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I don't think it's right how, in his "defense", he crouches behind "borderline Asperger's". I'm about to briefly rant on it because I think a lot of less rich
by dasht 16y ago
I don't think it's right how, in his "defense", he crouches behind "borderline Asperger's".
I'm about to briefly rant on it because I think a lot of less rich and less notorious nerds and geeks in my industry make the same, lame, bullcurse excuse whenever they can.
He remarks: "I don’t have a normal person’s ability to sense when someone might be looking to take advantage of these shortcomings."
You know what? I cry BullCurse.
If you watch a tape of the interview, it's pretty clear (at least to me) that he knows damn well - from the start - that he's in a "gotcha" interview. He starts off highly defensive. Eventually she pins him on a question that as a freaking board member of the corporation, and its founder -- he really ought to be able to yet was not prepared to handle. If it were not a privately held firm, the stock would have justifiably fell on his performance. If he depended on being elected to the board - he might be in trouble.
It may very well be the case (and personally, I believe it is) that Craigslist is taking a fairly sane albeit difficult to explain approach to the issues here. I don't think they are an evil hub in that regard.
To cower behind "Oh, it's my borderline Asperger's and the mean lady tricked me...." that gives me some doubt about Craigslist's concern and competence in this area.
Pardon me, but: that was dumb, Craig. Dumb arrogant, not dumb Asperger's.
- andreyf 16y agoListen carefully, she's even more clueless than you think. She says "posting", not "hosting". Personally, I am surprised how terribly Craig handled this - the appropriate response was simply "Just as the phone company can't police the calls used for illegal acts, there is no way we can police a service of millions of users, but we try. Stopping crime is the role of the police department (that's what taxes are for)".
- dasht 16y agoUh.. Yeah, I did catch that. Here's the thing: You pay CL a fee. CL has a review policy. CL reviews and then posts your ad. Posting. That ain't hosting: CL has explicitly taken some deeper editorial responsibility there. Does a newspaper "host" or "publish" classified ads? Can classified ads in papers still be used to advertise illegal activity? Sure, they can. IMO, CL's best defense would have been to go grab a copy of a typical independent news weekly -- one that has all the personal and prostitute ads in the back.
- andreyf 16y agoWhat are you talking about? So if I pay someone to broadcast something, they are responsible if I use it to break the law? If I photocopy a book, is Xerox responsible? How is this any different from the reasons for common carrier regulation?
- andreyf 16y agoThat's cool, yeah... downvote away in leu of an argument. Thanks guys, for keeping it classy.