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Pastejacking

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Re: Pastejacking

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A new discussion of the ethics of software engineering might be valuable. Other professions have codes of ethics; maybe it's time for software, too.

cf. ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct: https://www.acm.org/about-acm/acm-code-of-ethics-and-profess...

I like most of the ACM code. I think it could use an update with more direct prohibitions on modern forms of user harm, such as trading in private information and manipulating search results to promote low quality sites.

Re: Pastejacking

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure that those involved have very interesting rationalizations, but I don't think that it should be viewed from an ethics perspective. Expecting people to behave against their own self interest in the short term, for the good of strangers in the long term, will always end in disappointment. This is actually a pretty simple case of poorly stated objectives being cleverly met by people who are completely self inte…

> I know this sounds kind of "well what did you expect wearing something like that" Which is a perfectly rational question/argument. > Expecting people to behave against their own self interest in the short term, for the good of strangers in the long term, will always end in disappointment. I agree. This is a systemic problem, and appeals to ethics won't work (and the advertisers won't change their metrics because of…

> (and the advertisers won't change their metrics because of them)

uh. That isn't what I was doing - one party's act in self interest can benefit third parties (even if accidentally)... like electing to not set yourself on fire in a crowded Museum of Yarn and Flammables.

> ...attack the economic incentives underlying their current strategies.

That has been going on since the first ad click payment. I'm guessing that the ideal solution is one that would require a scale of economy that is outside the capabilities of the majority of the market participants, and that is why we still have catch the monkey ads.

Re: Pastejacking

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See the glorification of the advertising industry in a popular TV show "Mad Men"

Which is a show about how cool it is to be an asshole and ruin your own and other people's lives by making extremely selfish decisions. This is also why I won't watch House of Cards.

So, do you only watch shows about Gandhi, MLK and J. Christ?

Not sure about Mad Men, but HoC doesn't "glorify" its subject. And tons of great art is about "assholes".

The thing is, and this is a very christian message, assholes are people too.

Re: Pastejacking

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who gives a shit? I do. That's probably why I won't be running an effective business any time soon. Being nice and not fucking people over doesn't get you far in highly competitive markets. I strongly second what 'nitrogen wrote[0]. This is very much about ethics. > Is it ethical for a shop to advertise its products in the shop windows when the people running the shop know that there are higher quality products ava…

That argument would lead you to the conclusion that if your peers are objectively better than you, then it's immoral for you to seek employment; you must improve yourself or choose a different industry. So do you think you are among the world's best in your area of expertise, or are you voluntarily unemployed? ;)

Fortunately, hypocrisy is not a fallacy.

Re: Pastejacking

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a show about how cool it is to be an asshole and ruin your own and other people's lives by making extremely selfish decisions. This is also why I won't watch House of Cards.

So, do you only watch shows about Gandhi, MLK and J. Christ? Not sure about Mad Men, but HoC doesn't "glorify" its subject. And tons of great art is about "assholes". The thing is, and this is a very christian message, assholes are people too.

Not sure why you're jumping on this train at this junction...

Re: Pastejacking

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a pretty unethical way to make money.

Sure, if you've got a concept of morality based on primarily being motivated to help others rather than pursuing self interest. If that's the case though then the vast majority of people would fall under the category and make it a pretty meaningless description.

Humans are social animals and the "self" at least partially includes your community. There's no need to make such a fine distinction when discussing human morality.

Re: Pastejacking

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FTFY: To solve this, browsers should probably disallow modifying the clipboard .

That would probably break a lot of WYSIWYG-like editors.

Touche. Then maybe it should be like location you opt-in per domain, as another poster said in this discussion.

Re: Pastejacking

#238
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That argument would lead you to the conclusion that if your peers are objectively better than you, then it's immoral for you to seek employment; you must improve yourself or choose a different industry. So do you think you are among the world's best in your area of expertise, or are you voluntarily unemployed? ;)

Fortunately, hypocrisy is not a fallacy.

It is when other people do it.

Re: Pastejacking

#240
post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, do you only watch shows about Gandhi, MLK and J. Christ? Not sure about Mad Men, but HoC doesn't "glorify" its subject. And tons of great art is about "assholes". The thing is, and this is a very christian message, assholes are people too.

Not sure why you're jumping on this train at this junction...

Because parent made an announcement about the junction.
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