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Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

nytimes.com

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Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#221

Post by mhaymo »

cwisecarver wrote: post #34

This is what I sent to my wife about this story earlier today. I think it's true for the public too. "I guess people can do whatever they want with their money. For me the bottom line is that Hogan is a public figure and the definition of “newsworthy” isn’t up to anyone other than media to decide on. Sure, it’s tacky as fuck to report on him fucking his best friends wife and it isn’t any of anyone’s business but the…

The market cannot decide that invading an individual's privacy for their entertainment is ok. The negative externality there is massive.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#222

Post by Overtonwindow »

I support this 100%. Just because someone calls themselves, or could ever be claimed as, journalists, does not automatically give them a pass in ruining peoples lives by creating sensationalist stories which has the only purpose of drawing increased web traffic. Gawker should be taken to task over its behavior and I hope they are forced out of business.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#223

Post by anamoulous »

wpietri wrote: post #178
Natsu wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> arguing that it is always fair to use "augmenting the resources of someone with a legitimate legal claim" as a tactic is not uncontroversial in the general case. In which specific cases is it illegitimate? The only answer I've been able to come up with is "when you don't like the person or cause." I mean, if anyone wants to condemn the general case, please remember that you'll be condemning the EFF, ACLU and many s…

> He could not have done anything at all to them if the cases were not meritorious. That's not true at all. One jury verdict (before appeals have been heard) plus a bunch of nascent suits is no proof of eventual merit. It could be that every single one of those cases eventually ends up getting dismissed, or being awarded negligible verdicts. But because Gawker may not be able to afford a full defense, they could well…

Have you watched any of the depositions or testimony in this trial? I feel like the lawyers and Denton were the only people from Gawker who were taking this case seriously. Time and time again the hostility and outright contempt coming from the Gawker side only served to undermine their case. AJ Daulerio specifically, but even his subordinates and Gawker management were trying to out draw the lawyers every time they were questioned. They did not speak plainly and they were evasive.

It's true that The Hulk had home field advantage here (and easily arguable that Gawker being from NYC hurt them even more than The Hulk being from Florida), but they did themselves no favors at all during the trial. It's like they gave up and sought to win in appeal.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#224

Post by ttctciyf »

owenversteeg wrote: post #61

I absolutely despise Gawker. The stories they run and the stuff they do would normally mean that I would love for them to be run into the ground. At the same time, they are the only independent online media outlet left in the world. Every other company that once prided itself on being "independent" from the large media network owned by ancient billionaires has now received at least hundreds of millions of dollars in…

I don't know if I agree with "the only independent online media outlet left in the world."

Look, for example, at pando.com - given that Thiel is an investor there, their language about him ("unforgivable", "a tremendous hypocrite", "cowardly", etc.[1]) shows at least a degree of independence!

https://pando.com/2016/05/25/peter-thiels-secret-attack-gawk...

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#225

Post by imgabe »

djrobstep wrote: post #95
darawk wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly what is unethical about his conduct here? I really don't understand what problem anyone has with this.

A libertarian using the power of government to crush free speech is pretty hypocritical if not unethical.

Libel and slander are not recognized as protected speech.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#227

Post by makomk »

simula67 wrote: post #153
pkinsky wrote: post #4

>He added: “It’s not for me to decide what happens to Gawker. If America rallies around Gawker and decides we want more people to be outed and more sex tapes to be posted without consent, then they will find a way to save Gawker, and I can’t stop it.” An important reminder of exactly what conduct, on Gawker's part, people are defending. They have no moral high ground, noble principles, or higher purpose. They're scum…

Also don't forget that the incident involved publishing his racist rants which destroyed his career.

That just makes Gawker look worse. The rant in question was part of the sex tape, but they didn't include it in the original article - it was published later by Gawker as a direct result of him suing them over the sex tape in question. It looked remarkably like retaliation for him suing them over their publication of the sex tape.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#228

Post by bobm_kite9 »

internaut wrote: post #205

The only thing that should be upsetting about this outcome is that it wouldn't have happened without clandestine backing by a billionaire. The execution of justice is not in a healthy state. Arguably Gawker would have not necessitated an intervention had the justice system been less broken. The honest reason why some people are bellyaching about this is because they don't see Thiel/Hogan/Trump as members of their own…

Finally. Amazing that I had to read through miles and miles of comments siding with either Thiel or Gawker to get to the real problem:

Why is it that an (already a millionaire) entertainer _needs_ to get a billionaire on his side just to try and get justice done? This is a totally crazy state-of-affairs.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#229

Post by internaut »

whatok wrote: post #218

Thought experiment. Let's suppose I was previously the victim of police brutality. Later on in life, I became a billionaire and decided I wanted to do something with my money. I decide to fund every lawsuit in the country against all police departments. Is this okay?

Providing for the lawsuits to be based on credible grounds, then absolutely yes. We want strong law enforcement based on appropriate use of force and judges that can intelligently apply discretion. With humans that is about as much as you can hope for. There exists grey areas but policemen who decide to strike by not intervening when they could prevent violence are not the right of people we needed in the first instance. In fact that would be a double win because we would be selecting for the police officers with better intuitions.

Re: Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Gawker

#230

Post by inflagranti »

__Joker wrote: post #193
gph wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Thiel is being unethical and I think the decision in this case was valid. That said I do in general have a problem with all this. I mean what does it say about our justice system when a millionaire needs a billionaire to help seek justice for himself. Is that how it's going to be in the future? If you find yourself wronged by some massively wealthy or powerful entity you now have to find an equally mass…

I really doubt whether any just society exists in today. Rich and powerful will always bend the rules. These days the rule ~breaking~ bending is more subtle than the previous. To quote Thucydides[1] "... right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." The challenge still exists for us to find a way to build more just and ega…

There are airways always degrees.

I cannot speak for other European countries, but in Switzerland, much less of the cost of the judicial system is on the individual. Also for minor the there are dedicated judges appointed to quickly resolve disputes without huge processes. And finally, there's insurance you can get that will pay a lawyer for you if you really get into some nasty situation ever, something I haven't found in the U.S. where it would actually make even more sense, given the litigation trigger happiness here.

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