Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day • Hacker News Board

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#141

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:07 AM UTC

hnsmurf wrote: post #104

burgerbrain wrote: post #5

" "If these companies are so clueless about technology that they think SOPA is a good idea, how could they be good investors?" " That is a brilliant point.

That's not really fair. The people who run corporations have a fiduciary responsibility. (There are of course caveats, and we can argue all day over whether or not SOPA is unconstitutional or otherwise illegal, but you get the point.) If you are a movie studio, SOPA is a great idea for your bottom line. I don't think it's fair to call everyone who is in favor of SOPA either evil or stupid, even if SOPA itself is both…

[deleted]

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#142

Post by dpe82 » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:10 AM UTC

chernevik wrote: post #97

The House Judiciary supporters list is chock-full of lawyers -- one-seventh of the list has the string 'LLP' -- and therein lies a major target of opportunity for the technology industry. I doubt anyone will change their counsel over this, but they can make them explain their position. Let every tech industry CEO, CFO and board member call their most senior contact at a supporting firm. Ask them to explain their posi…

I was extremely alarmed to see our firm, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, on that list and immediately emailed my attorney (a partner) about it.

Turns out two of their attorneys agreed to lend their names AS PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS and made it clear their support was in no way representative of the views of the firm. Despite that, DWT got added to the list.

Incredibly dirty move on the part of Rep. Smith.

DWT has tweeted about it (http://twitter.com/#!/DWTLaw/status/150019649130606592) and tell me they are working to get their name removed from the list.

Edit: fix link

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#143

Post by SoftwareMaven » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:11 AM UTC

haberman wrote: post #130

camperman wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wrong. In the New Testament, faith means assurance based on a reliable track record. It's the Greek word "pistis" and the two terms - faith and assurance - are used interchangeably.

" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." --John 20:29 This verse has always struck me as directly anti-science.

When was the last time you saw a top quark? Yet you surely believe in them because other people "have done the work" to prove they are there.

There is no doubt faith is different than science, but I think this particular example doesn't capture the real difference. Honestly, I'm not sure how I would qualify that difference, beyond (good) science will change in the light of new evidence. Faith often requires modifying how one interprets evidence so it fits within one's religious views.

I've also met people whose faith stands parallel to science. In that case, changing understanding of the physical world doesn't impact the spiritual world. That is where I try to be.

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#144

Post by _THE_PLAGUE » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:12 AM UTC

This controversy to me seems eerily similar to the so-called "SCO Wars" when the SCO Group defended her intellectual property rights against looters like IBM and Novell. This act will help to prevent tragedies such as what happened to SCO from occuring in the future, by making it more difficult to pirate other people's code. I do not see why some people think that is a bad thing. Darl McBride was right. He might have lost the suit, but I think history will vindicate him, and SOPA is part of that vindication.

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#145

Post by pg » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:18 AM UTC

burgerbrain wrote: post #139

pg wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not a regular technology company. They're owned by KKR.

Can you explain why this is significant to people not familiar with KKR? Their Wikipedia page isn't telling me much.

KKR is basically a decentralized conglomerate. While GoDaddy is (sort of) a technology company, KKR is closer in spirit to the sort of companies that support SOPA. Which is why we're seeing the apparently anomalous sight of an Internet company that supports SOPA. It's not GoDaddy talking; it's KKR talking through GoDaddy.

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#146

Post by eigenvector » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:19 AM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #138

pork wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think about it, hunters are rarely invited to wildlife fundraisers, fur clothing manufacturers to PETA meetings, and creationists to NAS meetings -- all because of opinions expressed by each party. Dissent is part of a modern life, and not inviting people to private events is a perfectly legitimate way of voicing that dissent.

Just a slight quibble: hunters are actually among the most consistent supporters of wildlife conservation. Ducks Unlimited, for instance, is largely an organization of duck hunters.

It makes sense. Hunters are among the few who derive actual material benefit from sustainable animal populations.

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#147

Post by LeafStorm » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:20 AM UTC

haberman wrote: post #130

camperman wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wrong. In the New Testament, faith means assurance based on a reliable track record. It's the Greek word "pistis" and the two terms - faith and assurance - are used interchangeably.

" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." --John 20:29 This verse has always struck me as directly anti-science.

In this specific context, Jesus was talking to Thomas - though the other apostles had told Thomas that Jesus had returned, Thomas did not believe until Jesus came to him personally. So the verse isn't promoting "blind faith," it's criticizing those who insist on a direct revelation before being willing to accept the truth. I don't think it really applies to science (at least not empirical science), and it is definitely not anti-science.

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#148

Post by burgerbrain » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:21 AM UTC

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #143

haberman wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." --John 20:29 This verse has always struck me as directly anti-science.

When was the last time you saw a top quark? Yet you surely believe in them because other people "have done the work" to prove they are there. There is no doubt faith is different than science, but I think this particular example doesn't capture the real difference. Honestly, I'm not sure how I would qualify that difference, beyond (good) science will change in the light of new evidence. Faith often requires modifying…

I am a fan of Rational Wiki's definition of faith. Essentially, it is something that you can use to back up the belief in something. Evidence is also something that you use to back up a belief. You can more or less plug in either of them, but evidence has clear advantages.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Faith

This article explores thoughts on faith that I don't agree are useful, but the opening sentence is the most useful definition I've seen.

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#149

Post by LeafStorm » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:23 AM UTC

Turing_Machine wrote: post #96

stingraycharles wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By what definition? There are quite a few historical scientists who made great discoveries, who very extremely religious too. Newton comes to mind.

A more recent example would be this fellow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre

An even more recent example is Francis Collins [1], who directed the Human Genome Project.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Collins

Re: Paul Graham: SOPA Supporting Companies No Longer Allowed At YC Demo Day

#150

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 23, 2011, 1:28 AM UTC

dpe82 wrote: post #142

chernevik wrote: post #97

The House Judiciary supporters list is chock-full of lawyers -- one-seventh of the list has the string 'LLP' -- and therein lies a major target of opportunity for the technology industry. I doubt anyone will change their counsel over this, but they can make them explain their position. Let every tech industry CEO, CFO and board member call their most senior contact at a supporting firm. Ask them to explain their posi…

I was extremely alarmed to see our firm, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, on that list and immediately emailed my attorney (a partner) about it. Turns out two of their attorneys agreed to lend their names AS PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS and made it clear their support was in no way representative of the views of the firm. Despite that, DWT got added to the list. Incredibly dirty move on the part of Rep. Smith. DWT has tweeted about…

[deleted]