Mozilla CEO resigned

[Cowicide]

I see the fun game you’re playing there but I’m not going to play.

I don’t think supporting bigotry directly or by proxy is a game. I also don’t think the right to free speech is a game, either.

And, I don’t think you like being corrected after you call people that stand up to bigots “cowards”, but you’re just going to have to deal with that free speech.

See I can ninja-edit too.

putting words in my mouth

You drowned yourself with your own words.

I don’t forget the history we have.

I don’t care.

[redesigned]

@Maresian

His life was turned upside down for expressing his views on a subject. One of the ideas that this country was founded on (or so we have been led to believe) was people being able to express themselves.

The freedom to express your views is not the same as not having any consequences from having those views. You’re free to tattoo a swastika on your forehead, doesn’t mean it won’t affect your next job interview. The first amendment gives you the right to free express even the most socially repugnant views without reprisal from the government. It doesn’t keep your peers, community, and the public from equally expressing their views about your views.

@Maresian

I don’t get people hating on someone. Yes, he did something that would have had long term consequences for a group of people. Yes, this is wrong to many people. Why are we responding to something clearly considered as hate with more hate?

He was the person hating an entire group of people and trying to take away their human rights. The other side is merely saying that they don’t want someone with that form of hate at the head of their company or representing them. There is a huge difference between the two.

[daneel]

@redesigned

He was the person hating an entire group of people

Hey, most CEOs hate all their employees. At least for this guy, it was only some of them.

[redesigned]

@chenille

You know, people who think a fetus has rights might recognize that doesn’t make abortion a simple question, because there is actually a woman involved too. That makes it a different and very off-topic matter.

exactly this. thank you for making such a level headed and sane response. i had to take a few deep breaths and stop myself from responding. not sure if he was driving trollies or just ignorant.

[redesigned]

@albill

While I find his giving money to that cause reprehensible, we live in a democracy and we are allowed to back whatever causes we wish and to get out the vote for them.

That same freedom cuts both ways. The public is free to be outraged and disgusted by his actions and opinion, and free to suggest he resign from an organization that takes a stand on freedoms and human rights. Mozilla isn’t just any old tech company, they have a very specific set of values that are counter to his. He is not the best fit to spearhead a company with Mozilla’s values regardless of his technical acumen, imho.

[enso]

You mean the company and foundation he co-founded and is one of the primary architects of?

[smartr]

Free and open access to government? Prop 8 had nothing to do with LGBT’s right to vote. The agenda is not one and the same. I find the LGBT agenda a righteous cause, as I do find the Mozilla agenda. Frankly, the voting population of most of the world does not agree with the LGBT cause, even though it is a good cause. I see no reason why unpopular LGBT rights should take higher priority in than promoting an Open Internet in an Open Internet company. He also had the option to voice and discriminate against LGBT as a CEO and he did not, and further stated he would not. If most black people had anti LGBT opinions and a major proponent of racial equality was not 100% LGBT friendly, I’d say LGBT advocates were making the world a worse place.

[Cowicide]

Yep, a bigot CEO is not wanted there. Deal with it.

[Cowicide]

Free and open access to government? Prop 8 had nothing to do with LGBT’s right to vote.

You missed @bardfinn 's point.

Frankly, the voting population of most of the world does not agree with the LGBT cause, even though it is a good cause.

Frankly, those stunted bigots aren’t welcome to be the CEO of Mozilla, either.

He also had the option to voice and discriminate against LGBT as a CEO and he did not

Yeah, that little thing where he helped to enable those who do actively discriminate against people back in 2008 doesn’t count, huh?

[enso]

An interesting interview which gives more context to folks

Personally, I didn’t necessarily want him as CEO and I do find his views wrong headed but not enough to call for him to be fired from the place (and project) that he co-founded. The Mozilla manifesto comes from him as much as anyone.

[redesigned]

@albill

You mean the company and foundation he co-founded and is one of the primary architects of?

yes exactly, even people with bigoted views can start things that grow to be bigger and better then them. just because he helped found something doesn’t mean his views should represent its current incarnation. companies very often outgrow their founders as CEOs, happens all the time. ceo’s often make political or ethical decisions that compromise their ability to be effective ceo’s and have to step aside, also happens all the time. there is a lot of precedent for both, it isn’t like this is some unique shocking event that has never happened to any other company.

In his own words:
“In our conversation, he tells me that the mission fails if discrimination prevails.” when he stepped down he said “Mozilla’s mission is bigger than any one of us, and under the present circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader.” So unless he is bullshitting to save face even he believes that his stance has compromised his ability to effectively run a company such as mozilla. Of course why take his word for it…

[Cowicide]

An interesting interview which gives more context to folks

FTA:

He believes that with the right people and the right technology just about anything is possible

Except gay marriage, because that’s a right some people shouldn’t have.

