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Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by djrobstep on Wednesday May 25, 2016 @11:11PM (#11775085)
A libertarian using the power of government to crush free speech is pretty hypocritical if not unethical.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by leroy_masochist on Wednesday May 25, 2016 @11:44PM (#11775226)
Being able to use the courts to sue for defamation is pretty widely accepted as legit by most if not all strains of libertarianism. It's actually a clear example of a valid case in which governmental authority is necessary.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by kedean on Thursday May 26, 2016 @10:24AM (#11778144)
It is, but that's not what Thiel is trying to do. He is backing an unrelated lawsuit in an effort to squash them. The action that he had a problem with, them outing him, is in no way illegal, so he got into a proxy war against them. That is unquestionably unethical. The ethical thing for him to do would be to come at them head on in the public arena.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by FireBeyond on Thursday May 26, 2016 @01:51PM (#11780043)
Especially when you champion yourself as taking the moral high ground. "The right to face your acccuser" as opposed to "having them bankroll your opponents behind the scenes".
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by djrobstep on Thursday May 26, 2016 @01:14AM (#11775643)
Libertarianism: "All the parts of government that benefit rich folks are legit/necessary/essential. All the parts that benefit poor folks are illegitimate/aggression/tyranny."
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by vidarh on Thursday May 26, 2016 @05:35AM (#11776692)
That's right-wing libertarianism. Libertarianism was first formulated by a French anarcho-communist named Joseph Déjacque in the late 1800's, who lambasted Proudhon (of "property is theft" fame) for not being sufficiently focused on liberty.

Right-libertarianism on the other hand was basically an attempt at reformulating the theories of Ayn Rand and von Mises to something that would allow a common from on many issues with liberal groups on the left.

Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by darawk on Thursday May 26, 2016 @04:31AM (#11776476)
Either way, his position is not hypocritical.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by abiox on Thursday May 26, 2016 @12:08AM (#11775332)
> A libertarian using the power of government

despite the somewhat narrow notion of what "libertarian" encompasses in US politics, even there they aren't equivalent to zero-government anarchists.

> to crush free speech

i'm increasingly believing that the notion of "free speech" has asymptotically zero meaning in general discourse. that said, an interesting counterpoint is in the article: "Mr. Thiel has donated money to the Committee to Protect Journalists and has often talked about protecting freedom of speech."

it certainly appears to me that he sees gawker as a particularly hostile and unethical enterprise. the cases wouldn't exist without gawker's behavior, and the judges ostensibly render judgement according to the law.

Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by discordance on Thursday May 26, 2016 @05:14AM (#11776629)
Free speech does not mean speech without repercussion.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by qrendel on Wednesday May 25, 2016 @11:48PM (#11775245)
Not sure why you were downvoted for this. One of my bigger criticisms of Thiel would be that he seems to have a very hypocritical sort of "libertarianism" - e.g. founding Palantir, basically another spy agency for the US gov. But hey, I guess if you can make a buck...

That aside, I don't think this is the best example. Litigating through courts is pretty fundamental to anarcho-capitalist ideas, so this seems fairly consistent with that worldview.

Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by internaut on Thursday May 26, 2016 @08:35PM (#11782998)
I know how it seems at first but you should probably hear out his explanation.

First I take it you accept the necessity of gathering intelligence and analyzing it i.e. You don't believe the world is a John Lennon song.

He says that Palantir is a very targeted approach to surveillance. It was founded at a time when dragnet surveillance proposals were being thrown up. The 'greater good' in this sense is preventing a more Orwellian world by the method of being effective and flexible in a way that sprawling govcomplexes tend not to be.

When Snowden came out Thiel was alongside Binney in criticizing the NSA for being overwhelmed in irrelevant data. The basic point they both make is that an effective government isn't a cruel one or has the potential to be less likely to cudgel large numbers of innocent people. No need to send the village to the gulag if one of them is the culprit.

Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by imgabe on Thursday May 26, 2016 @07:56AM (#11777216)
Libel and slander are not recognized as protected speech.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by metaphorm on Thursday May 26, 2016 @09:31AM (#11777730)
libel and slander are defined as writing or saying _false_ things that damage a person's reputation or property. if the damaging statement is _true_ its not libel or slander.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by imgabe on Thursday May 26, 2016 @10:03AM (#11778004)
If it is true, then a lawsuit for defamation should not be successful.
Re:Peter Thiel, Tech Billionaire, Reveals Secret War with Ga... by metaphorm on Thursday May 26, 2016 @10:52AM (#11778371)
if its a trial by jury then the verdict is whatever the jury renders. the ambiguity, however, leaves lots of room open for appeals, which is exactly whats going on in Terry Bollea v Gawker right now.