, or moral philosophy, refers generally to how groups and individuals determine moral courses of action. Because ethics refers to the way groups and individuals relate to, treat, and resolve issues with each other, digital ethics then encompasses how users and participants in online environments interact with each other and the technologies and platforms used to engage. How does a online discussion board community handle flaming? Is it right to give support to pirating sites? What images are appropriate for re-tweeting? Just how private should privacy policies be when agreeing to Terms of Services?'

From Abbas el-Zein:
'...Our ethics have become mostly technical: how to design properly, how to not cut corners, how to serve our clients well. We work hard to prevent failure of the systems we build, but only in relation to what these systems are meant to do, rather than the way they might actually be utilised, or whether they should have been built at all. We are not amoral, far from it; it's just that we have steered ourselves into a place where our morality has a smaller scope.

'Engineers who see themselves as builders of the shelter and infrastructure for human needs also use their expertise in order to destroy and kill more efficiently. When doctors or nurses use their knowledge of anatomy in order to torture or conduct medical experiments on helpless subjects, we are rightly outraged...'

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    Dec 8 2013: I think the netiquette is excellent. On most sites you have the ability to flag comments. Also, if something said is too out-of-line, you can report it to authorities, such as police.
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      Dec 8 2013: An extreme opinion Greg. And I think it will be rare.
      Well, I hope it's true. At least you mentioned how we can
      enforce some netiquette. Thanks!
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        Dec 8 2013: well, I'm sure the things I mentioned do keep people from going overboard with their comments. As far as digital morals, well, they are kind of weak, they say, for example, Internet has really damaged the music industry with people listening to music for free, burning music for free. Nowadays, I try to check the source of a music video before I watch it, if it looks ripped-off I don't watch.
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          Dec 8 2013: Now that you mentioned piracy, did you
          know that, mysteriously, it increases sales of 'death metal'
          rockers, (only them!), instead of being ripped off? Wrote
          about it in my blog.
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        Dec 8 2013: no, I didn't know that. What is the psychology there?

        It takes a lot of effort to create a song and a video. People should be paid for it. What is the thinking of people who don't feel this way?
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          Dec 8 2013: I remember the band now: Iron Maiden

          I didn't cite those being victimized. I cited a Rock genre
          that earns from piracy. Ask sensible questions will you?
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        Dec 8 2013: Well, Poch, you asked if I knew that for death metal that piracy increases sales. So I answered, I said I didn't know that, and what is the psychology of that?

        Then I shifted to a second idea, which in general is that I don't like it when people put up music videos that they don't have the right to put up. And I asked what is the psychology of people who put these videos up without the rights. I don't know, is this a criminal action to do this, could these people be prosecuted as criminals?

        By the way, Iron Maiden is not a death metal band. The closest genre I see for them is hard rock, or heavy metal.
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          Dec 8 2013: Well, piracy is indeed very illegal Greg. Most activists just
          support it because property rights laws are crazy and
          deceptive. Piracy is the most ongoing viral issue on the Net.

          Ahh...so the website I referenced and said Iron Maiden
          is death metal is wrong. Now I might get back to the site
          and correct them thanks to you :-)
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        Dec 8 2013: well, in what way are property rights laws crazy and deceptive? It should be simple, if you went to the effort to make something you should get the profits from it, right?

        In the past if I wanted to hear a song, I would go to YouTube and just watch someone's upload of it. But then it began to seem like a lot of the uploaders were uploading illegally. So instead I go to the musicians' website, if I want to hear something by, for example, Miley Cyrus, I go to her site.

        Still wonder if it is a crime to upload illegally, or a civil offense?

        Here is a list of death metal bands covering half the alphabet. Probably the music Iron Maiden recorded contributed a little bit to the scene, but I think death metal might be angrier or more depressed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_death_metal_bands,_!%E2%80%93K
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          Dec 8 2013: You got that right Greg. Death Metal is the angriest
          and most depressed. I'm in those moods when I listen
          to death metal.
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          Dec 10 2013: Uploading is MUCH more illegal then downloading, and that's where people get mostly caught. It's like drug dealing, it's not as much of a crime if you're not distributing it.

          BUT Greg... "in what way are property rights laws crazy and deceptive?" PLEASE read up on copyright, you can start here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright


          Everything is a Remix is also really good, explaining how we got here. http://everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/
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        Dec 8 2013: you don't seem like a guy who gets too angry or depressed. What gets you that way?
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          Dec 8 2013: lol you really don't know me Greg.
          Circumstances since childhood had made me that way
          and I still am. Now don't start off the topic again and force
          me to snub you.
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        Dec 9 2013: well, poch, you say I don't know you. Do you want to be known?
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    Dec 23 2013: What if someone makes music and they only get a small cut of their earnings, and the publishers get most of the earnings?

    What is the musical artist would prefer that their music is free to everyone, but the publishers have the rights and don't want to give the music freely?

    What if donating music was actually just as profitable as selling music?

    What if two people come up with the same content independently, and post it to the web around the same time. Why should either of them be punished?

    What if someone plays a song in the background while dancing and uploads it to youtube. Should that be considered unethical?

    I think the problem we're running into here is with the concept of ownership and selling. In a society where there is no ownership, all art forms are free. Nobody goes without, because there is plenty for everyone. Everyone just takes what they need and no more than that. The same principles that make a beautiful planet offline make a good planet online. :)
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      Dec 23 2013: Yes Raederle. We're talking about damn crazy, corrupt Copyright laws.
      And most of the examples in your questions are really happening and are viral
      online issues.

      'What if someone plays a song in the background while dancing and uploads it
      to youtube. Should that be considered unethical?'

      I don't consider that unethical but I wouldn't be surprised (again) it IT IS considered
      illegal too.