My beef with Scribd (and all other similar sites, including YouTube) is all those copyrighted stuff. Just go verify for yourself - you will find entire books there.
Yes, YouTube has established a "role model" here, but just because they got away with it - at least dumped any potential legal problems on Google - doesn't make it right. Google could still be held liable and it is certainly the case that YouTube has turned a blind eye to large scale copyright infringement.
I get the gnawing feeling that way too many start-ups are in this mode of "Let's see what we can get away with". That is sad.
too many start-ups are in this mode of "Let's see what we can get away with". That is sad.
Dude, not to be a dick, but have you watched how ExxonMobil or Altria/PhilipMorris operate? This is how most companies do business -- brinksmanship is very useful for a CEO.
Why go looking for trouble when it's probably going to find you anyways? Scribd offers a great service, it's fast, it's useful, and it's not really their fault that people abuse it, any more than it's the phone company's fault that individuals make obscene phone calls and pitch scams.
My suspicion is that they would be willing to deal with the copyright infringement stuff if they could do so without crippling their productivity. As it stands, wait-for-notification is probably more cost-effective.
I worked at a large free-hosting website from 1998-2000. We had a full-time staff of 12 people looking for copyright infringement and kiddie porn. Anything less severe than that was simply not worth the trouble. It's fucking hard to get on top of peoples' tendency to take advantage.
Yes, YouTube has established a "role model" here, but just because they got away with it - at least dumped any potential legal problems on Google - doesn't make it right. Google could still be held liable and it is certainly the case that YouTube has turned a blind eye to large scale copyright infringement.
I get the gnawing feeling that way too many start-ups are in this mode of "Let's see what we can get away with". That is sad.