That doesn’t mean that it wasn’t theft of their content. The internet would be a very different place if creator compensation and low friction micropayments were some of the first principles. Instead we’re left with ads as the only viable monetization model and clickbait/misinformation as a side effect.
I don't quite get it. If listing your link is considered as theft, HN is then a thief of content too. If you don't want your content stolen, just tell Google to not index your website?
I guess it's more constructive to propose alternatives than just bashing the status quo. What's your creator compensation model for a search engine? I believe whatever being proposed is trading off something significant for being more ethic.