Threatening Lawsuit, HBGary Federal Intimidates Aaron Barr Out of DEFCON Panel

Re:Threatening Lawsuit, HBGary Federal Intimidates Aaron Bar... by rdl on Wednesday July 27, 2011 @03:48PM (#2813792)

I believe this falls into "doing it wrong".

Backing out because they threaten to file an injunction is to capitulate too soon. You're supposed to keep going until/unless they actually get an injunction, and then challenge it (plus, civil lawsuit for loss of income due to the injunction once it's rescinded).

BlackHat/BSidesLV/DEFCON is going to be really interesting this year, for a change.

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Re:Threatening Lawsuit, HBGary Federal Intimidates Aaron Bar... by timwiseman on Wednesday July 27, 2011 @05:08PM (#2814135)

You're supposed to keep going until/unless they actually get an injunction

I do not know if you have ever been involved in a lawsuit, but they can be enormously time consuming and ver expensive. In short, even if you are in the right they can play absolute havoc with your life.

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Re:Threatening Lawsuit, HBGary Federal Intimidates Aaron Bar... by rdl on Thursday July 28, 2011 @12:32AM (#2815389)

I think he's already past the point of deciding where he'll be involved in a lawsuit or not -- holding out to force them to get a court order to bar the talk wouldn't make that materially worse.

I agree in a lot of cases about (especially individuals, especially people who aren't very wealthy) backing down from legal challenges, even if they have a good chance to ultimately prevail, due to the cost.

For a startup, getting involved in a major lawsuit can be a huge distraction too -- so even if it the startup wins the lawsuit, the company still is stunted and dies.

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