It seems somewhat arbitrary where the line is drawn between "growth hack" and "clearly undermining copyrighted content"

Thinking specifically about Napster and MegaUpload. Is it because there was no value beyond simply sharing files? If there was a presentation layer + user accounts on top, would they have been spared?

There was value beyond sharing files, music sharing services had decent search and music previewing.

I think a music sharing site I used let you see the other music files a user was sharing, so if you thought they had good taste you could check out other things too.

Napster added too much value it woke the bear.

Megaupload poked a bigger bear.

True. It has worked amazingly well for China. 250 million brought out of poverty along the way...

Not that I'm defending the theft or IP or technology, but it is interesting how some things we consider stealing, others homage and some that we simply ignore. No one would complain if spies from your own country stole from a rival nation during a war (hot or cold). The US used to steal technology from Britain and the rest of Europe.[0]

The more you magnify on any country's history, the more prevalent shady dealings comes up. This goes doubly so for superpowers. It seems that at some point in time, everyone has done unscrupulous things to get ahead and we often forget to be introspective.

On a personal anecdote, I dabble in fashion design and it continually baffles me as to what is considered "homage" when large, established companies blatantly rip off designs. Large companies like H&M or Zara can literally steal pieces from famous designers, make it worse and cheaper and sell it in malls worldwide. Obviously, when an Asian brand does the same thing, it's a knockoff. Peeves me to no end.

[0] - https://www.history.com/news/industrial-revolution-spies-eur...

Worked out well for Crunchyroll.

And Spotify.