Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by gtlondon 2992 days ago
But...you would have left the diamond ring by accident.

Files don't "accidentally" become publicly accessible via HTTP. i.e. you don't return to your computer one day to find everything is public.

Someone specifically took the steps to make this data public. The fact they didn't realize what they were doing isn't the fault of people that then view the data.
1 comments
foldr 2992 days ago
>Files don't "accidentally" become publicly accessible via HTTP

Hmm? It's certainly possible to configure a web server incorrectly by accident.

link
gtlondon 2992 days ago
That's true.

But as the person knows they are configuring a web server, I would say this is more carelessness / incompetence rather than an "accident" in the same way as losing a Diamond Ring would be.

link
foldr 2992 days ago
Sure, but your carelessness doesn't absolve me of my crime. If you lose your diamond ring out of carelessness, it's still not ok for me to steal it.
link
iak8god 2991 days ago
These analogies involving valuable physical items are way off base. If I'm walking along the street and see a diamond ring lying there, I can only assume that it belongs to someone else and they've misplaced it (because it's very valuable and, crucially, there is no way for the owner to make use of its value if they've lost possession of it). I may not have any way to locate the owner, but I still recognize that it belongs to someone else and that for me to take it and keep it would deprive them of their property (probably, I should take it to the police).

If you insist on analogies involving lost rings, this situation is more like taking a picture of a ring someone lost in the street than it is like taking the ring.

link
foldr 2991 days ago
No, that's a terrible analogy, because a picture of a diamond ring is worth much less than the ring. A copy of valuable information is generally worth just as much as the original. And while no-one would care if someone else had a picture of their diamond ring, they would care if someone else had a copy of their private information.
link
rootlocus 2992 days ago
> Sure, but your carelessness doesn't absolve me of my crime.

If his carelessness meant communicating that you could take the ring without stealing it (say placing it in the donation basket instead of his wallet), that would absolve you of your crime.

link