Ok, here's the thing: I don't even have huge moral problems with piracy, but it is very illegal. And "just generally being assholes" should damn well be labeled as a guilty pleasure, at least as it regards 4chan's interaction with the world outside 4chan.

Likewise, many people have no actual problem with smoking crack. That doesn't mean it's not illegal, and it doesn't mean there's no good reason people don't want to live next to a crack house. Or even a dive bar, for that matter.

Consistent cross-site raids conducted by sites like 4chan and SomethingAwful (and worse: hate groups are some of Reddit's most regular raiders) definitely do create the effect of having a virtual "bad neighbor".

I enjoy 4chan too, after having finally getting over being a newfriend (printing the polite version of that term) since half my IRL friends are anons. This doesn't mean I don't know damn well the site is a guilty pleasure and I shouldn't actually let myself get sucked into the Internet Hate Machine.

> Ok, here's the thing: I don't even have huge moral problems with piracy, but it is very illegal.

Ehm. Yes, piracy, as in armed robbery on the high seas, is indeed "very illegal" [sic]. Copy-pasta culture with images is arguably very close to fair use, so close that various aspects (sampling for music, being the most prolific) have been deemed legal.

Are you saying that you know of 4chan boards dedicated to (actual) piracy?

I would think hate speech is generally held to be "more" illegal than digital piracy in most countries. Copyright infringement is largely a civil matter, not a criminal matter.

By the way, I still want that word: "piracy" back. I do not, will not, accept that the copyright lobby has gotten away with stealing it.

Reading the things you say is like reading to what Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska said about the internet. The phrase 'newfriend' and anon, out of your mouth, made me cringe much the same way as when I receive tech support requests from tech-illiterate friends and relatives.

You're so out of touch it's ridiculous

Since you're not exactly telling me what I'm missing other than "newfag is faggot, gtfo", there's really only one thing to say: http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/1/8/185e5_ORIG-cool_...

> I don't even have huge moral problems with piracy, but it is very illegal

Why should this make people concerned about admitting to going to 4chan anymore than piracy would make people concerned about using IRC, usenet, torrents, or even thepiratebay in particular?

I spent the rest of the post describing the things I have actual moral concerns about.

My objection applies to all of the things that you mentioned, particularly IRC and "raiding". In fact almost all "raiding" that is associated with 4chan is actually planed/organized/orchestrated on IRC.

And? I would certainly say much of IRC is a "bad neighborhood" ethics-wise. It's half the fun of the internet that we can hang out in the worst neighborhoods of all, the very dens of crime and iniquity and blah blah blah, and yet stand no risk whatsoever of actually being mugged.

My point is that I would not expect a comment expressing surprise that people admit to using IRC, even though all the reasons you cite for your surprise at people admitting to using 4chan apply as well or better to IRC.