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W. R. Dunn's avatar

Thanks for highlighting this. As you say: “There ought to be a law to stop this.” Yes, and there ought to a broad legal framework for the advanced technology that thrives on theft and exploitation of everyone’s privacy and intellectual property, but sadly no such thing has been developed. It is past time to address these issues. A functioning Congress would help a lot. Register. And vote.

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Richard Grace's avatar

The legal system is not going to do anything substantial to protect copyright holders. It is up to Congress.

And guess what? Congress is owned lock, stock and barrel by the tech oligarchy!

Bend over, here it comes again

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W. R. Dunn's avatar

OR, change the Congress. It is not impossible, just difficult.

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Feb 21, 2024
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George Neidorf's avatar

That will last until the flame dies down, and it always dies down.

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George Neidorf's avatar

You can vote till all the notes fall off the page and there still won't be a functioning congress, unless they are bribed to function.

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Svein-Gunnar Johansen's avatar

I think this is actually one of the most useful functions of democracy: It is VERY hard to change something, at the same time as you provide the illusion that you are making a difference.

Which is FANTASTIC in a functioning society. Unfortunately, society is becoming increasingly in NEED of change, so...

This is why many people are demanding "strong leadership to drain the swamp". Unfortunately most of these people have no real understanding of what strength is, and confuses it with bravado, overconfidence, wealth and self-proclaimed success.

They also don't know that draining swamps releases a lot of gases, which eventually becomes problematic down the line :P

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W. R. Dunn's avatar

I agree. Well said. And “strongmen” almost always are in it for themselves exclusively, as are the greedy sycophants who serve them.

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George Neidorf's avatar

You nailed it. I have no confidence in govt., any govt., anywhere.

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W. R. Dunn's avatar

It’s never pretty, but bare functionality is a low bar. Very occasionally even Congress can accomplish things when the people insist. The best politicians lead but most follow, and I agree, it’s money mostly they follow. Still, it’s better than tyranny or anarchy.

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Bianca Dămoc's avatar

The EU is doing surprisingly good work on this. I think it's closer than we might think

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W. R. Dunn's avatar

Senators Amy Klobuchar and Bill Cassidy (others too) have tried to shine a light on the need for a better regulatory framework, but we are way “behind the curve” in the US. Too many real issues government should address are drowning in all the noisy nonsense.

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Travis Hartnett's avatar

I have no doubt that Congress, as a whole, is incapable of understanding the underlying issues of this problem and will take their cue from Amazon and OpenAI lobbyists.

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W. R. Dunn's avatar

Maybe, but somehow the whole society must deal with technology like this, which is neither perfect nor omnipotent - it won’t even meet all the claims hawked for it. Eventually “gravity,” which never rests, will assert itself in ways that even smart people must face.

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