capodieci.eth

It just came out that Meta downloaded via Torrent over 80 terabytes of books taken from LibGen, Anna's Archive, and Z-Library to train their AI models, and nobody is guilty. In contrast, in 2010, Aaron Swartz downloaded just 70 GB of academic articles from JSTOR (only 0.0854% of what Meta took) and faced $1 million in fines and 35 years in prison. Unable to bear the situation, he took his own life in 2013.

#FreeKnowledge #JusticeForAaronSwartz #OpenAccess #AIandEthics #FairCompensation

Feb 11, 2025 at 5:20amWeb
Show threadcapodieci.ethFeb 11, 2025
Links:
https://techround.co.uk/news/meta-torrented-terabytes-pirated-books-train-ai/
https://www.techinasia.com/news/metas-use-of-pirated-books-for-ai-training-exposed
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/court-documents-show-not-only-did-meta-torrent-terabytes-of-pirated-books-to-train-ai-models-employees-wouldnt-stop-emailing-each-other-about-it-torrenting-from-a-corporate-laptop-doesnt-feel-right/
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
Show threadAlonely0 🦀 🇪🇺Feb 11, 2025
@rcx to add insult to injury, he did it in the first place bc the research was funded by taxpayer money yet was not made publicly available, so he was robbing what had been robbed to give it back to the people.
Show threadDean F.Feb 11, 2025
@rcx Oh, but it's OK when a billionaire does it, don' cha know?
Show threadAdvanced Persistent TeapotFeb 11, 2025
@rcx at least if not more important to note than the quantity is that his motivation was public benefit, and Meta's was private gain
Show threadcapodieci.ethFeb 11, 2025
@http_error_418 absolutely correct. And if is THIS what "they" don't like?
Show threadSonikkuFeb 11, 2025
@rcx
Corporations (and techbros): Above the law
Individuals: not above the law (and expendable to take the fall, or to be made an example of)
Show threadChannel 44Feb 11, 2025
There is nothing any of us can do about it. What happened to Aaron was cruel and unfair. He was relentlessly harassed ... a gentle soul that got painted into a corner. And here we are just over a decade later and it's all cool bro.
Show threadRejZoRFeb 11, 2025
@rcx If you're big greedy corporation you're untouchable. If you're just individual they'll fuck you in the ass without any lube.
Show threadthesinkingbelleFeb 11, 2025

@rcx capitalists only forgiving those in pursuit of profit?

always has been 👩🏻‍🚀🔫👩🏻‍🚀

Show threadElectroFetishFeb 11, 2025
@rcx Private property is turning into a beast with rather sharp teeth. Ordinary citizens and society as a whole suffer, and laws do not correspond to scientific and technological progress.
Show threadDrezil Feb 11, 2025
@rcx So .. as a researcher i am justified in taking all JSTOR-Articles to train my net? Did i get that correct?
Asking for .. a friend.
Show threadcapodieci.ethFeb 11, 2025
@Drezil Check the rules, and respect them. We live in a society that has rules. We can ask those to be changed, right? Cheers to your friend.
Show threadDrezil Feb 13, 2025

@rcx I respect rules in a society exactly the way that society respects me, my bodily autonomy and my medical needs.
We can NOT ask those in power for change. All real change comes as a reaction to massive political pressure when appeasement is not working anymore.

See: Suffragettes, Rosa Parks, State Socialism ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Socialism_(Germany) ), Civil Rights, Womans Rights, Gay Rights, Trans Rights, ...

NOTHING is done if asked. Either a court has ordered it or it was of advantage for capitalists..

State Socialism (Germany) - Wikipedia

Show threadSimón DellepianeFeb 12, 2025
@Drezil @rcx Not unless you also happen to be a billionaire, I'm afraid.
Show threadJason Bowen 🇺🇦Feb 11, 2025
@rcx Shit, I hadn't made that connection :(
Show threadNick Byrd, Ph.D.Feb 12, 2025

My #Ethics of #Business and #Technology course begins with this contrast between #AaronSwartz’s subscription-mediated article downloading and #OpenAI’s larger scale, unpaid #webscraping (https://byrdnick.com/teaching#ethicsofbusinessandtechnology).

Even though some students have heard of #Reddit, few (if any) have heard of Aaron. As soon as they watch the trailer for “The Internet’s Own Boy” (https://youtu.be/2M0GQww1GoY?feature=shared), they immediately become interested, do the more technical reading, return to class excited for discussion, and write plenty on their team-based worksheets. They clearly find the contrast between Aaron and corporateAI provocative! If ever there was a way to make young people care about #tech #crime, Aaron's case may be it.

Thanks for alerting us about the latest case of mass copyright infringement from likes of #Meta, @rcx!

#law #FBI #AI #copyright

Show threadSebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱Feb 12, 2025
@rcx And so much of what this dude made is still in use and relevant today! He helped make Markdown, to name just one thing!
Show threadVon XylofonFeb 20, 2025
@rcx All are equal, some are more equal than others.
Show threadEvanFeb 21, 2025
@rcx And now Metas defense is that they just illegally downloaded the books to base their LLM on, they didn’t redistribute the books so they shouldn’t be charged with any copyright infringements 🫠