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⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Wordle 1,025 3/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I had the opposite, only three guesses because I use this word so often 
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Wordle 1,025 5/6*
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
StarNamer@work wrote: It amazes me how many times the answer is a word I use almost every day, but I still only just get it! 
So true... happens quite often to me as well
Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. -Anon
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. -Frederick Nietzsche
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Wordle 1,025 5/6
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩
⬛⬛🟩🟨🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
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Wordle 1,025 4/6
⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛
🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Jeremy Falcon
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I recently wrote a tool primarily for my own benefit, as I long ago archived old shows of mine back when they were available on DVD and bluray, but the DVDs didn't necessarily survive all these years. (Many not available on streaming or I'd just stream)
I wrote a tool to go through and catalog my media with html, giving me a streaming-service-like interface to my media using static index.html files and such so it all works totally offline. That way I can browse on a trip or something where Internet is spotty or non-existent. It uses themoviedb.org's API to fill in things like show ratings, name, overview, still images, etc.
It got me thinking about my ethical obligations.
I thought about releasing it here, and I'm not sure I will, or if I do, I may cripple it.
The problem is, you could use it in tandem with a torrent client, and filebot to basically give you a much nicer way to pirate and organize what you downloaded, so much so that I fear that would actually be the primary use of my code.
And that got me thinking more broadly and philosophically about this issue.
So ultimately my question is where do you come down on the ethical responsibilities here from a philosophical standpoint - and I'm more thinking of this project as an example, but asking more generally? Am I obligated to say, cripple this project or otherwise not release it due to the piracy enabling factor? I don't know where I come down on this myself for sure, but I tend to lean toward me sharing some of that responsibility in terms of not enabling piracy even if my code wasn't intended for that.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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Should Bjarne Stroustrup advocate for the removal of C++ as a language because it's commonly used to do bad things?
I would say 'no'. Bad people will always find a way to do bad things. That is not your responsibility. The only exception for me is the case where the ONLY purpose for the thing is to do bad. At the end of the day the real question is how you feel about it though - everything else is noise. You're the one that has to live with your decisions even if the only repercussion is self-imposed guilt.
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Let's see how many confessors we have. 
I wouldn't have qualms about releasing it. It has legitimate uses, like what you're doing with it. If someone uses it unethically, you're not to blame. You could use your normal license and add a statement saying that torrent sites, or however broadly you want to word it, are excluded from the license, so they need to contact you to pay a monthly SaaS fee. 
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I totally second Greg's views on that.
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There are already products that do that. Pay a one time fee and stream just about anything.
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If you don't want people using it for piracy, then release a crippled version.
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Piracy is a human right
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
The shortest horror story: On Error Resume Next
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I think, more to point, is that you would never know if it’s being used for something nafarious unless of course you added some form of app usage tracking. If your moral compass prevents you from releasing it in its uncrippled state that is your prerogative as the author. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it; it’s not as if you have written a virus or Trojan that could do a lot of damage. Have a view of Louis Rossman’s take on piracy and see if that helps your decision:
Piracy is COMPLETELY justified: Louis tries NetFlix & remembers why - YouTube[^]
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This is the exact video that came to my mind reading the thread header.
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You have no control (or responsibility) over someone else's actions. However if it rests heavy on your conscience it is reasonable to choose to release a version with limited functionality. It still won't stop people from modifying it to suit their use cases. As far as piracy is concerned I don't think is an easy topic to address. It is a large gray area with several different shades.
If you make laws restrictive enough, everyone can be made a criminal.
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I would take one step back and ask myself WHY do I want to release upon the public a piece of software. For me, at various times and various programs, the answer was some combination of the following:
A. I think it is solving an important problem (hunger, world peace, etc. ) and world should hear about this (direct greater good case). In this case, even if there are perceived negative consequences, I will release it for the greater good (damn the torpedoes!).
B. Other people could learn interesting things from what I've done (indirect greater good case). Than, if there are some problematic parts of the software, I would take them out and leave only the general framework.
C. It just tickles my ego and I want to show how smart I am (sadly, most frequent case). Well, if I honestly see some negative consequences, I will refrain from releasing it. My ego will be a bit bruised but I've got used to that.
Mircea
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It relies on some cool tech I made that I'd like to share with the board.
I've shared a piece of it, but the whole thing is greater than the sum of its parts and can be adapted to easily bind json data to a page on the server side.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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I would give some counter-examples:
A steak knife may be used to cut one's steak, or to cut a person. Should we therefore ban (or control) the production of steak knives?
Jackhammers may be used to make holes in roads or to make holes in bank vaults. Should we therefore ban (or control) the production of jackhammers?
Lastly, software may be used for a legal & moral purpose (cataloguing DVDs owned by the cataloguer) or for an immoral (and possibly illegal) purpose (cataloguing pirated videos). Should we therefore ban (or control) the release of the software?
Note further that in many countries, making a copy of a DVD that you own is perfectly legal. The illegality may come in when one either (a) copies it from a Torrent, (b) broadcasts the DVD or makes it available for copying, or (c) plays it for a public audience (i.e. outside of home consumption). The US, with its DMCA, is very much on the strictest side of this issue.
To summarise, there may be some legal issues with releasing your cataloguing software, but I don't see any moral issues with it. Your call!
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Yeah, where I think my software is different than a steak knife, is the worry that piracy will become the *primary use* of my "steak knife", outstripping legitimate uses for it.
That's what gave me pause.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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Your tool isn't providing the content.
Your tool isn't providing a link to any content.
You're not instructing people how to get the content.
Seems pretty clear-cut to me.
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Don't worry, such tools exist already, Plex and Jellyfin to name two popular ones and Plex even comes with a paid version to unlock more features!
Is it ethically dubious? To me honestly not much, it's not like people commit less of a crime by downloading pirated videos and watching them using say a smb share and vlc on their TV
Would people use it to watch pirated content? If it has better features than the current alternatives I'm sure someone would
But I don't think is your responsibility to cripple it or keep it private as to not enable piracy, you are not the one committing a crime by using it to view pirated movies and people will do it anyway
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I'm thinking that if you cripple it, bad actors will find a way around that anyway.
Release it. I want to see it!
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honey the codewitch wrote: The problem is, you could use it in tandem with a torrent client, and filebot to basically give you a much nicer way to pirate and organize what you downloaded
The potentially illegal part here should be the torrent client, not the organizational software.
If the organization could be considered to be the illegal part, every maker of file systems would be in trouble.
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This was never a question of legality.
Check out my IoT graphics library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx
And my IoT UI/User Experience library here:
https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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Perhaps not, but the same principle should apply in this case I'd say.
Any tool could be used in an illegal or immoral way. But in this case this obviously isn't the purpose.
For a torrent client the case looks quite different.
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