tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091218950079982154.post2673897569493345086..comments2024-03-07T15:19:55.343+01:00Comments on Copy, Shake, and Paste: Lawyers instead of argumentsDebora Weber-Wulffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01602911135725939409noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091218950079982154.post-75747809704504892952013-03-25T21:43:18.312+01:002013-03-25T21:43:18.312+01:00Maybe you should write a very detailed article abo...Maybe you should write a very detailed article about this for the German DIE ZEIT. So they would have some real university-scientist-laywer-going-bad stuff to publish ... and could use their lawyers for something useful, instead of publishing badly researched articles on their ZEIT ONLINE website ...<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091218950079982154.post-9181174316267776242013-03-25T15:23:17.490+01:002013-03-25T15:23:17.490+01:00I think the first goal of censorship is to instill...I think the first goal of censorship is to instill self-censorship, not to make specific works vanish.<br /><br />It's hard to completely remove something that was once online, even if the author has taken it down, who knows who made a snapshot. And there is the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine: http://archive.org/web/web.php ) or Google Cache, although they have their limits too.<br /><br />But once enough bloggers notice what happens to other bloggers (being sued, threats of financial ruin, etc.) the resulting climate of insecurity and fear might serve the goal of people who do not want an open discussion, e.g., because they do sloppy work or are complete fraudsters. And even if the information is out there, it might be confined to small groups, not easily available to the general public.<br /><br />The strange thing is -- people who deceive others make use of the law (or the appearance of the law) to continue deceiving others. Shouldn't the law protect the other guy/girl? But yup, perhaps Richard Fish was right in Ally McBeal:<br /><br />"I didn't become a lawyer because I like the law. The law sucks. It's boring. But it can also be used as a weapon. You want to bankrupt somebody, cost him everything he's worked for, make his wife leave him, even cause his kids to cry? We can do that."<br /><br />I don't have a solution to this either, although at least in Germany, I recommend watching some of Udo Vetter's videos on YouTube regarding what you can do online (e.g., the difference between stating an opinion and making an assertion).<br /><br />But yup, lawyers instead of arguments is bad practice, for everyone but lawyers and people who win by preventing an exchange of knowledge and ideas, that is.Danielhttp://www.organizingcreativity.comnoreply@blogger.com