And the moderation that makes Reddit hold valuable content is done by its users on a per subreddit status. Only stuff that could break laws like extremist content and hate speech is handled by Reddit themselves.
It's really odd to call it "their" data, and this is not exclusive to Reddit.
Considering OpenAI trained on Twitter data among others, I think it'll make for more flavor that users crave, based on the popularity of both of those platforms.
You made the comment, Reddit built the API and the system you use for making comments. If they wish to charge for their part(s) in this, they can, or retract their work, or give it away. Just as you can for your comments.
Certainly they can charge for their API. It was the CEO’s phrasing that was odd. That is their data and if people want to use it, they should pay up.
I think charging for the api is bad as it will make things like user apps harder. I think Reddit’s app is bad, so other apps need to use the api in order to function.
There's a bunch of precedent that aggregators have some IP rights. Reddit does not have exclusive rights to your posts, but they can have some rights to the collection of posts from all users.
> Why would I, as someone who’s made tens of thousands of comments, care if someone scrapes and reuses my comments. I don’t want them to pay up
Why would I, as someone who's made tens of thousands of comments, be happy with a corporation scraping my content to create a service that they'll turn around and charge me for? I want them to pay up, so that Reddit, this wonderful service that has given me thousands of hours of entertainment and education, can be sustainable and grow.
> This is a really rich comment from a company that relies entirely on user submitted content and has never “paid up.”
Most redditors will agree that they get much more from Reddit than they give. I for one am very happy with the arrangement I have with Reddit.
There's a lot of people in this thread defending Reddit and they don't seem to have ever had the pleasure of dealing with an actual Reddit employee. They have a culture of unchecked cronyism. Reddit doesn't care about anyone, some people will eventually figure it out the hard way.
> they don't seem to have ever had the pleasure of dealing with an actual Reddit employee.
99.999% of redditors will never ever have to deal with a Reddit employee. Cronyism? What the hell has that got to do with my consumption of and participation on Reddit?
Most users don't interact with Reddit employees, but the moderators that maintain most of the communities you enjoy do. That's how I ended up interacting with them. Shortly after the IPO rumors, my community started being harassed by an admin through modmail.
That's an odd way to put it. The admins are basically god. God doesn't harass you, he tells you how to live. If an admin tells you to jump, you beg to know how high.
I've been a mod for a decade and never had a problem with admins.
I was new to it though, and an admin picked on me because I was parodying another subreddit (my home city subreddit). You've been modding for a decade, great. That basically backs up my original point that it's a party of tenure and closed-mindedness (cronyism). My situation was different, and it's pointless to argue, but if you trust any company (especially in a changing economic environment), keep your eyes open for poorly motivated incentives.
Regardless, the attitude that they're "god" is a weird way to put it. They randomly IP banned me for calling out an admin's publicity issue during an April fools event. That's cronyism. I've used Reddit for 12 years and engaged in conversations in good faith for years. Paid for subscriptions most of that time. All relationships, business or otherwise should be mutual in some form.
Having more ads and monetizing the API aren't mutually exclusive. Look at the avatar/award system for example, which evolved in tandem with dark patterns that push the user to the app where they can serve unblockable ads.
My perspective is that Reddit made the comment you submitted. In real terms the comment is a record in a database which backs a web application that is developed and administered by Reddit. The comment is your expression but, like it or not, it is by Reddit’s grace that they publish it on their website. (Consider things which would be illegal for them to host and publish; they need to keep a close eye out for such things and prevent those relatively few posts among the millions they receive daily.)
Technically, yes, if you’d like to credit the effect of one hearing your speech to the workings of Earth’s atmosphere. It’s true that the speech is your expression but you correctly point out that the air brings it to my perceptions.
I think what GP means by "made" is "produced". Reddit provides the platform, the community, and the reach -- it's like a record label. Much like how recording artists don't own their recordings.
Tons of recording artists own their masters, both big and small. It’s a function of their contract that determines that ownership, and those terms are clear. Just as they are clear in Reddit’s TOS. You own your content, Reddit simply has a license to use it.
> When Your Content is created with or submitted to the Services, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works of, distribute, store, perform, and display Your Content and any name, username, voice, or likeness provided in connection with Your Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed anywhere in the world. This license includes the right for us to make Your Content available for syndication, broadcast, distribution, or publication by other companies, organizations, or individuals who partner with Reddit. You also agree that we may remove metadata associated with Your Content, and you irrevocably waive any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to Your Content.
That's just about every aspect of "ownership" I can think of, minus the label "ownership". Honestly, it seems about as close as a lawyer would allow a company governed by Section 230 to have, as "ownership" would step into exposure to liability.
Well, this comment and all other comments you have submitted to Hacker News is a record in my browser's cache. Does it mean I have the right to save them into less volatile storage and charge others for accessing them?
If I sued you for running such a service, it's likely that you would be looking to convince a judge that you got me to agree to something like this: https://www.ycombinator.com/legal/
Why would I, as someone who’s made tens of thousands of comments, care if someone scrapes and reuses my comments. I don’t want them to pay up.
This is a really rich comment from a company that relies entirely on user submitted content and has never “paid up.”