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But isn't the EFF supposed to pick the fights based on principals? By agreeing to this compromise they really just gave all the Zillow's of the world more confi

But isn't the EFF supposed to pick the fights based on principals? By agreeing to this compromise they really just gave all the Zillow's of the world more confidence that strong-arm tactics work.

harryh 9y ago
It's not the EFF's fight to pick, it's Kate Wagner's (the proprietor of the blog). It's pretty easy to imagine her not wanting to deal with a prolonged fight.
- wyldfire 9y ago
  Plus, the EFF has limited resources and litigation would be time consuming. As long as they can fight back against the big companies by writing a letter, they can litigate for clients who face other companies who won't back down so quickly.
brainfire 9y ago
Perhaps it's less "fine, I won't use it anymore if you don't sue" and more "I've decided to stop advertising your service for free on my website regardless of the outcome of this," and Zillow deciding to use the opportunity to gently remove their corporate dick from this particular beehive.
- bayonetz 9y ago
  Very colorful
- droopyEyelids 9y ago
  Except Zillow sort of won. So they are the beehive and McMansion is the dick being removed.
Moto7451 9y ago
By providing the muscle necessary to protect the rights of Kate Wagner, they have won.
- thaumasiotes 9y ago
  Which rights of Kate Wagner did they protect? She could have achieved the same thing by losing in court.
  - harryh 9y ago
    She isn't removing old posts that contain photos sourced from Zillow. If she had lost in court she might have had to do that.
    - jessaustin 9y ago
      She would have definitely had to do that, and probably she would have had enough monetary damages levied to bankrupt her. It's not reasonable to fault EFF for pursuing her best interests.
      - thaumasiotes 9y ago
        > It's not reasonable to fault EFF for pursuing her best interests. That depends on whether you think the EFF's goal is more to protect the general well-being of Kate Wagner or to protect the idea that you can post pictures on the internet. It's not reasonable to fault Kate Wagner for pursuing her own best interests, but what do those have to do with the EFF?
        icebraining 9y ago
        The EFF is representing her. They are doing so because they have a more general goal, but they're still legally and ethically bound to respect her interests.
        thaumasiotes 9y ago
        I might suggest that representing her in conflict with their institutional mission is not a good use of the EFF's resources, and replaces a conflict of interest between the EFF and Kate Wagner with a conflict of interest between the EFF and its own supporters.

But isn't the EFF supposed to pick the fights based on principals? By agreeing to this compromise they really just gave all the Zillow's of the world more confidence that strong-arm tactics work.

harryh 9y ago

It's not the EFF's fight to pick, it's Kate Wagner's (the proprietor of the blog). It's pretty easy to imagine her not wanting to deal with a prolonged fight.

wyldfire 9y ago
Plus, the EFF has limited resources and litigation would be time consuming. As long as they can fight back against the big companies by writing a letter, they can litigate for clients who face other companies who won't back down so quickly.

brainfire 9y ago

Perhaps it's less "fine, I won't use it anymore if you don't sue" and more "I've decided to stop advertising your service for free on my website regardless of the outcome of this," and Zillow deciding to use the opportunity to gently remove their corporate dick from this particular beehive.

bayonetz 9y ago
Very colorful
droopyEyelids 9y ago
Except Zillow sort of won. So they are the beehive and McMansion is the dick being removed.

Moto7451 9y ago

By providing the muscle necessary to protect the rights of Kate Wagner, they have won.

thaumasiotes 9y ago
Which rights of Kate Wagner did they protect? She could have achieved the same thing by losing in court.
- harryh 9y ago
  She isn't removing old posts that contain photos sourced from Zillow. If she had lost in court she might have had to do that.
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    She would have definitely had to do that, and probably she would have had enough monetary damages levied to bankrupt her. It's not reasonable to fault EFF for pursuing her best interests.
    - thaumasiotes 9y ago
      > It's not reasonable to fault EFF for pursuing her best interests. That depends on whether you think the EFF's goal is more to protect the general well-being of Kate Wagner or to protect the idea that you can post pictures on the internet. It's not reasonable to fault Kate Wagner for pursuing her own best interests, but what do those have to do with the EFF?
      - icebraining 9y ago
        The EFF is representing her. They are doing so because they have a more general goal, but they're still legally and ethically bound to respect her interests.
        thaumasiotes 9y ago
        I might suggest that representing her in conflict with their institutional mission is not a good use of the EFF's resources, and replaces a conflict of interest between the EFF and Kate Wagner with a conflict of interest between the EFF and its own supporters.