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Comment by moe | Hacker News Reader

There's not much point lamenting about how your words could be appropriated in ways that you don't like.

If you are worried about that then your only option is to refrain from participating in public forums.

Otherwise the golden rule of the internet applies: When it's out on the internet then it's out on the internet - and there's no taking back.

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> Otherwise the golden rule of the internet applies: When it's out on the internet then it's out on the internet - and there's no taking back.

That sounds suspiciously like the "The web is considered 'public domain'" argument:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1868736

The "The web is considered 'public domain'" argument seems to be said by people who have personal interest in that statement being true.

The "When it's out on the internet..." is more a statement of inevitability. The person making the statement may not participate in taking the content, they are just pointing out that it's inevitable that other people will.

No, the one is about copyright, the other is about information.

It's not surprising that words in a public forum are misappropriated, just like it's not surprising that a Mercedes with the keys in the ignition will be stolen. But that doesn't make either act any less illegal or deplorable. The law is clear in this case. Without any agreement to the contrary, the copyright still remains with the author.

As a Mercedes it sounds like this:

"There's not much point lamenting about how your Mercedes could be appropriated in ways that you don't like.

If you are worried about that then your only option is to refrain from parking it in public places.

Otherwise the golden rule of the road applies: When it's out on the road then it's out on the road - and there's no taking it back."

The analogy would have to be, "if you are worried about that then your only option is to refrain from parking it in public places with the keys in the ignition."

Then in your proposed extension what is the internet equivalent of taking the keys out of the ignition but still parking in public places?

This entire thread is people taking my analogy and shooting in the face. The point is this: jut because a crime is trivial and likely to happen doesn't mean we shouldn't blame the criminal. Yes, you're an idiot if you leave the keys in the ignition of your expensive car and you're even more of an idiot if you're surprised your car got stolen. But that doesn't make stealing it any less of a crime or the criminal any less responsible.

This would make it a Crime of Opportunity, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_opportunity.

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