Comment by jaxxil_ on 07/09/2014 at 14:02 UTC

278 upvotes, 9 direct replies (showing 9)

> ...we feel it is necessary to maintain as neutral a platform as possible...

But, why?

Here's one thing I'll say: I was on digg when the HD-DVD master key was leaked. In response to legal pressure, the admins started to remove posts related to that, as it wasn't immediately clear if the site would be liable for massive infringement if they didn't. This lead to the userbase rioting, and postings of the key absolutely continuously in all sorts of inventive ways. Basically, the Streisand effect on steroids.

What I'm saying is internet communities don't handle censorship very well. Taking action *might* help, but it might also have caused the photo's to have dominated even more in an angry response. Hands off is the easiest way to make sure the internet doesn't come crashing down on you with a vengeance, highlighting the exact thing you wanted to remove.

Replies

Comment by buzzkill_aldrin at 07/09/2014 at 17:15 UTC

172 upvotes, 4 direct replies

What I'm saying is internet communities don't handle censorship very well.

Apparently internet communities also don't handle the paper bag[1] very well. DVD encryption civil disobedience aside, it seems like the people aren't getting what the admins are saying: "Look, we don't like everything you guys do here, but we'll tolerate it as long as it's not blatantly illegal and you don't attract attention from outsiders who can end up shutting us down."

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YrWiwUM3FA&autoplay=1

Comment by otakuman at 07/09/2014 at 16:54 UTC

17 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Lol, I just remembered the image with like ten hex numbers in perfect sequence and the middle one saying "REDACTED". It was hilarious.

Comment by AnArmyOfWombats at 07/09/2014 at 19:16 UTC

7 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Which matters more: the internet [users] crashing down on you, potentially losing page views, or a lawsuit (or ~~two~~ hundred) that will bankrupt or severely hinder your company?

I'd rather them have a temporarily pissed user base than be in financial peril, limiting or killing the site.

Oh, look, [a kitty] (http://i.imgur.com/lNASxPl.jpg[1] )

1: http://i.imgur.com/lNASxPl.jpg

Comment by ApplicableSongLyric at 07/09/2014 at 17:47 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

What I'm saying is internet communities don't handle censorship very well.

The internet, the people that make it up and the technologies that enable it, treat censorship as it is; like a lane closure, closed road or defective section that will be re-routed around in order to ultimately accomplish the task.

Fighting against data, cold, hard data, is futile.

Comment by tadcalabash at 07/09/2014 at 17:32 UTC

7 upvotes, 2 direct replies

What I'm saying is internet communities don't handle censorship very well.

I wish the discussion here was less about how Reddit admins should or should not respond to despicable or outright illegal actions by its users, and more about how the community itself can mature.

I know that's a huge request, but I'm sick of these incidents happening and the majority discussion afterwards is about how people in charge were imperfect in responding to a crisis situation and not the inciting problems.

Comment by 4698458973 at 07/09/2014 at 18:37 UTC

2 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Sure, but I'm not actually calling for heavy-handed censorship of HD-DVD master keys.

Look at the number of people in this thread alone that keep pointing to other subreddits and saying, "look, look at this horrible thing over here, why won't you do something about *that*?" This is censorship that the majority of the community *wants*.

Certainly there'd be a really big gray area on what's OK and what's not, but banning horrible content that the community wants to be banned doesn't seem like a terrible decision.

Comment by stemfish at 08/09/2014 at 02:12 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I remember that time, my favorite is still the xml file that had every hex in order by row, but with the actual master key missing from each row. Good times...good times...