“We won’t succeed in the mission if people can’t leave irrelevant, exclusionary stuff at the door.”

Civil rights isn’t irrelevant to people once they set foot inside an office and it never should be.

If we start to try to make “Mozilla” mean “those people who share not only the Mozilla mission but also my general political/social/religious/environmental view,” we will fail.

I think Mozilla will somehow survive even if people utilize free speech when it comes to basic civil rights. If it can’t, it was too weak of an organization to begin with.

If we focus Mozilla on our shared consensus regarding the Mozilla mission and manifesto, then the opportunities before us are enormous.

And, that’s unwittingly a great example of why he was the wrong person to be the CEO.

“Everything I’ve done has been about meeting people where they are and treating people equally,” Eich says.

Oh… not everything…

As far as Prop. 8 goes, Eich’s point of view seems to be in line with old-school etiquette: You don’t talk politics or religion over dinner. Or anywhere else, for that matter. They’re divisive topics, and they’re “irrelevant” to the business.

Civil rights are relevant everywhere. It’s amazing to me that a man who claims to think that ethics are so important also thinks that people should leave civil rights at the door because the space they enter has some cubicles and office equipment.

Personally, I don’t know or want to know why he made that donation

Maybe because the clear truth is too much to bear? He made that donation because he’s a bigot who is against civil rights. Why kid yourself?

And as unwilling a participant as he may be, he is nevertheless a real part of institutional homophobia, as are many of his peers in the tech CEO community.

And the way to change that is to keep… your… mouth… shut.

Uh, huh…

I hope he will be challenged and moved, as so many like him have been, to reexamine his views as the world continues to evolve.

He made it pretty clear from his non-apology apology that’s not likely to happen.

[John_Borgstrom]

Have fun with your witch hunts, just watch out for backlash. I suggest going after our President next as he is on record as being against SSM the same year prop 8 came up.

[Cowicide]

Have fun with your witch hunts

Dealing with stunted bigots is never fun.

just watch out for backlash. I suggest going after our President next as he is on record as being against SSM the same year prop 8 came up.

I suggest you look at that backlash. Obama was heavily criticized for his previous, flakey stance. He was hounded about it by vocal civil rights activists until he “evolved” his stance and voiced his support of same-sex marriage.

You’re actually unwittingly showing a perfect example of how voicing out against leaders can help move civil rights forward.

And, unlike Obama, the now former Mozilla CEO has made it clear that he still has not evolved as a human being when it comes to civil rights.

[tekna2007]

@redesigned

So unless he is bullshitting to save face even he believes that his stance has compromised his ability to effectively run a company such as mozilla.

By “present circumstances”, he could be referring to the on-going expansion of the story in the press rather his stance itself, possibly including OKCupid’s successful publicity grab. OKCupid: giving themselves a leg up by stepping on someone else’s face.

[bardfinn]

@albill

I meant people who actually worked with him and knew him or interacted with him. Do you qualify?

Moving goalposts is conceding the discussion.
http://imgur.com/cuwWpes

[Cowicide]

OKCupid: giving themselves a leg up by stepping on someone else’s face.

Yes, that poor, poor bigot. Won’t anyone think of the bigot?

OKCupid’s successful publicity grab

Or…

OKCupid’s successful stance to further civil rights in the United States. I’m sure there’s plenty of stunted bigots who will no longer use OKCupid after this. It’s not going to be all roses for them by nobly taking a stand against bigotry.

Sometimes people do things because of ethics. If you have evidence to support that the sole reason that OKCupid did this was nothing more than a publicity stunt, then I’d like to see you support your accusation.

Otherwise, you just appear to be blowing hot air.

[Cowicide]

[tekna2007]

@Cowicide

Sometimes people do things because of ethics. If you have evidence to support that the sole reason that OKCupid did this was nothing more than a publicity stunt, then I’d like to see you support your accusation.

Are you really going to argue that the people at OKCupid who okay’d the message blocking Firefox users were unaware of the publicity that would result? Or that they were unaware of the social position – moral superiority, with attendant benefits in good will – they were staking out for themselves? I don’t find that credible.

So yeah, I’m flipping it around on you. I’m saying any other assertion would be one that needs proof.

[redesigned]

@tekna2007

By “present circumstances”, he could be referring to the on-going expansion of the story in the press rather his stance itself

he hasn’t been at all apologetic and has defended his stance against gay marriage. he has also said that he can no longer be an effective leader of mozilla and that mozilla’s “mission fails if discrimination prevails.” i think there is some cognitive dissonance between his personal views and what he feels is the mission of mozilla.

even if he is referring to how he is publicly perceived, fact is both he, and the mozilla board, and much of the public, feel that the circumstances are such that he is no longer the right fit for ceo of mozilla, and he has made several such statements to that effect in his own words. so regardless of the cause or how you look at it, him stepping down is the right thing for mozilla.