Well, I’m pretty sure I’m not given any options whatsoever since I’m not the judge in the case.
Just another way that sue-them-out-of-business is a bad model for dealing with something that is really a justice issue. It’s not like this is the first time Gawker has done something like post a sex tape. The whole reason Peter Thiel apparently has a beef with them is that they outed him, which is not cool-okay* at all. At some point the whole enterprise is dedicated to acting against the interest of the public and there is no reason that the public should continue to recognize the corporation. But how the winding down of the corporation happens is a matter that could be addressed if we looked at things from this perspective. In the sue-them-out-of-business model the how is fire all employees, sell all assets, give it all to the Hulkster. I agree that’s a lot of punishment being dealt out to a lot of undeserving people.
* ETA: I had said “cool” here, then decided to replace it with “okay”, but apparently didn’t delete “cool” so it said “not cool okay at all”. I retroactively accept this bug as a feature.
I knew Peter Thiel has been going for Bond-Villain class billionaire for a while, but I did not know that he also helped fund James O’Keefe’s “sting” videos.
So, Nick Denton just published an open letter to Thiel. I don’t know if this is supposed to drum up sympathy for Gawker but there’s some weak ass arguments here.
I know, right? As soon as I saw that it went from impassioned plea to totally missing the point. It’s easy to play the “haven’t we moved on?” card when you’re not the fucking victim.
I have no love for Thiel but it he was the wronged party. Denton doesn’t get to be all “y u mad bro?” here.
Forcibly outing someone and forcibly releasing someone’s private sex tape is, in my certainly worse than 80s sex comedy “villains” but it might rise to the level of creepy acts performed by the protagonists.
It’s different. I think at least partly because gay white men are used to being privileged in most of their lives, so for some of them, the indignities they suffer for being gay make them ‘kick the dog’. Obviously for others, it sensitizes them to the iniquities in society regarding other marginalized groups.
Murilee is writing for The Truth About Cars now. I still love Jalopnik but it really lost something when Murilee left. I loved his stories about the interesting cars in his 'hood (where I used to live!), his articles on Lemons, and everyman enthusiast attitude.
