5 ms·

For somebody who doesn't want to talk about the case, he sure does talk about the case an awful lot!

by louthy 14y ago

hkmurakami 14y ago
Might be because there's definitely an element of "the court of public opinion" for these two consumer product companies (and given Opera's stance, OP must feel some sense of loyalty/responsibility to defending Mozilla's name and public image) edit: Correction by magclock. Mozilla (so far) isn't directly involved in the suit. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629534 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629534
- louthy 14y ago
  Quite, but one of the reasons for not talking about a case is to not give the opposition any ammunition. It's best to just keep quiet until the case is over. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
  - hkmurakami 14y ago
    Right; it's definitely a fine line to walk. I'm not sure what is the 'correct' strategy either; we'll have to wait and see.
    - louthy 14y ago
      I think this is probably the best advice: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629446 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629446
- magclock 14y ago
  One consumer product company and one one-man consulting company. Mozilla is not a part of this, according to the articles.
  - hkmurakami 14y ago
    Thanks for the correction; I've added the fix to my parent comment :)
- DannyBee 14y ago
  To the last point: Mozilla not being involved directly in public is not surprising (unless you hold Mozilla to a higher standard, which some folks do). It's pretty typical that what happens is the corporation gives some initial advice, and tries to find you good counsel. They basically have to get out, because the corporate employment lawyer does not work for the employee, and there is usually a clear conflict of interest between representing both employee and corporation interests at the same time. Since Mozilla was not sued here, Mozilla may pay for his defense (depending on factors), but direct intervention usually does not happen. The rest goes to your "public opinion" element. Mozilla may publicly support him, of course, but in most cases, associating yourself with a lawsuit is often lose lose, even in cases where it appears to be defending a good guy (Imagine if today they support him, and tomorrow it turns out he was lying). They may just be hoping their name doesn't get dragged through the mud here. I haven't seen any public release from Opera accusing Mozilla of bad behavior, but if Mozilla comes out and says something very supportive, Opera may just do that. My guess is staying out of it publicly seems the best way to accomplish that.
deleted 14y ago
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suyash 14y ago
Exactly, and there might be arguments that he has made on this blog that might be used against him in the court of law. He may not have realized that, that is why they always recommend to shut up and let the lawyers talk when a case like this is going on.
ww520 14y ago
I don't know the merit of the suit and from the sound of it I don't like their trade secret suit. With that said, I think it's a very good strategy for Trond to go public with this. He is one person and the other party is a corporation. It will be a lopsided fight in the court. Even if he would win in court, it will have cost him dearly. This is what these kinds of suit about - intimidation. But by going public, he will be able to get public support and Opera is risking eroding their brand and good will. At the end of the day, a cold calculation on Opera's part to see how much branding they are losing due to the suit will convince them to drop it.

For somebody who doesn't want to talk about the case, he sure does talk about the case an awful lot!

by louthy 14y ago

For somebody who doesn't want to talk about the case, he sure does talk about the case an awful lot!

Might be because there's definitely an element of "the court of public opinion" for these two consumer product companies (and given Opera's stance, OP must feel some sense of loyalty/responsibility to defending Mozilla's name and public image) edit: Correction by magclock. Mozilla (so far) isn't directly involved in the suit. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629534 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629534

louthy 14y ago
Quite, but one of the reasons for not talking about a case is to not give the opposition any ammunition. It's best to just keep quiet until the case is over. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  Right; it's definitely a fine line to walk. I'm not sure what is the 'correct' strategy either; we'll have to wait and see.
  - louthy 14y ago
    I think this is probably the best advice: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629446 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5629446
magclock 14y ago
One consumer product company and one one-man consulting company. Mozilla is not a part of this, according to the articles.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  Thanks for the correction; I've added the fix to my parent comment :)
DannyBee 14y ago
To the last point: Mozilla not being involved directly in public is not surprising (unless you hold Mozilla to a higher standard, which some folks do). It's pretty typical that what happens is the corporation gives some initial advice, and tries to find you good counsel. They basically have to get out, because the corporate employment lawyer does not work for the employee, and there is usually a clear conflict of interest between representing both employee and corporation interests at the same time. Since Mozilla was not sued here, Mozilla may pay for his defense (depending on factors), but direct intervention usually does not happen. The rest goes to your "public opinion" element. Mozilla may publicly support him, of course, but in most cases, associating yourself with a lawsuit is often lose lose, even in cases where it appears to be defending a good guy (Imagine if today they support him, and tomorrow it turns out he was lying). They may just be hoping their name doesn't get dragged through the mud here. I haven't seen any public release from Opera accusing Mozilla of bad behavior, but if Mozilla comes out and says something very supportive, Opera may just do that. My guess is staying out of it publicly seems the best way to accomplish that.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

suyash 14y ago

Exactly, and there might be arguments that he has made on this blog that might be used against him in the court of law. He may not have realized that, that is why they always recommend to shut up and let the lawyers talk when a case like this is going on.

ww520 14y ago

I don't know the merit of the suit and from the sound of it I don't like their trade secret suit. With that said, I think it's a very good strategy for Trond to go public with this. He is one person and the other party is a corporation. It will be a lopsided fight in the court. Even if he would win in court, it will have cost him dearly. This is what these kinds of suit about - intimidation. But by going public, he will be able to get public support and Opera is risking eroding their brand and good will. At the end of the day, a cold calculation on Opera's part to see how much branding they are losing due to the suit will convince them to drop it.