• The Octonaut@mander.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    arrow-down
    14
    ·
    2 months ago

    abduct Chinese paper makers, imprison them, steal the technology

    sneak into China, impersonate religious figures, hide silkworms on your person, sell to a Roman emperor

    sail into China, pretend to be a botanist. Steal tea and grow it in your starving colonies instead of food

    “Why don’t China care about western patents and copyright?”

    • makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      2 months ago

      You’re citing examples from the 6th, 4th, and 18th centuries and arguably the last one isn’t even about intellectual property

      Even ignoring the blatant “what aboutism” if your justification for why it’s ok to steal video game ideas is because some Byzantians were mean to you 1400 years ago just know that nobody is going to take you seriously

      • The Octonaut@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        12
        ·
        2 months ago

        If you think that historical context doesnt inform culture, you must be an American, in possession of neither.

        • DeusUmbra@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          2 months ago

          So, you’re saying that it is the Chinese culture to steal from others because they were stolen from? That sounds racist as hell.

          • The Octonaut@mander.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            2 months ago

            No, but this might shock you, other countries have different definitions of what theft is. Theft is taking something from someone.

            The funny part being that it is literally enshrined in American law that game mechanics can’t be copyrighted, so its not even in the definition of theft in America either.

      • The Octonaut@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        We used to just call that “pointing out hypocrisy” before Americans found a thought terminating phrase for it

        • DeusUmbra@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          2 months ago

          No, pointing out hypocrisy would be going “hey, didn’t you also blatantly rip off a popular product? Isn’t it hypocritical for you to criticize them for something you also have done?” What Aboutism is defined as: “the rhetorical practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counteraccusation, by asking a different but related question, or by raising a different issue altogether. Whataboutism often serves to reduce the perceived plausibility or seriousness of the original accusation or question by suggesting that the person advancing it is hypocritical or that the responder’s misbehavior is not unique or unprecedented.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/whataboutism

          • The Octonaut@mander.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            6
            ·
            2 months ago

            And, as always, it is in the sealion’s power to determine what is the same, and what is “different but related”.

            Arf arf arf