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> If we do not agree to affirmatively publicize that specific lie, they say they’ll publish the photos, and quickly. And there’s an associated threat: They’ll k
by defen 8y ago
> If we do not agree to affirmatively publicize that specific lie, they say they’ll publish the photos, and quickly. And there’s an associated threat: They’ll keep the photos on hand and publish them in the future if we ever deviate from that lie.
They never explicitly say that, do they? I'm not enough of a lawyer to know if what they did still counts as extortion/blackmail, but as far as I can see they simply describe the photos, and propose an agreement that would prevent them from publishing the photos. But they never say "Do this or we'll publish the photos" - perhaps they never intended to publish them in the first place.
- raphlinus 8y agoYes, they do explicitly say exactly that. Term 3 in Jon Fine's email is "AMI agrees not to publish" and that directly follows term 2, which is Bezos backing off his assertion that AMI is politically motivated in their coverage. And term 6 means they get to keep the blackmail materials.
- fxfan 8y agoI don't usually put myself in debates on HN but I have always thought of you as a very rational guy so I'm surprised you make this comment- Situation A: where none of this happened. Ami reserves the right to publish photos. Perfectly legal. Situation B: Present Offer- I wont publish them. But if you cheat- we go back to situation A. Plain and simple. I am no lawyer bit everyone I've read today says that basically bezos has no case and his legal allowed him to publicize evidence and comment on 'an ongoing case'- commentary which can alter the 'case' pretty much means there is no case. The only thing that remains to be seen (or ignored) is when Ami will publish his photos because if they really want to play this game- that's what their next step would be.
- mejari 8y agoFrom the quoted e-mail: >In the case of a breach of the agreement by one or more of the Bezos Parties, AM is released from its obligations under the agreement, and may publish the Unpublished Materials. That's very directly saying that they will publish the photos if Bezos doesn't do what they say.
- defen 8y agoSaying that they may publish something is not saying that they will.
- thinkling 8y ago> "6. In the case of a breach of the agreement by one or more of the Bezos Parties, AM is released from its obligations under the agreement, and may publish the Unpublished Materials." They don't really need to say more than that, do they?