That’s all well and good, but – and correct me if I’m wrong – it looks like that came to light two years after Gawker published their story, and was uncovered by the National Enquirer, not Gawker.
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Yeah, but that is self-defamation on his part. The lawsuit hinged on showing the sex he claimed he never had, not the racist comments.
Gawker expected to lose. Everyone expected to Gawker to lose.
First Amendment cases like this usually have a sympathetic jury in a local court, and then go up the appeals chain where they are usually reversed.
Unused article title:
Gawker gawks as Hulk smashes.
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I’ve read some figures that suggest that revenue is about $45 million, with $6-$8 million in profit a year. It’s a closely held company, but I think the estimate of total value is in the $250 million range. All of those numbers are from a single source, so take with appropriate salt.
So what does that mean for Gawker? Probably not enough cash on hand to pay the judgment, so they’d have to raise money in the form of equity or loan, or they’d have to sell some things off. I don’t know that a lot of people would be eager to loan Gawker Inc $100 million given what happened at trial, but you never know what kind of friends Denton has at this point that might be willing to float him. I expect a breakup/sale.
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This Russian billionaire, for one.
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Nick will have to post a $50 million bond before appealing; he’s been securing outside investments for the past half-year or so against this outcome.
Much as I dislike Nick (and several former higher-ups), I’ll be sad if the Gawker brand goes away. The staff’s unionization was a great thing for the industry; io9 and Jez and Deadspin are fantastic; many of the writers and editors (past and present) are jewels, such as Katie, Gabrielle, and Leah. Glad that Annalee got out while the getting was good. HamNo’s a bit of a one-trick pony, but the Zen Koans series was fun. Tyler’s work is always good…
None of it would have happened without Nick, but the most recent flap (the “Conde-Naste guy” extortion piece) used up my last ounce of Nick-forgiveness.
In typical Gawker fashion, things went dark after the verdict, while Nick prepares his next move. (Melissa has posted a couple-three stories today, but otherwise there’s been silence…apart from some great Kinja from the commentariat on the other blogs!) (I’ll also really miss Gawker commenters like Nefertitties, Milton Berle’s Cock, Burl Ive’s Left Nut, and all the folks who unmask the reincarnations of TomatoFace…::sigh:: )
I love many of the Gawker people and products, but I think Natl Lampoon (and others) best framed the issue many years ago – Nick Denton: threat or menace?
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I find it hilarious that Gawker hasn’t published anything on this story. It’s exactly the kind of news they cover.
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If it is just about sordid sex tapes, you’d be right, but decisions like this tend to have chilling repercussions far beyond the initial purpose. Consider libel law. Originally it was meant to protect innocent victims from powerful critics trying to damage their reputation, all good and well in theory. But somewhere along the way it turned into a weapon of powerful targets against innocent critics trying to get out the truth.
On the advice of our attorneys…
Besides, the jury hasn’t awarded punitive damages, yet.
Gawker should have listened to Hulk when he was still Bruce Banner.
Nick’s (initial?) statement:
(Sorry, don’t know how to make the tweet content appear)
I’m not-so-secretly hoping Gawker explodes but the cool people over on the IO9/Giz/etc. communities either get gobbled up by somewhere that doesn’t suck nearly as much (Kinja is AWFUL, no profiles, no PMs, it’s like they’re trying to keep people from socializing) or else there’s a mass exodus to somewhere like here. 
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Wait, that’s why people bitch about Kinja so much? So, it actually works just effing fine as a comment system but people want it to be a social media platform, so they complain about it being a sucky comment system. This wold explain why I haven’t had a problem with Kinja - I don’t expect it to be something it isn’t.
Burner accounts, and no private interactions with other users seem more like features of Kinja. I’m pretty sure Jezebel commenters are appreciative of not having PMs from people who disagree with them, given the usual temperature of discussions there.
Right, people who just want to ‘talk at the OP’, argue with burner accounts, or just do ego-posts like it, people who want a community and who think the other posters are neat don’t. You nailed it!
Both are totally valid things to want, only one group is satisfied. It’s not like people on Jez and people on IO9 are clones.
It is known.
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Yeah, my fantasy is that the good guys win – say, Annalee Newitz convinces her new bosses at Conde Nast to pick up io9 and Gizmodo (and her first move is to hire Dennis Merseau!); Tyler Rogoway finds a good home for Foxtrot Alpha; Jez gets picked up by The Atlantic; etc. – and the Chicago White Sox host a Kinja Demolition Night where reams of dense javascript printouts get blown sky high (just for flavor, hold it on June 13, when the Tigers are in town; -) and, following a string of John McAfee-calibre adventures, Nick winds up being sentenced to 10 years as a cabana boy in the Caymans.
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@failquail @anon62122146
there is a paranoid theory that goes like this:
the FBI assumes there’s nothing on the phone because it was the perpetrator’s work phone issued by, and plan paid for by, the perp’s employer. a more paranoid version goes that the FBI knows there’s nothing on it because the NSA can and did break it for them. either way, the whole situation is pure theater, the FBI wants the legal precedent for unlimited surveillance and took this incident as their leverage to get it.
do y’all think there’s anything to that?
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I like your dream! It’s good and noble!
Ooh, yeah, and good reminder. Honestly the Hulk thing isn’t what soured me on Gawker so hard, it was the Conde Nast CEO outing and how they handled it (including how they were pushing it so hard on that little left nav thing)… that was so horrible and wrong. The Hulk bit pales in comparison IMHO.
Yup. 8 seconds of naughty bits pales compared to that Conde Nast extortion piece.
(Arrgh; forgot to mention: while Nick is mopping floors and making sure the little drink umbrellas are positioned just-so, AJ Daulerio is working Guest Services, sorting and pre-treating dirty laundry.)
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