# tomndebb what on earth are you complaining about? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 16, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786 "2011-10-16T03:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/1 "2011-10-16T03:08:15Z")
> [@For those who consider 'pirating' theft, would you 'pirate' a disagreeable work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-consider-pirating-theft-would-you-pirate-a-disagreeable-work/599715/40): > > The legal monopoly isn’t being stolen, it is maintained. Jaywalking does not create a new right of way or transfer one either. What’s being done is taking property that belongs to someone else. > > I’m no fan of the way intellectual property is defined, or the public enforcement of property rights for owners who rely on the honor system. But that doesn’t change the situation any more than stealing a DVD from a store and shouting “DVDs belong to the people”. > > If you think online piracy is wrong, how is different than what’s wrong with theft? > [@For those who consider 'pirating' theft, would you 'pirate' a disagreeable work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-consider-pirating-theft-would-you-pirate-a-disagreeable-work/599715/41): > > The discussion regarding intellectual property is a valid one, but it is not the issue that the OP sought to examine. > > Please take that discussion to a new thread and stick to the topic of the OP. > [/Moderating] How on earth can it be a problem to mention intellectual property in this discussion? It is the basis of copyright laws that are being discussed, and violated by the ‘pirates’ that are the topic of the OP. I was clarifying my position on what is wrong with online piracy, and it was germane to the topic. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/2 "2011-10-16T03:54:52Z")
[Link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=627921) for anyone who is interested. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/3 "2011-10-16T13:25:59Z")
I guess the OP asked one question, viz, “Would you consider it ethical to pirate a offensive work to see how bad it really is?” So Tripolar was a little away from that. However the OP was all over the place and begged several answers. And there were several replies that did not answer the direct question. So, yeah Tomndebb fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/4 "2011-10-16T14:42:27Z")
I am not complaining about anything. I had requests to keep the thread on topic. I noted that the discussion regarding intellectual property was a legitimate one, but that it was not what the OP had actually sought to discuss. (I agree that the OP could have been clearer, but there was a specific point to debate in there.) I suppose that I should have simply moved it to IMHO, since the OP was sort of a poll, but topics that are liable to get contentious often wind up being thrown back into GD, anyway, so I left it there. No one got reprimanded; I just noted that the actual topic was different than a discussion about intellectual property. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/5 "2011-10-16T14:47:11Z")
My apologies- I was harsh in what I said. Perhaps if your blurb had been seen to cover all previuos posts that weren’t direct there would not have been an issue. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/6 "2011-10-16T14:51:58Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > My apologies- I was harsh in what I said. > > Perhaps if your blurb had been seen to cover all previuos posts that weren’t direct there would not have been an issue. Pehaps, but there is often a bit of clutter at the beginning of a thread. The only topic that appeared to have legs, (to become a hijack), including both a coherent point and direct responses was the issue of intellectual property. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/7 "2011-10-17T05:04:03Z")
Well I thought I was on the OP’s point. From the beginning I stated that ‘piracy’ was theft. ‘Piracy’ as used by the OP, is about the misappropriation of intellectual property. Tao and I were discussing that subject. I rejected the OPs notion of a justification for ‘piracy’, so I had little to say on that part of it. I was in somewhat free form at the beginning, but it’s just my way of communicating sometimes. If you were responding to complaints that’s what you have to do. But it looked like your objection was specifically to my usage of the term ‘intellectual property’, not a general problem in the thread. . You’ve taken legitimate moderating steps in the past on my posts, and unfortunately it will probably happen again some day. This time I just didn’t understand it, and still don’t. So it’s done. Thank you for responding. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/8 "2011-10-17T15:02:40Z")
What I see is that an analogy was created to explore the premise, is copyright infringement [del]“piracy”[/del]\* theft? The OP places that as the default assumption, so exploring the premise is a bit of a hijack. * * * - Because it’s not piracy if you don’t have a parrot on your shoulder. Those Somalis who hijack cargo ships? Yeah, they definitely need some parrots. And a pegleg or two. And maybe a cutlass. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/9 "2011-10-17T15:16:27Z")
Two peglegs? He’ll need that cutlass to lean on, or a very strong parrot to hold him up. I find the idea that debate cannot examine the assumptions of the question to be meaningless. It essentially means the debate consists of providing different reasons to justify the initial assumption. Essentially each debate takes the form “I’m right, please discuss the different ways that I’m right”. If questioning such a premise is a hijack I would have expected far more moderator interjections than we’ve seen so far. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/10 "2011-10-18T01:36:04Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > - Because it’s not piracy if you don’t have a parrot on your shoulder. Those Somalis who hijack cargo ships? Yeah, they definitely need some parrots. And a pegleg or two. And maybe a cutlass. Did you happen to pass over [this post in the original thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14362121#post14362121)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/11 "2011-10-18T18:22:24Z")
I saw it, I was parodying the ones who think piracy isn’t piracy if it doesn’t involve a 17th century pirate complete with all the stereotypes out of _Treasure Island_. Thus referring to Somali pirates as not being real pirates, either. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/12 "2011-10-19T01:48:30Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I saw it, I was parodying the ones who think piracy isn’t piracy if it doesn’t involve a 17th century pirate complete with all the stereotypes out of _Treasure Island_. Thus referring to Somali pirates as not being real pirates, either. Well they do tend to give pirates a bad name. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomndebb-what-on-earth-are-you-complaining-about/599786/13 "2011-10-19T19:23:36Z")
Give pirates a bad _name_? What, like Long John Sapperstein? That _would_ be a pretty bad name for a pirate. Pretty good for a pirate’s accountant, though…