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Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

joshcsimmons.com

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Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#341

Post by Cthulhu_ »

s3p wrote: post #292
gregsadetsky wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

agreed - it for sure would have been easier/cleaner/safer to just show a message that said "please play the official game on whatever.com"

It is not this developer's job to parent someone's kids. It is a parent's responsibility to make sure their child only gets access to the appropriate websites when they are young.

Counterpoint: it takes a village. You're naive if you think parents have and can keep full oversight / control over their offspring's internet usage. You can have their devices and your at home internet locked tight, but then they go to a library, they go to a friend's place, they go to school where they get a laptop or tablet and school internet access, or a friend's hotspot.

You can't protect your kids from the internet, you can only warn and educate them. I'm not saying to give them unlimited access from the get go, of course not. But I'm just saying you can't stop them either.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#342

Post by ericpauley »

squidbeak wrote: post #184
PeterisP wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both legally and morally, intent matters far more than these technical details.

I can't answer to the law, which besides will vary - and I reject the implication that a puerile prank is immoral. But that aside, taking it on as if there was any moral dimension, moral clarity is straightforward here: The parasite has to answer for the material it shows its visitors. If a butcher delivers outdated meat to nowhere, knowing his van will be hijacked, how can he possibly be blamed when the hijackers se…

> If a butcher delivers outdated meat to nowhere, knowing his van will be hijacked, how can he possibly be blamed when the hijackers sell it to their customers?

An obvious corrolary to this is the prohibition on booby traps.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#343

Post by shpx »

rozap wrote: post #308
nephanth wrote: post #298

No comment on how instead of retaliating against the thieving website, he's retaliating against the –probably unknowing– users that just happened on those websites through Google? (Some among whom are probably children)

If I get served a goatse image, I never return to that website. The website wants users, so yes, they're retaliating against the website. But yes, won't somebody think of the children.

You wouldn't print out this picture, go up to a child you know and show it to them. I would hope. The internet lets you efficiently subject more children to indecent exposure because you don't see it actually happen.

Just because people often say "think of the children" insincerely doesn't mean you should never think of them.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#344

Post by Cthulhu_ »

HeckFeck wrote: post #150
kikokikokiko wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is a meaningless crawl towards the heat death of the universe. Childish behavior is the most appropriate attitude one can have towards most things.

I wish there was still more of a genuine whimsical side to the Internet or even businesses. The attention economy isn't the same.

I found a link on HN a while ago that shows you just that, it's a randomizer (like the old StumbleUpon) that sends you to random "old internet" webpages: https://wiby.me/surprise/

It sent me to a 1998 page about phrenology, the 'science' of determining someone's mental traits based on indentations in their skull: https://www.phrenology.org/index.html

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#345

Post by [deleted] »

HeckFeck wrote: post #50

Ah, I had a similar idea. There were too many bots or vulnerability scanners hitting /wp-admin.php on my blog. It was flooding my access logs with 404s because I don't rock wordpress. Irksome stuff. So I threw up a little 'surprise' for the ahem penetration testers ahem , if you feel brave: https://www.thran.uk/wp-login.php

[deleted]

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#347

Post by balls187 »

jsf01 wrote: post #334
klinquist wrote: post #318

Why not just "out" them and provide a link to the original domain? "To play Sqword, please visit directly. You are currently visiting a site that has put ads around the original game without the game creator's consent." By replacing it with goatse, a number of people will think, "I wanted to play Sqword but now it's pornographic" and never play again.

Not only this, but I imagine some of the less tech savvy end users (kids, grandparents) would be the ones who found the game from one of these parasitic sites inundated with ads. The goatse image doesn’t help those users. They probably won’t realize what that’s about and then just stop playing altogether.

If an iframe displays that content, could the creators webhost be contacted and would they cancel his account?

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#350

Post by balls187 »

tempodox wrote: post #206
b800h wrote: post #141

I am absolutely not a lawyer, but I wouldn't do something like this for fear of falling afoul of anti-obscenity laws. For instance, the UK has a cyberflashing law which allots a two year custodial sentence for sending a graphic image (by any means) with intent to cause distress.

So stealing the app is OK but doing something about it is illegal? Sounds like the law all right.

Doing something that is illegal is still illegal.
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