5 ms·

It's not ironic, it's infuriating... But the best way I've heard it explained is that everyone knows and cares about Mozilla and Github, and no one knows Radiu

by swombat 13y ago

It's not ironic, it's infuriating... But the best way I've heard it explained is that everyone knows and cares about Mozilla and Github, and no one knows RadiumOne. I tweeted John Gruber suggesting he might link to this, and he (rightly, I guess) pointed out that he had no idea who this guy is. And that will be most people's reaction, I guess.

downandout 13y ago
He actually is a minor celebrity. He was one of Obama's biggest donors (and has been to the White House multiple times for personal visits with Obama), he was interviewed by Oprah, and had an entire hour of network television devoted to him in his episode of "Secret Millionaire" on ABC.
- evan_ 13y ago
  All of those things were purchased.
buro9 13y ago
I wondered whether it was the B2B vs B2C thing. Mozilla and Github, both have consumers who will take action. This is a far worse case, he provable beat the hell out of her, but a justice system screw-up has let him largely off the hook. Yet consumers (who make the most noise, push the strongest demands on companies, and can affect the bottom line when they are the customers) are not aware of Radium or able to directly affect the bottom line. I remain uncertain (expressed on Twitter) whether hounding existing investors is the way forward, but certainly pressuring board members (which will include some but not all existing investors) and customers is probably the way. Whereas my thoughts on Twitter mobs remain to the negative, this guy beat the hell out of his girl and clearly has issues with violence. He shouldn't be running a company, he isn't fit to. The court got it wrong (from a moral/ethical perspective as the guy did it, but perhaps right on a technical perspective I'll concede)... and I loathe mobs, but if the court failed to do their job then I come down on the side of the mob (even though that doesn't sit well with me).
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  >The court got it wrong (from a moral/ethical perspective Not really. It is far worse IMO to nullify everyone's privacy protections for the sake of a single domestic violence conviction.
  - catshirt 13y ago
    > ... but perhaps right on a technical perspective I'll concede)
- rayiner 13y ago
  > The court got it wrong (from a moral/ethical perspective as the guy did it, but perhaps right on a technical perspective I'll concede)... and I loathe mobs, but if the court failed to do their job then I come down on the side of the mob (even though that doesn't sit well with me). There's a 1983 Michael Douglas movie on point: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086356 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086356. It's pretty ham-fisted, but the first thirty minutes are a nice portrayal of a judge forced to throw out convictions due to 4th amendment violations by the police. There's a great scene where the prosecutor pleads with the judge to admit evidence in a murder case despite the 4th amendment violation, and the judge replies: "look, I'm just doing my job here--I suggest you start doing yours better."
  - buro9 13y ago
    Oh I agree. It's just tough to accept. The judge has punished the police and prosecutor for doing their job badly, rather than punishing the guy for beating up his girlfriend.
- tomp 13y ago
  > but a justice system screw-up has let him largely off the hook As I understand the article, it's also that she didn't press charges.
mathattack 13y ago
I think it also hurt the case that the girlfriend backed out of helping the police. When that is the case, there's not much you can do. I really hope someone decides to kick this guy's teeth in.
- DonHopkins 13y ago
  Maybe Eric Raymond will shoot him. He hates mobs of gay bullies using their free speech to convince someone to resign, but he loves to be the lone white knight vigilante sticking up for women by using his guns to shoot people. “if he were to threaten harm to Ms. Eicher in my presence, I would cheerfully shoot him.” -Eric Raymond “I agree with Eric that Kvaratskhelia is extremely creepy and reprehensible in his online conduct. But I find one comment of Eric’s really strange and inappropriate: “if he were to threaten Ms. Eicher in my presence, I would cheerfully shoot him.” One can only hope that Eric has been afflicted by foot-in-mouth disease and would not pull the trigger of anything more harmful than a video camera in response to a verbal threat to a woman in his presence. Such threats, though reprehensible, are well handled by the system of justice without the assistance of vigilantes. I could also hope that Eric would not be _cheerful_ in shooting anyone regardless of the context. Strange.” -Bruce Perens
  - pekk 13y ago
    ESR may be gun-happy, but the very next sentence after the quote you repeated twice is: "But the way to deal with death threats is to (a) report them to law enforcement, and (b) be prepared to defend yourself against the very likely contingency that the authorities won’t be around when you need them. "

by swombat 13y ago

downandout 13y ago

He actually is a minor celebrity. He was one of Obama's biggest donors (and has been to the White House multiple times for personal visits with Obama), he was interviewed by Oprah, and had an entire hour of network television devoted to him in his episode of "Secret Millionaire" on ABC.

