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Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

joshcsimmons.com

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Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#431

Post by andersrs »

furyofantares wrote: post #78

I run three word games, this stuff happens for all of them. It sucks but I would never do what they did, it's abusive to the people who just googled your game and ended up on the wrong site. I've had teachers and students reach out to me to say they play my game in class every day together. And parents who play with their kids every day, and adult who text their results to each other every day. It sucks if they end u…

I've had the same with my word game. People will report a bug and then I find out they are on some ad-ridden copycat. For my app it's reached multiple levels. One of the app thieves has embeded another app thief. https://imgur.com/a/0qW0y1r

The most frustrating thing for me is fucking Google. Their search results are so bad these days I can't get my game to the top even though thousands play it every day and link to it on social media. I'm at the top of Bing, DDG, Kagi. These sites run links to each other and Google's dumb algo loves it. Usually they don't use iFrame but proxy the whole request. Since using CloudFlare as my CDN a few of the app thieves have been defeated.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#432

Post by archerx »

rlt wrote: post #260
tempodox wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Yeah, it turns out you don't have carte blanche to enact any form of vigilante justice you desire.

Yes, you must take your beatings with a stiff upper lip until moral improves.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#433

Post by yungporko »

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.

huh, turns out i break the law almost every day of my life.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#434

Post by akoboldfrying »

jonahx wrote: post #426
akoboldfrying wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree for adults. Don't agree for young kids. If you think this image is acceptable to show to young kids, are there any images you think are unacceptable to show them?

Images of violence. Also the phrase "you think this image is acceptable to show to young kids" subtly alters my position in a disingenuous and (I think) intentional way. My position is not that you should "show young kids goatse" but that "a young kid seeing a flash of goatse isn't really a big deal". They might laugh, they might be a little grossed out, they might be curious why someone would do something so strange…

Some apparent dichotomies are false, but "viewing/not viewing an image" is the real deal. (Do you want to make the case that a small exposure time represents a genuine midpoint between these extremes, to justify treating "a flash" of goatse as a special case, distinct from "viewing" it? If so, then right now I disagree, but would be interested in hearing your reasons why.)

I think there is a genuine change in meaning, coming from your use of the word "should":

>My position is not that you should "show young kids goatse

But that's not a word I used (or intended).

ETA: Agree on images of violence.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#435

Post by ric2b »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #429
pseg134 wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that you think it is sexual says more about you than them.

If I intentionally expose myself publicly but it’s not sexually arousing for the recipient, does that mean it’s not sexual assault?

Correct.

For example a woman breast-feeding or a man peeing on a tree on the side of the road.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#436

Post by user_7832 »

jjice wrote: post #217
jjice wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I love stories like this - great retort! It reminds me of that time that some app (or apps) was hammering an image of a butterfly from Wikimedia because it was part of some sample code that was never removed. I couldn't find the story but it was a fun but upsetting source of abuse from unknowing devs. Edit: It was a picture of a flower. I replied with some links.

Found it. Article and associated HN post: - https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T273741 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26072025

Thanks for the links, they’re fascinating!

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#437

Post by jeroenhd »

stubish wrote: post #416
jeroenhd wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a problem with OP's approach and I think he should be free to put whatever he wants on the content-stealing sites, but he didn't have to make it sexual. A very annoying, loud, visually busy animation would've sufficed. Baby shark at maximum volume, or a continuous fart sound, or maybe just a high pitched beep would also sufficiently scare away people. By showing porn in a place that he knows minors and o…

Who is showing porn here? OP or the company they would probably quite like to get shut down due to local censorship laws?

OOP took a series of deliberate actions for the image file to show up. I'd be very surprised if any reasonable court wouldn't put the blame on them.

They may have had a defence if this hotlink prevention was already there from the beginning, but this post explicitly admits that this was added intentionally in response, and that there were plenty of other options that could've been taken.

When it comes to many laws, intent matters a lot. You can make technical arguments about the nature of all networking all you want ("technically HTTP is a request/response system so if I just requested the server to delete all customer data I didn't hack it the system just foolishly accepted my request") but the real world doesn't really care about CORS and iframe policies as it does about not being exposed to some guys erect penis and stretched out anus.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#438

Post by jeroenhd »

michaelmrose wrote: post #388
jeroenhd wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I'm sure the British courts will rule in the author's favour when the lawsuit is filed, but that doesn't make flashing other users legal. Then again, I doubt someone is going to file a police report, especially when the URL of the page would bring the reports to an entirely different web page in the first place.

Why would the US extradite

The lack of extradition doesn't prevent the British courts from operating. It's not like you can escape punishment by just avoiding physically going to court. If you refuse to show up, you'll probably lose by default. How much impact that has depends on the relationship between the websites owners and the UK, but extradition isn't strictly necessary.

Re: Using Goatse to Stop App Theft

#439

Post by fennecfoxy »

balls187 wrote: post #354
jonahx wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%, and not just as devil's advocate. Let the punishment fit the crime. My sympathies are entirely on the side of the game's author. It's just an obscene image -- the "collateral damage" in this case is perfectly acceptable and imo fair because it damages the brands of the illegal hosters.

You’ll feel different about collateral damage when you have children of your own.

Yeah, I wouldn't allow my children unfettered access to the Internet and I certainly wouldn't be using an iPhone or tablet as a babysitter.

However as a gay nerd I'm not really interested in having children, so I'll just have to leave it up to the village.

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