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Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

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Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#211

Post by jshevek »

qq66 wrote: post #156
jshevek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding people losing their jobs - that is a result of the terrible judgement and values of the leadership of Gawker. They are not being 'punished' for anything. Do you think that the people at Ford were 'punished' when the leadership of Ford made bad decisions that cost people their jobs? "emotional comfort of a billionaire" That is very dismissive. Are people worth less to you when they have more money?

> Do you think that the people at Ford were 'punished' when the leadership of Ford made bad decisions that cost people their jobs? Yes

How can you justify that position? There are consequences to our choices, but they don't always follow a moral principle. If I have two job offers and choose the company that ends up going bankrupt, I'm not being punished. If I'm a farmer and plant according to weather predictions which prove false, losing crops and revenue, that might be bad luck or bad judgement, but its not punishment.

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#212

Post by ivl »

AlexandrB wrote: post #198
fooster wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't obvious to me at least. It was morally, ethically and legally wrong to publish that video. Now they pay the price.

If they hadn't published the Hogan video, the lawyers funded by Thiel would have found someone else who's been wronged by Gawker and the outcome would be similar. The moral really is don't anger the rich and powerful.

I'm not so sure. Maybe "don't be a trash publication that skirts the law, and then defies orders to take things down when told by a judge".

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#213

Post by andromeduck »

olliej wrote: post #137
chatmasta wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have limits on speech when it comes to private information. Should "free speech" allow gawker to publish a private citizen's sex tape? There is no "in the public interest" argument to apply here.

Ues there is - hogan is a public figure who is involved in politics and has repeatedly announced his conservative/be faithful/young-people-have-loose-morals bullshit. Hence cheating on his wife was news, the public should have been informed, and unlike that fappening this wasnt stolen.

You can do that without releasing the tape

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#214

Post by nickff »

smt88 wrote: post #108
partiallypro wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a free speech absolutist, but what precedent does this set that's new? The person that leaked the "Fappening" items is also being prosecuted, why should a media publication like Gawker not be held accountable? No one really seemed to have -big- issue with this until Thiel was in the picture.

> No one really seemed to have -big- issue with this until Thiel was in the picture That's because, with Thiel's involvement, the case became about something else: a personal vendetta. Regardless of the outcome, many of us are dismayed that Thiel was able to weaponize the justice system using huge amounts of money. > why should a media publication like Gawker not be held accountable? The tape of Hogan had racist comm…

There is a name for weaponization of the legal system, it is called 'lawfare', and it has been going on a long time. This was a legitimate case, not some strange and arcane proceeding based on a hitherto unknown statute; it may be the case that Thiel was 'woken up' by the post about him, and has since been keeping a lookout to stop Denton's greed from harming more people. Denton isn't running a charity.

If Denton had published the tape 'for the public', he wouldn't have included the sex bit; we all know that this was classic Gawker clickbait. Denton obviously only cares about 'disclosure' when it gives him ammunition to use against his opponents, especially when he can profit off of it.

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#215

Post by nailer »

x0x0 wrote: post #83
nailer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't say that if some private aspect of your own life was revealed to the public without your consent.

That's how the first amendment works for public figures. And it's not as if gawker doesn't regularly break important news -- viz the crack mayor, Chris Lee / republicans cruising for strange, etc.

Nobody was trying to stop Gawker from breaking important news, or any other kind of news. That's a false narrative driven by journalists who want to be able to do anything without oversight.

The issue wasn't that Gawker published that Hogan wasn't having an affair.

Again: the story wasn't the issue. The story didn't go to trial. The jury was not deciding whether Gawker had a right to publish the story.

The issue was Gawker publishing a sex tape to go with the story.

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#216

Post by hoorayimhelping »

taejo wrote: post #163
smt88 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Libel and slander have no place in a functioning democracy One man's libel/slander is another man's investigate journalism ("muckraking" in the US). In this particular case, Gawker wasn't guilty of either libel or slander because they didn't publish anything about Hogan that was false. > it shouldn't take a billionaire to sue and win judgement against slanderous publishers It's actually much harder to win a libel/s…

Your comment exposed me to the big gap between the meanings of muckraker in US and UK English: 1. (US) One who investigates and exposes issues of corruption that often violate widely held values; e.g. one who exposes political corruption or the poor conditions in prisons. 2. (Britain) A sensationalist, scandal-mongering journalist, one who is not driven by any social principles.

I'm American and I've only heard a muckraker described as number 2.

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#217

Post by FussyZeus »

smt88 wrote: post #84
GrumpyYoungMan wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Precedent this sets"? I think "Don't publish a illegally made video of people in a private moment or ignore court orders to take down the video." to be a rather positive precedent, don't you? That's the sort of chilling effect on media we should all be applauding. Thief merely funded a court battle that had merit (in this case, quite a lot of merit) that Bollea probably could have won on his own. I fail to see what…

> Don't publish a illegally made video of people in a private moment or ignore court orders to take down the video. What about that video of Mitt Romney at a private campaign event, where he said some horrible stuff about poor people? That was a private video, probably made illegally. Journalism is about making private things public when it suits the public. An individual (who is directly impacted by the revelations)…

The thoughts of a politician running for office ARE in the public interest because that person is campaigning to be elected to be a decision maker in the country.

Video of people having sex may be something the public is interested in, but it is not in the public interest. It's none of the public's business and the public should find more interesting things to be interested in.

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#218

Post by dragontamer »

etimberg wrote: post #180
dragontamer wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The jury is the closest thing to a direct democracy America has. Judges can be corrupted. The jury is basically a direct poll of 12 average Americans. Its known that the court system is imperfect, but juries serve as a restraint on otherwise powerful judges.

> The jury is basically a direct poll of 12 average Americans Well, except for the part where the lawyers get to remove the people they don't want. It's not really random at that point.

I meant that the Americans were Average Joes. Not that the jury selection process was representative of America.

Re: Gawker Files for Bankruptcy, Will Be Put Up for Auction

#220

Post by whatok »

FireBeyond wrote: post #161
rs999gti wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Especially given Thiel's motive that "they outed me" - come on, Thiel's sexuality was probably the worst kept secret in the Valley. When you pose shirtless on a gay cruise, I think it's fairly safe the rest of the world didn't need Valleywag to tell them of your homosexuality. Does all that evidence matter? Shouldn't it be up to Theil when and where he outs himself instead of blog like Valleywag doing it for him?

If you post a profile picture like that when you are a person of public interest, I think there's a fairly good argument that you -have- outed yourself, at least implicitly.

Can you show us where Thiel posted a picture of himself?
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