evan_ 13y ago
All of those things were purchased.

buro9 13y ago

I wondered whether it was the B2B vs B2C thing. Mozilla and Github, both have consumers who will take action. This is a far worse case, he provable beat the hell out of her, but a justice system screw-up has let him largely off the hook. Yet consumers (who make the most noise, push the strongest demands on companies, and can affect the bottom line when they are the customers) are not aware of Radium or able to directly affect the bottom line. I remain uncertain (expressed on Twitter) whether hounding existing investors is the way forward, but certainly pressuring board members (which will include some but not all existing investors) and customers is probably the way. Whereas my thoughts on Twitter mobs remain to the negative, this guy beat the hell out of his girl and clearly has issues with violence. He shouldn't be running a company, he isn't fit to. The court got it wrong (from a moral/ethical perspective as the guy did it, but perhaps right on a technical perspective I'll concede)... and I loathe mobs, but if the court failed to do their job then I come down on the side of the mob (even though that doesn't sit well with me).

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
>The court got it wrong (from a moral/ethical perspective Not really. It is far worse IMO to nullify everyone's privacy protections for the sake of a single domestic violence conviction.
- catshirt 13y ago
  > ... but perhaps right on a technical perspective I'll concede)
rayiner 13y ago
> The court got it wrong (from a moral/ethical perspective as the guy did it, but perhaps right on a technical perspective I'll concede)... and I loathe mobs, but if the court failed to do their job then I come down on the side of the mob (even though that doesn't sit well with me). There's a 1983 Michael Douglas movie on point: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086356 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086356. It's pretty ham-fisted, but the first thirty minutes are a nice portrayal of a judge forced to throw out convictions due to 4th amendment violations by the police. There's a great scene where the prosecutor pleads with the judge to admit evidence in a murder case despite the 4th amendment violation, and the judge replies: "look, I'm just doing my job here--I suggest you start doing yours better."
- buro9 13y ago
  Oh I agree. It's just tough to accept. The judge has punished the police and prosecutor for doing their job badly, rather than punishing the guy for beating up his girlfriend.
tomp 13y ago
> but a justice system screw-up has let him largely off the hook As I understand the article, it's also that she didn't press charges.

mathattack 13y ago

I think it also hurt the case that the girlfriend backed out of helping the police. When that is the case, there's not much you can do. I really hope someone decides to kick this guy's teeth in.

DonHopkins 13y ago
Maybe Eric Raymond will shoot him. He hates mobs of gay bullies using their free speech to convince someone to resign, but he loves to be the lone white knight vigilante sticking up for women by using his guns to shoot people. “if he were to threaten harm to Ms. Eicher in my presence, I would cheerfully shoot him.” -Eric Raymond “I agree with Eric that Kvaratskhelia is extremely creepy and reprehensible in his online conduct. But I find one comment of Eric’s really strange and inappropriate: “if he were to threaten Ms. Eicher in my presence, I would cheerfully shoot him.” One can only hope that Eric has been afflicted by foot-in-mouth disease and would not pull the trigger of anything more harmful than a video camera in response to a verbal threat to a woman in his presence. Such threats, though reprehensible, are well handled by the system of justice without the assistance of vigilantes. I could also hope that Eric would not be _cheerful_ in shooting anyone regardless of the context. Strange.” -Bruce Perens
- pekk 13y ago
  ESR may be gun-happy, but the very next sentence after the quote you repeated twice is: "But the way to deal with death threats is to (a) report them to law enforcement, and (b) be prepared to defend yourself against the very likely contingency that the authorities won’t be around when you need them. "