Question Linking Google searches and the line

[Xeology]

I have seen many people, here and other places, skirt laws against linking to piracy sites by linking to crafted google searches in a way where the user of the link pretty much knows what they need to be clicking on.

At what point does this cross the line?

Is linking to a google search containing the URL too far? I'm assuming it is as it contains the link.

What of linking to a google search that results in the desired url being the first result? What about the only result?

What about being in the first few results?

First page?

How about just telling people what to search? Whats the difference to linking the search and telling the person what to search?

Where is the line? As this is such a gray area and you are not truly linking to anything but google, can you really draw a picture where this is a bad work around?

Where is the line?

Cant help but to feel like this ends up as a Socrates Paradox. When does linking to google become linking to piracy, furthermore when does banning of linking to google just become outright oppression and censorship?

 

[Xeology]

Even better, here is a pic of the sites name!

https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-how-to-access-that-one-iso-site-that-has-3ds-roms.393102/

 

[Xeology]

@FAST6191 You actually beat me to the agenda of this post here. I was trying to coax that mod into admitting that its a legal issue so I could put forth that all we have to do is provide legal information meeting a standard that is un-pursuable by law.

Which linking google searches is. Simply trying to show an alternative to information release which doesn't put GBATemp or any user on the line. Also wanted to show that many practices used are exactly the same as what I proposed and should be considered and added with clear cut lines that are not based on some arbitrary sense of false morality.

To drive that point home, someone find me an article about someone being sued over a Google search.

EDIT: Basically I was trying to point out that defining what is a piracy link is impossible and in the end could, and as you saw in the thread right here, will be abused. The overall point is that the line is and should be labeled as what gets people in trouble and that opens up possibilities to make gbaTemp even better and promotes stronger and safer tutorials while reducing the extraordinary levels of temper toxicity towards repeated terribly answered questions.

Also any rule that is open to interpretations is flawed, broken, and ends up creating hostile environments. Making rules that you can bend to your own desires later, also makes you a tool. However I am assuming that the piracy linking rule was just a fluke in design and not a byproduct of being an asshat like some of those who like to twist its purpose.

 

[FAST6191]

I dare say a search history would probably have been used to prove intent for some chemistry (drugs or explosives or something), even if they did not end up reading tihkal/pihkal or anarchist's cookbook or something.

Also as I started out with lines are a bad idea to work to. Being sued is one thing but I find it better to not get to that point, or those that walk lines have a tendency to cross them. Another might be following the law keeps you out of jail, it is still possible to be a complete cunt at the same time though. Also what if by not linking facilitating downloading we gain some leeway on something else -- the one stop shop opens itself to more trouble than an "academic discussion" might.

Do you want to be able to link people to copyrighted content, even if means they need to know some basics of computers or have a 5 minute lesson on algorithms as opposed to a simple click (still trivial in the grand scheme of things)?

 

[Xeology]

I would just like to see a better way of directing people to content and sensitive files, such as updates for the 3ds, without flying to close to the sun and without leaving them in danger of retrieving the wrong thing all while being simple and easy enough to use.

People seem to be extremely vague in one place ("google it"), and extremely over specific in another (A picture of <nope>'s header). You are right that lines tend to be bad, but there is a good way to produce solid lines in this scenario while avoiding piracy linking's inevitable paradox. We have precedence even! People have been doing it for years with no repercussions!

For instance. It should be allowable to link to a google search that includes no terms or urls that signify a specific webpage by name. Such as the iso link I provided earlier. That's a good middle ground that provides a large safety net without compromising what gbaTemp already gets away with and flying well and clear of any real legal line.

Also I have to say I really appreciate your avoidance of the common "It's wrong" argument on a site that walks you through setting up a system for piracy. The lack of hypocrisy is extremely refreshing. Maybe it's a cultural thing, US tends to be chock full of bullshit hypocrites!

 

[Issac]

It's simple really, just don't link to sites or mention sites by name, that has warez. If someone has done that, like that image in that thread you posted... well, just report it.
Giving an advice to google something, and maybe give a few hints on what to google for WITHOUT being too specific is okay. "google for the filename and you'll find it" is alright.

The reason for this is to keep this forum alive, and to not get into any legal trouble.

 

[FAST6191]

"I would just like to see a better way of directing people to content and sensitive files, such as updates for the 3ds, without flying to close to the sun and without leaving them in danger of retrieving the wrong thing all while being simple and easy enough to use."
A fun one, especially I could probably directly link a 360 update from MS' own servers (it was useful to have specific ones at various points for various things, especially in the JTAG and RGH classes of hack). I suppose it gets worse here as I have not seen much like the old xbox and 360 xbins service (though it did get some good stuff for the Wii) for said newer consoles. I do not know how hard it is out there in torrent and file "locker"/download site world these days but I can not imagine it is that hard. Likewise with all the signing and such I can not imagine the files and executables used have a justifiable reason to not match a hash -- "find the file, it will have this size and this hash" has been a choice method for years (here is me doing something like that many years ago https://gbatemp.net/threads/gbatemp-recommends-homebrew-5.165584/#post-2100281 and we have actually had actual legal notices from the tetris company when they have been doing their fun with trademarks/anti open source bit).

"avoidance of the common "It's wrong" argument on a site that walks you through setting up a system for piracy."
It does often work to shut things down, whether through lack of thinking it through or people thinking they are getting themselves some of the forbidden knowledge I do not know.
I think I will end this one with one of my favourite quotes from Layer Cake, something similar would inform recruiting policies around here.
"It is only very very stupid people who think the law is stupid. And avoid like the fucking plague, loud attention seeking wannabe gangsters who are in it for the glory, to be a face, to be a name. They don't mean to fuck up. They just do."

 

[Xeology]

@Issac the point was that you could easily provide search terms that produce top results without mentioning names of sites or including any terms that would deem the search as looking for a specific illegal site. What I wanted was a defined line on how far you could take that.

FAST a lot of the xbox were easily verifiable and find-able, where as files for the 3ds would be vastly different from provider to provider, and the ridiculous amount of files would make indexing hashes for them quite lengthy and no one has taken the time to do so. For instance a 3ds update has many different components and each version has its own set of components. Many people do not know if the files they are receiving from whatever source they received it from are legit. Do we really need to put tempers at risk unnecessarily?

Hell there is even a middle ground on this, why not at least provide the search terms as long as they indicate no particular site other than legal options such as search engines or DMCA notice archivers?

I can easily say google "that 3ds update pack with the mset in it", results in top 3, and bam, no site reference and its the top results. No links, no piracy, just words.

You lost me on your last paragraph so, um, yeah... I'll leave it at that.