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Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

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Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#11

Post by fatbird »

serge2k wrote: post #9
vonklaus wrote: post #7

How in the world did the court come up with a $140M sum for the settlement? This seems so excessive, it is actually comical. Obviously, everyone has beleaguered this point, but I feel obligated to state it one more time: Scumbaggery and poor taste shock journalism are pretty shitty, but fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta. edit: Yes, Gawke…

> fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta a precedent that if you engage in trashy tabloid "journalism" and egregiously invade people's privacy that you can end up sued into oblivion? Sounds like a perfectly reasonable precedent.

The precedent isn't about the quality of your journalism, it's "get a billionaire angry, get sued into oblivion". That's what scares people. Mother Jones nearly faced the same fate for very good journalism.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#12

Post by stale2002 »

vonklaus wrote: post #7

How in the world did the court come up with a $140M sum for the settlement? This seems so excessive, it is actually comical. Obviously, everyone has beleaguered this point, but I feel obligated to state it one more time: Scumbaggery and poor taste shock journalism are pretty shitty, but fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta. edit: Yes, Gawke…

Gawker was guilty of illegally publishing a recorded sex tape.

If I did this to someone I would go to jail.

If Gawker didn't want to go bankrupt, then maybe it shouldn't have illegally recorded and published a sex tape.

This is NOT just "poor taste shock journalism". Just like how setting up a hidden camera in a girl's high school locker room wouldn't just be "in poor taste".

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#13

Post by chubot »

Wow. I wonder if Thiel calculated the exact amount it would take to put Gawker out of business AND send Denton into personal bankruptcy. I mean, as a venture capitalist, you have pretty good insight into the finances of companies at a macro level. You're used to doing a little bit of "estimation from the outside", i.e. for both potential investments and for competitors. And he was also a lawyer.

This is the most ruthless revenge story ever, not least because it was all legal...

Thiel seems like a nerdy and curious fellow -- almost gentle, if he weren't so opinionated. But I guess everyone now knows not to mess with him.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#14

Post by gohrt »

vonklaus wrote: post #7

How in the world did the court come up with a $140M sum for the settlement? This seems so excessive, it is actually comical. Obviously, everyone has beleaguered this point, but I feel obligated to state it one more time: Scumbaggery and poor taste shock journalism are pretty shitty, but fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta. edit: Yes, Gawke…

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/19/business/media/gawker-hulk...

> The damages awarded to Mr. Bollea on Friday were compensatory: $55 million for economic harm and $60 million for emotional distress. (+$25M punitive)

The numbers are nonsense (who has $60M worth of feelings?), but there you go.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#15

Post by Dobbs »

vonklaus wrote: post #7

How in the world did the court come up with a $140M sum for the settlement? This seems so excessive, it is actually comical. Obviously, everyone has beleaguered this point, but I feel obligated to state it one more time: Scumbaggery and poor taste shock journalism are pretty shitty, but fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta. edit: Yes, Gawke…

My understanding is a lot of the excessiveness was due to the behavior of the defendant. They ignored court orders, they repeatedly tried to make a joke out of it and all around refused to take it seriously. This lead the judge to using the large end of the stick.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#17

Post by wmf »

stale2002 wrote: post #12
vonklaus wrote: post #7

How in the world did the court come up with a $140M sum for the settlement? This seems so excessive, it is actually comical. Obviously, everyone has beleaguered this point, but I feel obligated to state it one more time: Scumbaggery and poor taste shock journalism are pretty shitty, but fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta. edit: Yes, Gawke…

Gawker was guilty of illegally publishing a recorded sex tape. If I did this to someone I would go to jail. If Gawker didn't want to go bankrupt, then maybe it shouldn't have illegally recorded and published a sex tape. This is NOT just "poor taste shock journalism". Just like how setting up a hidden camera in a girl's high school locker room wouldn't just be "in poor taste".

This wasn't a criminal case, though.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#18

Post by jonknee »

stale2002 wrote: post #12
vonklaus wrote: post #7

How in the world did the court come up with a $140M sum for the settlement? This seems so excessive, it is actually comical. Obviously, everyone has beleaguered this point, but I feel obligated to state it one more time: Scumbaggery and poor taste shock journalism are pretty shitty, but fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta. edit: Yes, Gawke…

Gawker was guilty of illegally publishing a recorded sex tape. If I did this to someone I would go to jail. If Gawker didn't want to go bankrupt, then maybe it shouldn't have illegally recorded and published a sex tape. This is NOT just "poor taste shock journalism". Just like how setting up a hidden camera in a girl's high school locker room wouldn't just be "in poor taste".

> If Gawker didn't want to go bankrupt, then maybe it shouldn't have illegally recorded and published a sex tape.

To be fair the sex tape was recorded by Hulk's best friend and husband of the woman he was having sex with. They knew a tape was being made.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/12/media/hulk-hogan-gawker-sett...

> Bubba Clem could be heard on the full tape saying that if he ever wanted to retire, he simply needed to release the video.

Clem settled for $5,000.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#19

Post by nostrademons »

fatbird wrote: post #11
serge2k wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> fuck Peter Theil if he thinks setting a precedent like this is net good for anything other than his petty vendetta a precedent that if you engage in trashy tabloid "journalism" and egregiously invade people's privacy that you can end up sued into oblivion? Sounds like a perfectly reasonable precedent.

The precedent isn't about the quality of your journalism, it's "get a billionaire angry, get sued into oblivion". That's what scares people. Mother Jones nearly faced the same fate for very good journalism.

Don't forget the part about publishing a sex tape without knowledge of the party involved. Mother Jones won their lawsuit, because the statements they published were both true and in the public interest. There is a very large difference between what Gawker did and what Mother Jones did, and the judgments reflect that.

Re: Gawker Can’t Shield Founder from Hulk Hogan Sex-Tape Verdict

#20

Post by dopamean »

chubot wrote: post #13

Wow. I wonder if Thiel calculated the exact amount it would take to put Gawker out of business AND send Denton into personal bankruptcy. I mean, as a venture capitalist, you have pretty good insight into the finances of companies at a macro level. You're used to doing a little bit of "estimation from the outside", i.e. for both potential investments and for competitors. And he was also a lawyer. This is the most ruth…

He seems like a real asshole to me. Nothing I have read about him has given me the impression that there is anything gentle about him at all.
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