5 ms·

I always thought Hotz an interesting character. This paragraph adds to that impression: "What he didn’t take into account is that comma isn’t run by rational a

I always thought Hotz an interesting character. This paragraph adds to that impression: "What he didn’t take into account is that comma isn’t run by rational actors in suits sitting on a committee. It’s run by me, George Hotz. I’m willing to lose $1M before I give him $10k. We will hire an amazing legal team, fight this, and while doing so invalidate his patents so they can’t be used against anyone else. Not because it’s rational, but because it’s the right thing to do. No patent troll will ever get a dollar from comma." I find that relatable.

bitwize 4y ago
Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!
RajT88 4y ago
He is definitely not afraid of this clown.
mkl 4y ago
His Lex Fridman interview was fascinating. I knew this would be his response just from the headline. Surprised the troll didn't do even a little research.
- gitfan86 4y ago
  It is amazing how many lawyers are completely incompetent at everything other than billing. I expect that they will write a letter complaining that they are being harassed by Hotz and his associates and are cancelling the lawsuit for their own safety.
j-bos 4y ago
Strikes me that a lot of today's ills would be solved (or replaced) by more individual agency. Gold applause to Hotz.
- powerhour 4y ago
  It seems like something that could attract funding from other possible victims.
- thfuran 4y ago
  It seems to me that considerably more of today's ills would be solved by more collective action.
  - dymk 4y ago
    You first?
    - thfuran 4y ago
      Take for instance the problem of patent trolls, which could be much more comprehensively solved by regulatory/legal reform than by one guy with a well-funded legal team.
      - btilly 4y ago
        The last time Congress took on comprehensive regulatory/legal reform of patents, the result was https://cafc.uscourts.gov/home/the-court/about-the-court/court-jurisdiction/ https://cafc.uscourts.gov/home/the-court/about-the-court/cou.... Most of the problems with software patents trace back, in one way or another, to that court. What makes you think the current broken legislative system has a chance at a reform that makes things better in a way that you'd like?
        thfuran 4y ago
        >What makes you think the current broken legislative system has a chance at a reform that makes things better in a way that you'd like That's a false premise.
        btilly 4y ago
sib 4y ago
This has been Newegg's strategy forever... https://www.newegg.com/insider/newegg-vs-patent-trolls-when-we-win-you-win/ https://www.newegg.com/insider/newegg-vs-patent-trolls-when-...
- judge2020 4y ago
  Same for Cloudflare: https://blog.cloudflare.com/project-jengo-redux-cloudflares-prior-art-search-bounty-returns/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/project-jengo-redux-cloudflares-...
  - sigmoid10 4y ago
    Hotz literally mentions Cloudflare as an inspiration for this.
- aeyes 4y ago
  Talk from Newegg chief legal officer from 2013 about patent trolls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgXItNZbAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgXItNZbAY
- runnerup 4y ago
  Old Newegg. That lawyer has moved on along with the rest of the leadership after a change in ownership. Also George Hotz fought and cowed Sony’s legal team when he was a kid in a saga involving ‘marcan42 of Asahi Linux. These patent trolls must be very foolish to try to intimidate him. Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment_America,_Inc._v._Hotz https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment_...
  - vorpalhex 4y ago
    Ok you can't tease us with a story and not at least link it.
    - caf 4y ago
      Suggested search term: geohot
sva_ 4y ago
> It’s run by me, George Hotz. I'm torn between considering it a power move of mentioning yourself and linking to the Wikipedia entry about you, or not. But I appreciate the troll hunt.
- sodapopcan 4y ago
  When you say you’d lose 1M before paying a trash human 10k and mean it, I’m cool with it.
- faeriechangling 4y ago
  If a little showboating is what it takes to motivate a wealthy guy to chokeslam a patent troll in court…
Buttons840 4y ago
Hotz is a Hacker, in every sense of the word, all of us here should relate.
nimbius 4y ago
ah yes, George hotz, the baba yaga of startup leadership
- gruturo 4y ago
  Next thing we know, the officers of the patent troll company die in a horrific car crash involving 4 empty vehicles running comma.ai software, quickly ruled an accident after the ruling judge notices an awful amount of empty self driving vehicles accompanying them anywhere they go. Don't mess with Geohot.
pxmpxm 4y ago
There very well may be a second order game theory at play - not only you broadcast far and wide that litigation will be exceedingly costly for anyone that tries, but you add an explicit threat that any attempt will result in invalidation risk to plaintiff patent portfolio. For patent trolls, time spent on legal is mostly opportunity cost, but killing their patent portfolio has a real dollar cost associated to it.
- _carbyau_ 4y ago
  I agree with this. There is a legal fight. Then there is a legal fight to the corporate death. By turning the former into the latter, it should make people think twice. But then people aren't necessarily rational.
- cma 4y ago
  Many trolls like I think Myhrvold's have something close to a new shell LLC for each major patent and sometimes it can be hard to link it all together (the recent changes to LLC/corporate ownership privacy should help here). It can be hard to even know their full portfolio.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
Good I hope he destroys that patent troll's life and empties his bank account defending against it.
denton-scratch 4y ago
> I find that relatable. Me too - nobody would accuse me of being a rational actor.

bitwize 4y ago

Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!

