News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by danso on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @12:36PM (#18016730)
The small upside of this is that maybe Musk will be convinced to settle the libel suit that was announced yesterday [0]. For the suit filed in the UK, the max loss would be ~$400K (unless it goes to trial and he ends up paying Vern Unsworth's legal costs), and it would spare us the sad spectacle of Musk trying to prove that Unsworth is a pedo.

[0] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/cave-rescuer-su...

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by onetimemanytime on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @02:12PM (#18017724)
This lawsuit is peanuts to Musk, money wise. Say he settles it for $20 million, that's nothing. And maybe Musk hires dozens of detectives that find out later that Unsworth went with underage girls (a lot of Europeans with some money do over there.) Still it's very petty of Musk to pick a public fight with a "commoner"
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by danso on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @02:44PM (#18017994)
He wouldn’t settle it for $20M because libel damages aren’t capped at ~$400K in the UK. It doesn’t take “dozens of detectives” to undermine Unsworth’s story, but Musk has not yet managed to show anything, not even a FB or forum post, that would contradict Unsworth’s assertion of when he first visited Thailand.

The stereotype of white men going to Thailand for sex tourism isn’t proof. And to think it is evidence is incredibly ironic, because Unsworth, besides being the resident expert of the cave’s geography, reportedly had to push hard for Thai authorities to take his advice to bring in his British expert diver friends who ended up conducting the rescue.

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by onetimemanytime on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:09PM (#18018204)
My point was that even if true (what Musk said) he showed his pettiness in getting involved with someone that criticized him. As for the libel amount in USA, there's a limit too. Even if the jury goes haywire judges and appeal courts intervene.

As for the truth...we don't really know until there's discovery

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by gamblor956 on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:19PM (#18018282)
There's no statutory limit on damages for defamation per se under California law. It's literally whatever the jury decides is appropriate, modified by what the judge thinks is reasonable.

EDIT: added the "per se" since regular defamation requires proof of damages but the per se form does not.

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by onetimemanytime on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @05:13PM (#18019186)
But in reality there is a limit. The jury can say $2 Trillion. What is the largest award ever that made it past appeals? Being called a pedophile publicly by Elon Musk is as bad as it gets, but it's still a personal thing, not a loss of $Xx billion in sales or brand name.

Personally I think Musk needs an intervention, something not right with him and he needs to chill out, detox or whatever for a few months.

If Musk offers a huge reward, you'll see Pattya Beach hotel and bar owners checking decades old security cassettes.

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by hef19898 on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:25PM (#18018334)
You are still considered inocent until proofen and found guilty. Which is agood thing IMHO.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by polkapolka on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @01:28PM (#18017291)
I give Musk a little bit more credit than brutely calling someone a pedo without any proof. If you are as rich as Musk, there must be someone you can pay to dig up dirt on your opponents. Now there may be more trouble in showing that proof than settling. 400k is nothing for Musk, but principles and hurt ego are priceless.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by danso on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @02:37PM (#18017930)
Musk had repeatedly challenged reporters to “investigate” Vernon Unsworth, and they did. They found no criminal records in the UK or Thailand, no marriage records, and AFAIK, no record of Unsworth visiting or moving to Thailand in the timespan Musk describes. They did however find Unsworth’s girlfriend, who is in her 40s and had been posting about her relationship on social media for years, which would support Unsworth’s assertions that he had first visited Thailand in 2011.

If Musk is as good as a human as his devout fans think he is, he’ll put truth and his grand hopes for humanity over his ego, and give Unsworth — who let’s not forget, was essential to saving those boys’ lives — a proper apology and compensation.

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by stochastic_monk on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:02PM (#18018152)
I hope he does this not because he’s a good person but just because I want Tesla to succeed and I don’t want his stupidity to ruin its chances.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by watwut on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @05:11PM (#18019163)
Maybe Tesla needs to fail in the market. After seeing how he behaves on twitter, I just cant imagine the chain of command in Tesla works effectively internally. With the leader so fragile in terms of ego, so easy to go ballistic and with seemingly no ethical limits on how he treats those who don't instantly bend to him.

He seems to care more about building personality cult around himself then about running business.

There are plenty of companies with toxic cultures, it is not like that would be unusual. But here, I just cant imagine people under Musk ever telling him he is wrong or telling him about problems. I would guess that his grasp of reality will be increasingly wrong. To a degree it is normal, of course, but here it seems to go really to extremes.

Electric cars will come with or without them.

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by Fricken on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:14PM (#18018250)
Many argue that you can't have Tesla without Musk, but I don't believe that's true. There is a paradox that can be observed over and over throughout history: great conquerors rarely make great managers. What Tesla needs now is a manager.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by JumpCrisscross on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @02:04PM (#18017645)
> dig up dirt on your opponents

How does a man risking his life to save children halfway across the planet qualify as an opponent?

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by tomovo on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @02:28PM (#18017855)
He said Elon's rig was total shit.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by tedunangst on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:05PM (#18018162)
Seems like a better response would be to prove your submarine is awesome than claim the detractor is a pedo. But I'm not the smartest man in the world.
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by omegaworks on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:17PM (#18018272)
It'll be interesting to see if Elon Musk, darling of startup entreprewannabes, gets a pass here.

I hope his followers understand the precedent this sets. Are they truly about engineering solutions to tough problems (as they claim they are), or are they just a cult of personality cultivated to protect a thin-skinned master?

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by watwut on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @05:13PM (#18019182)
People who are about engineering solutions to tough problems would worship an engineer that spends his time actually working on tough problems.

Elon Musk is business man. His actual occupation is organization, management, negotiation, finance and public relations.

Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by notfromhere on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @03:14PM (#18018251)
He wasn't wrong, he just dared displease King Elon
Re:Tesla Faces U.S. Criminal Probe Over Musk Statements by DoreenMichele on Tuesday September 18, 2018 @02:32PM (#18017879)
I give Musk a little bit more credit than brutely calling someone a pedo without any proof.

Have you missed the multiple other shit storms here lately where he smoked a blunt on camera, said crap on Twitter he shouldn't be saying, cried in an interview while looking completely exhausted, etc?

He isn't exactly putting on a convincing performance as a trustworthy, stalwart, social conservative ("respectable business man") with all his ducks in a row.