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While that may help you in the courtroom, the court of public opinion doesn't wait for a verdict. It confuses silence with guilt. Acquittals are less likely to

While that may help you in the courtroom, the court of public opinion doesn't wait for a verdict. It confuses silence with guilt. Acquittals are less likely to make front pages than acquittals.

arrrg 12y ago
Does the public care about this? I really don’t think so. This is a case about some boring legalities. I really can’t see it having any impact on how Carmack is viewed. There are probably many other situation in which that is not the case, but here I really can’t see anything bad happening as a consequence of Carmack not responding publicly.
- prof_hobart 12y ago
  About this - possibly not. About other things that people, particularly celebs, are taken to court for - absolutely.
- dnissley 12y ago
  What about gamers? They are their customers, and they can be a fickle bunch under the right circumstances. A recent example could be the reaction to the DRM in the latest sim city, and other games. A counterexample however could be EA, which most gamers loathe but continues to sell plenty of games. (Edit: Although now that I actually look it up EA is behind sim city. So who knows.)
  - arrrg 12y ago
    Gamers don’t care at all about people stealing IP. They don’t have a problem with it.
danieltillett 12y ago
This is true. Sometimes it is better to respond and risk losing in the legal court of tomorrow than stay silent and lose in the court of public opinion today.
gvb 12y ago
Yes, but... * Public opinion has little or no monetary value where the courts have tremendous costs. Things said in public to influence public opinion can increase your court costs (possibly including judgement costs) tremendously. * The public's attention span, and thus its opinion, generally is measured in days, maybe weeks. Court verdicts are forever.
masklinn 12y ago
> While that may help you in the courtroom, the court of public opinion doesn't wait for a verdict. It confuses silence with guilt. No, it confuses silence with confirmation of its prejudice. If the court of public opinion does not think you're guilty your silence will support that, if the court of public opinion thinks you're guilty your silence will support that.
- cookiecaper 12y ago
  It's almost impossible to overcome the public's prejudice. Is it better to remain silent and allow people to make their assumptions or put out new statements that will also likely be misconstrued and potentially make things worse?
unwind 12y ago
Acquittals are less likely to make front pages than acquittals. Circular statement error. Parser 'sploded. Go to sleep? [Y/n]

While that may help you in the courtroom, the court of public opinion doesn't wait for a verdict. It confuses silence with guilt. Acquittals are less likely to make front pages than acquittals.

arrrg 12y ago

Does the public care about this? I really don’t think so. This is a case about some boring legalities. I really can’t see it having any impact on how Carmack is viewed. There are probably many other situation in which that is not the case, but here I really can’t see anything bad happening as a consequence of Carmack not responding publicly.

prof_hobart 12y ago
About this - possibly not. About other things that people, particularly celebs, are taken to court for - absolutely.
dnissley 12y ago
What about gamers? They are their customers, and they can be a fickle bunch under the right circumstances. A recent example could be the reaction to the DRM in the latest sim city, and other games. A counterexample however could be EA, which most gamers loathe but continues to sell plenty of games. (Edit: Although now that I actually look it up EA is behind sim city. So who knows.)
- arrrg 12y ago
  Gamers don’t care at all about people stealing IP. They don’t have a problem with it.

danieltillett 12y ago

This is true. Sometimes it is better to respond and risk losing in the legal court of tomorrow than stay silent and lose in the court of public opinion today.

gvb 12y ago

Yes, but... * Public opinion has little or no monetary value where the courts have tremendous costs. Things said in public to influence public opinion can increase your court costs (possibly including judgement costs) tremendously. * The public's attention span, and thus its opinion, generally is measured in days, maybe weeks. Court verdicts are forever.

masklinn 12y ago

> While that may help you in the courtroom, the court of public opinion doesn't wait for a verdict. It confuses silence with guilt. No, it confuses silence with confirmation of its prejudice. If the court of public opinion does not think you're guilty your silence will support that, if the court of public opinion thinks you're guilty your silence will support that.

cookiecaper 12y ago
It's almost impossible to overcome the public's prejudice. Is it better to remain silent and allow people to make their assumptions or put out new statements that will also likely be misconstrued and potentially make things worse?

unwind 12y ago

Acquittals are less likely to make front pages than acquittals. Circular statement error. Parser 'sploded. Go to sleep? [Y/n]