RajT88 4y ago

He is definitely not afraid of this clown.

mkl 4y ago

His Lex Fridman interview was fascinating. I knew this would be his response just from the headline. Surprised the troll didn't do even a little research.

gitfan86 4y ago
It is amazing how many lawyers are completely incompetent at everything other than billing. I expect that they will write a letter complaining that they are being harassed by Hotz and his associates and are cancelling the lawsuit for their own safety.

j-bos 4y ago

Strikes me that a lot of today's ills would be solved (or replaced) by more individual agency. Gold applause to Hotz.

powerhour 4y ago
It seems like something that could attract funding from other possible victims.
thfuran 4y ago
It seems to me that considerably more of today's ills would be solved by more collective action.
- dymk 4y ago
  You first?
  - thfuran 4y ago
    Take for instance the problem of patent trolls, which could be much more comprehensively solved by regulatory/legal reform than by one guy with a well-funded legal team.
    - btilly 4y ago
      The last time Congress took on comprehensive regulatory/legal reform of patents, the result was https://cafc.uscourts.gov/home/the-court/about-the-court/court-jurisdiction/ https://cafc.uscourts.gov/home/the-court/about-the-court/cou.... Most of the problems with software patents trace back, in one way or another, to that court. What makes you think the current broken legislative system has a chance at a reform that makes things better in a way that you'd like?
      - thfuran 4y ago
        >What makes you think the current broken legislative system has a chance at a reform that makes things better in a way that you'd like That's a false premise.
        btilly 4y ago

sib 4y ago

This has been Newegg's strategy forever... https://www.newegg.com/insider/newegg-vs-patent-trolls-when-we-win-you-win/ https://www.newegg.com/insider/newegg-vs-patent-trolls-when-...

judge2020 4y ago
Same for Cloudflare: https://blog.cloudflare.com/project-jengo-redux-cloudflares-prior-art-search-bounty-returns/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/project-jengo-redux-cloudflares-...
- sigmoid10 4y ago
  Hotz literally mentions Cloudflare as an inspiration for this.
aeyes 4y ago
Talk from Newegg chief legal officer from 2013 about patent trolls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgXItNZbAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgXItNZbAY
runnerup 4y ago
Old Newegg. That lawyer has moved on along with the rest of the leadership after a change in ownership. Also George Hotz fought and cowed Sony’s legal team when he was a kid in a saga involving ‘marcan42 of Asahi Linux. These patent trolls must be very foolish to try to intimidate him. Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment_America,_Inc._v._Hotz https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment_...
- vorpalhex 4y ago
  Ok you can't tease us with a story and not at least link it.
  - caf 4y ago
    Suggested search term: geohot

sva_ 4y ago

> It’s run by me, George Hotz. I'm torn between considering it a power move of mentioning yourself and linking to the Wikipedia entry about you, or not. But I appreciate the troll hunt.

sodapopcan 4y ago
When you say you’d lose 1M before paying a trash human 10k and mean it, I’m cool with it.
faeriechangling 4y ago
If a little showboating is what it takes to motivate a wealthy guy to chokeslam a patent troll in court…

Buttons840 4y ago

Hotz is a Hacker, in every sense of the word, all of us here should relate.

nimbius 4y ago

ah yes, George hotz, the baba yaga of startup leadership

gruturo 4y ago
Next thing we know, the officers of the patent troll company die in a horrific car crash involving 4 empty vehicles running comma.ai software, quickly ruled an accident after the ruling judge notices an awful amount of empty self driving vehicles accompanying them anywhere they go. Don't mess with Geohot.

pxmpxm 4y ago

There very well may be a second order game theory at play - not only you broadcast far and wide that litigation will be exceedingly costly for anyone that tries, but you add an explicit threat that any attempt will result in invalidation risk to plaintiff patent portfolio. For patent trolls, time spent on legal is mostly opportunity cost, but killing their patent portfolio has a real dollar cost associated to it.

_carbyau_ 4y ago
I agree with this. There is a legal fight. Then there is a legal fight to the corporate death. By turning the former into the latter, it should make people think twice. But then people aren't necessarily rational.
cma 4y ago
Many trolls like I think Myhrvold's have something close to a new shell LLC for each major patent and sometimes it can be hard to link it all together (the recent changes to LLC/corporate ownership privacy should help here). It can be hard to even know their full portfolio.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

Good I hope he destroys that patent troll's life and empties his bank account defending against it.

denton-scratch 4y ago

> I find that relatable. Me too - nobody would accuse me of being a rational actor.