In one of the AI lawsuits faced by Meta, the company stands accused of distributing pirated books. The authors who filed the class-action lawsuit allege that Meta shared books from the shadow library LibGen with third parties via BitTorrent. Meta, however, says that it took precautions to prevent 'seeding' content. In addition, the company clarifies that there is nothing 'independently illegal' about torrenting.

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[–] vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

you are literally choosing to run the software that writes it to your disk. You also (probably) take steps to ensure the uploader does not have access to your disk. You are in control of what gets saved

[–] Rivalarrival -2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"Saving" is not "copying". "Saving" is "receiving".

I don't have access to an original; I am physically incapable of creating a "copy".

[–] vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

it's a digital item. You can only make a copy

[–] Rivalarrival 0 points 2 days ago

Make a copy of the spreadsheet on my desktop.

What's that? You don't have access to my desktop? How are you going to copy it, then?

You need the work to be distributed to you, and come to be in your possession, before you can make a copy. So, I can send you a copy of that spreadsheet. Two copies now exist: the one on my desktop, and the one I sent you. I made the copy. I am responsible for making the copy, and I am responsible for distributing it to you.

When you move it from your download folder to your desktop, there are still only two copies in the world. When you copy it from your desktop to a thumb drive, now there are three, and you are responsible for the last one.

You cannot make a copy of something you do not have.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de -1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Hehe, I don't know if they don't want to understand it, or if it's a lack of technical knowledge... But yes. In the digital realm, a copy and the original are identical in every way, no matter how you twist it. And you can't even properly transfer any item it in the same sense as it applies to physical items. (Unless we're talking about quantum computers or something like that...)

[–] Rivalarrival 1 points 2 days ago

Their similarity is not in question. The fact is that you cannot make a copy of something until you have received it. The copy you receive was not created by you: it was created by the sender. You are merely receiving that copy; you are not creating that copy.

There is a spreadsheet on my desktop. You cannot create a copy. I can create a copy and send it to you. Two copies now exist on the planet; I made the copy. You merely received.