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1. 1vuio0+(OP)[view] [source] 2023-12-28 06:55:12
"People who think they are owed something are _like_ beggars who do miming or some such in the street and call it work. Nobody asked for it, some find it interesting and you might be able to guilt someone into paying but they didn't hire you and don't owe you anything. You can just not do it, it's only a job if you're explicitly hired."

NB. This statement is not suggesting anyone is a beggar. It is suggesting people can behave _like_ beggars by doing "work" without being hired.

This is what so-called "tech" companies do. They create websites not because they have something to share but to observe traffic and web user behaviour, to collect data, and to act as an unrequested intermediary. They have no content that they themselves have produced. They get in front of and in between people trying to do stuff over the internet. "Let me help you with that." But nobody asked for it. Sometimes HN commenters try to guilt people into paying for "subscriptions" from an intermediary in order to view publicly shared content.

These companies never intended to pay anyone for content. Facebook/Meta and Google/Alphabet have been reluctant to pay for news. When new organisations asked for payment, HN commenters called this "blackmail." Then Elon Musk accused corporations of "blackmail" when they decided not to run ads on Twitter/X. Even the venerable volunteer-powered Wikipedia keeps asking for donations when its costs have been met and its employees are taking six figure "salaries". Today we learned that after lengthy negotiations OpenAI did not want to pay the NYT for their content. And so, the NYT has sued.

replies(1): >>bawolf+G
2. bawolf+G[view] [source] 2023-12-28 07:04:42
>>1vuio0+(OP)
I don't recall any of these companies begging. Don't want to use facebook et al? Then don't use them.
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