Yeah I helped out a bit with Freenet before I saw what was being posted. Basically 4chan. Lots of edge lords.
But I helped because a friend dragged me to Amnesty International meetings in college and so I knew there were people who legitimately needed this shit.
Tor is the big example for me, created to allow people to have the ability to speak freely without being tracked, often criticized because it allows those things for our criminals (it has to be kept in mind that the spies and dissidents that are/were using Tor are considered criminals in their country)
When a law is unjust it will be broken by those on the right side of history. Software can’t tell if a law is just or not.
So if you want to support suffragists or underground railroads you’re making software that breaks the law.
Really we are all breaking some law all the time. Which is how oppression works. Selective enforcement. ‘Give me six lines from the most innocent man and I will find in them something to damn his soul.”
There is no such thing as "good" or "bad" - actions are meaningless - it's the context that makes the difference.
Example: Sex
Good when the context is consenting adult (humans)
Bad when the context is not.
Further, "One man's 'freedom fighter' is another man's 'terrorist'" - meaning context is very much in the eye of the beholder.
Couple this with the Taoist? fable "What luck you lost a horse" where the outcome of an event can not really be determined immediately, it may take days, months, years to show.
And you are left with - do we really have any idea on what is right/wrong
So, my philosophical take is - if it leads toward healthy outcomes (ooo dripping with subjective context there...) then it's /likely/ the right thing to do.
When I spoke with an AI on this recently the AI was quick to respond that "Recreational drug use 'feels good' at first, but can lead to a very dark outcome" - which is partly true, but also demonstrates the first point. Recreational drug use is fine (as far as I am concerned, after my 4th cup of tea) as long as the context isn't "masking" or "crutch" (although in some cases, eg. PTSD, drug use to help people forget is a vital tool)
