It's evident that this was not only an isolated incident but one that seems to have more than a decent amount of justification. How so many people have managed

It's evident that this was not only an isolated incident but one that seems to have more than a decent amount of justification. How so many people have managed to extrapolate this into tech robber barons taking over the galaxy is hyperbole at best. I think there is a part of this that admittedly has an ick-factor to it in general and people aren't sure how to articulate that. (Full disclosure, I utterly despise Gawker, have for years and have made prior vitriolic comments - quite proudly - about how awful Gawker and its associates are) As for the financing specifically, is it really materially different than lawyers taking cases on contingency? They are in effect self-financing cases on behalf of their clients...same basic thing is going on here, the plaintiff has a "backer" to float the case for them.