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I think it comes down to the fact that there has to be a way for lawyers to discuss the hypothetical terms of a settlement... Those kinds of discussions are rea

by drcode 8y ago

I think it comes down to the fact that there has to be a way for lawyers to discuss the hypothetical terms of a settlement... Those kinds of discussions are really hard to criminalize, and AMI takes advantage of that fact in their extortions.

childintime 8y ago
Even patent trolls, a well-known example of lawyer threats, don't go as far as AMI did.
bad_user 8y ago
I am not a lawyer, or a US citizen, however I thought settlements are about discussing terms to avoid a confrontation in a court of law. Example: accept the terms or we’ll submit these pictures as evidence. I can’t see how this isn’t illegal and literally blackmail. They are threatening him to make some pictures public, in order to embarrass him and to damage his marriage, and not in the context of a lawsuit, but in a newspaper. And if these threats are legal, then the legal system is broken.
- ksherlock 8y ago
  Do this or I will (do something illegal)" is not ok. "Do this or I will (do something I have a legal right to do)" is ok. Perhaps unseemly, but contract law is based on people agreeing to do things or not do things. AMI seems to believe publishing JB's dick pics is legal for journalistic reasons. Maybe he uses an iPhone instead of a Fire Phone? That's something people should know!
- gamblor956 8y ago
  Example: accept the terms or we’ll submit these pictures as evidence. For your specific hypothetical, it depends. First, are those pictures relevant to the litigation between the parties? Second, would the threatening party be allowed to submit those pictures as evidence regardless of what the victim decided? If the answer to both of those is yes, then threatening to introduce the pictures as evidence in court would generally not be blackmail. However, AMI and Bezos aren't currently engaged in litigation since no lawsuit has yet been filed. The legal system is not yet involved in this matter, so your criticism of the legal system as it applies in your comment is unfounded. And if these threats are legal, then the legal system is broken. This comes down to the contents of the pictures themselves. If they are private pictures of himself or his GF, then generally the burden is on AMI to show that the pictures are somehow relevant to the public interest. This is an extremely high bar for them to clear, since they need to show that the nude photos are (1) relevant to the public interest in Bezos' divorce, and (2) that the public's interest in seeing the photos overrides Bezos' and Sanchez's interests in keeping their private photos private. (Note: this is just a very simplified layman's overview. An in-depth discussion would be the length of a law-review article.)

by drcode 8y ago

childintime 8y ago

Even patent trolls, a well-known example of lawyer threats, don't go as far as AMI did.

bad_user 8y ago

I am not a lawyer, or a US citizen, however I thought settlements are about discussing terms to avoid a confrontation in a court of law. Example: accept the terms or we’ll submit these pictures as evidence. I can’t see how this isn’t illegal and literally blackmail. They are threatening him to make some pictures public, in order to embarrass him and to damage his marriage, and not in the context of a lawsuit, but in a newspaper. And if these threats are legal, then the legal system is broken.

ksherlock 8y ago
Do this or I will (do something illegal)" is not ok. "Do this or I will (do something I have a legal right to do)" is ok. Perhaps unseemly, but contract law is based on people agreeing to do things or not do things. AMI seems to believe publishing JB's dick pics is legal for journalistic reasons. Maybe he uses an iPhone instead of a Fire Phone? That's something people should know!
gamblor956 8y ago
Example: accept the terms or we’ll submit these pictures as evidence. For your specific hypothetical, it depends. First, are those pictures relevant to the litigation between the parties? Second, would the threatening party be allowed to submit those pictures as evidence regardless of what the victim decided? If the answer to both of those is yes, then threatening to introduce the pictures as evidence in court would generally not be blackmail. However, AMI and Bezos aren't currently engaged in litigation since no lawsuit has yet been filed. The legal system is not yet involved in this matter, so your criticism of the legal system as it applies in your comment is unfounded. And if these threats are legal, then the legal system is broken. This comes down to the contents of the pictures themselves. If they are private pictures of himself or his GF, then generally the burden is on AMI to show that the pictures are somehow relevant to the public interest. This is an extremely high bar for them to clear, since they need to show that the nude photos are (1) relevant to the public interest in Bezos' divorce, and (2) that the public's interest in seeing the photos overrides Bezos' and Sanchez's interests in keeping their private photos private. (Note: this is just a very simplified layman's overview. An in-depth discussion would be the length of a law-review article.)