Slashdot / Symantec
As a follow-up to my post "Slashdot Respect" from two weeks ago, it does seem to have been "merely a special favor which won't be repeated" as opposed to "a harbinger of things to come". That is, since my inquiry as to whether things had changed was ignored, it means things haven't changed :-(. Well, I appreciate the favor, I really do. But I'm also disappointed it apparently didn't portend some healing in the wake of my DMCA victory.
Adding to stir the pot, the rumor that Michael Sims had been fired as a Slashdot "editor", was indeed untrue. Which is consistent with the "special favor" case rather than the "change and healing" case.
It's easy, and comforting, to dismiss this all as "personal". But the implications are meaningful. No change means there's no reason which invalidates my having quit for lack of support. And where that mattered, for example, was where the thought crossed my mind of further investigating the Symantec Says No To Pro-Gun Sites story. I had thought it "old news", but it seems to have value. I've already decrypted that censorware blacklist, in the past. But is talking about the sites enough for coverage? I wish I could be supported here. And if not, I'll just be told my report wasn't worthwhile, it's hard to argue with that.
This is exactly the type of situation that I felt I needed to avoid. That is, being subject to temptation to push the legal boundary just a little further, just a little further, to go that much closer to the edge so as not to have the report languish in marginalized ostracized obscurity. And thus risk having it blow-up in my face in a devastating lawsuit.
The more things don't change, the more they stay the same ...
By Seth Finkelstein | posted in activism , censorware | on November 21, 2003 11:59 PM (Infothought permalink) | Followups
