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So for a one-man software shop, given the choice between: a) Spend money and time on legal action against the FBI for holding onto his servers for a couple of

So for a one-man software shop, given the choice between: a) Spend money and time on legal action against the FBI for holding onto his servers for a couple of days while in the process of an investigation, in order to hopefully try and make a larger point. and b) Spending his time and no money by actually improving his bottom line by enhancing the features of his software, you expect any rational person to choose (a) ?

guelo 15y ago
The attitude might make sense for marco but we should all be thankful for the irrational stubborn assholes that say screw it and fight and effect change and make things better for the rest of us. The martyr game is usually a long thankless ordeal. You need to be an idealist dreamer, have your heart 110% in it and be prepared for the long slog after the initial passion cools off. Even someone like geohot who had the passion, the financial resources, tons of support and nothing to lose, eventually got cold feet once he saw the daunting task ahead.
protomyth 15y ago
This would seem the perfect situation for the EFF. At some point someone needs to choose (a) or else it will keep happening.
- statictype 15y ago
  Perhaps. But a one-man team probably shouldn't be the one choosing that option.
_delirium 15y ago
Depends on the market you're in. I'd say overall, Steve Jackson Games gained enough publicity to make it worth their lawsuit in a different illegal-search-and-seizure case, especially when you add the $300k they got ($500k in today's money) from winning it. They had a stronger case, though, since the raid was directly targeted at them, and fairly carelessly executed.
rickmb 15y ago
Sorry, but the suggestion that fighting for justice is somehow the thing only "irrational people" would choose totally pisses me off. I totally understand someone making a rational decision in favor of other priorities. It's what most people would do. But thank god for people who take the road less traveled. It's to them we owe the rights and freedom the rest of us take for granted. There's nothing "irrational" about that.
- statictype 15y ago
  A major thrust of what I'm saying is in the fact that Marco is a single indie developer. Not a large company with more resources. Fighting against the federal government over this seems like picking the wrong battle. He got is server back in a couple of days. Obviously its likely that the feds have already cloned it but its not like they kept it indefinitely or wiped it clean. Does it suck? Yes. Is this something he should be fighting over? Not in my book.
- amorphid 15y ago
  The road less traveled is starting and running Instapaper. Chasing the FBI is a waste of time. If you really care about the problem, start a "company" meant to provoke the FBI into accidentally procuring its servers.

guelo 15y ago

The attitude might make sense for marco but we should all be thankful for the irrational stubborn assholes that say screw it and fight and effect change and make things better for the rest of us. The martyr game is usually a long thankless ordeal. You need to be an idealist dreamer, have your heart 110% in it and be prepared for the long slog after the initial passion cools off. Even someone like geohot who had the passion, the financial resources, tons of support and nothing to lose, eventually got cold feet once he saw the daunting task ahead.

protomyth 15y ago

This would seem the perfect situation for the EFF. At some point someone needs to choose (a) or else it will keep happening.

statictype 15y ago
Perhaps. But a one-man team probably shouldn't be the one choosing that option.

_delirium 15y ago

Depends on the market you're in. I'd say overall, Steve Jackson Games gained enough publicity to make it worth their lawsuit in a different illegal-search-and-seizure case, especially when you add the $300k they got ($500k in today's money) from winning it. They had a stronger case, though, since the raid was directly targeted at them, and fairly carelessly executed.

rickmb 15y ago

Sorry, but the suggestion that fighting for justice is somehow the thing only "irrational people" would choose totally pisses me off. I totally understand someone making a rational decision in favor of other priorities. It's what most people would do. But thank god for people who take the road less traveled. It's to them we owe the rights and freedom the rest of us take for granted. There's nothing "irrational" about that.

statictype 15y ago
A major thrust of what I'm saying is in the fact that Marco is a single indie developer. Not a large company with more resources. Fighting against the federal government over this seems like picking the wrong battle. He got is server back in a couple of days. Obviously its likely that the feds have already cloned it but its not like they kept it indefinitely or wiped it clean. Does it suck? Yes. Is this something he should be fighting over? Not in my book.
amorphid 15y ago
The road less traveled is starting and running Instapaper. Chasing the FBI is a waste of time. If you really care about the problem, start a "company" meant to provoke the FBI into accidentally procuring its servers.