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0 pointswhichfawkes10y ago0 comments

I'd argue that they make it easier for individuals to exercise rights they should have. They're merely centralized listings that make it easy to connect buyers and sellers of services in transport/lodging markets.

Fundamentally, if I own a property I should be able to allow/disallow access to anyone as I see fit, and charge appropriately. If I make money, I'm still obligated to pay taxes on it (therein, I imagine, lie the problems).

So I'd claim that AirBnB and Uber are helping push for more sane regulations which allow free-er markets, while Grooveshark was basically just short of directly-stealing the content of others to profit on themselves.

That said, I'd still rather have Grooveshark than not, because I personally don't care so much about the record-companies rights - but certainly the government should be there to help uphold the rights of individuals and businesses, which, alas, means legal trouble for Grooveshark.

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tptacek10y ago

If you buy a property in the middle of residential Oak Park, on a sleepy block lined with bungalow houses, do you have the right to open up a bar in it? How about a 24/7 metal machining shop? A noxious waste processing plant?

Where do we draw the line, and why do we draw it there?

It's not an abstract question: the regs that Airbnb pushes on are society's current answer to that question. They're going to change, as I think we can all see, but how far will they change? That's an extremely important and immediately impactful question right now.

Meanwhile, bringing this back around to Grooveshark: copyright is unlikely to change in ways that would be meaningful to Grooveshark.

drewcrawford10y ago

There is a difference between what you are describing (commercial zoning) and what AirBnB does (length of tenancy). Commercial zoning is much more obviously a legitimate government function than length of tenancy, which is a textbook economic rigidity.

But to answer your question seriously, I think the Japanese have a better zoning system than in the US, theirs allows for, in limited quantities, a bar in a residential neighborhood, or even an apartment next to a machining shop. The insight here is that it does no one any good to have a long commute, and so they have a system that affords landowners choices about the kind of neighbors they want to have, rather than dumping them all into residential-only zones.

tptacek10y ago

So what you're suggesting is that it should be OK for me to buy a bungalow in the middle of Oak Park and literally open up a hotel in it? That's a coherent argument, but not one I think a lot of people share.

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0 pointswhichfawkes10y ago0 comments

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tptacek10y ago

Where do we draw the line, and why do we draw it there?

Meanwhile, bringing this back around to Grooveshark: copyright is unlikely to change in ways that would be meaningful to Grooveshark.

drewcrawford10y ago

tptacek10y ago

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