Redditors (and Popehat) Versus a Bus Company 153
Techdirt explains the strange story of a lawsuit-happy bus company in Illinois which managed to tick off a cadre of determined redditors by calling them uncomplimentary names in the reddit forums. This all started when a bus passenger, Jeremy Leval, reported unsavory behavior by a company employee (telling an exchange student "If you don't understand English, you don't belong at the University of Illinois or any 'American' University.") and said so online. Besides the name calling on reddit, the bus company threatened the forum moderator with libel charges, and over insults posted by the bus company employees which the moderator had deleted. Further, company owner "[Dennis] Toeppen threatened to sue Leval, saying, 'The attorneys for Suburban Express are reviewing this incident with a view towards filing the appropriate legal action against this meddlesome MBA student.'" Attorney Ken White of Popehat got involved, though, and asked with good effect whether the company had fully considered the Streisand Effect. The strangest part? Toeppen's former involvement as a domain squatter.
Sure... (Score:5, Insightful)
Letâ(TM)s hope the Redittors are more accurate with this "issue" than they were with the Boston Bombers. People seem so willing to take whatever is posted on some web site by people that (right or wrong) have some vested thing in some opinion or view. Sometimes a critical mass builds in the Forums when the actual facts end up being completely different from reality. I wasn't there, Iâ(TM)m not jumping on the Band Wagon until the whole thing shakes out.
Stuff that matters? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Having solved all of the world's other problems (Score:5, Insightful)
Why doesn't Reddit ever use their hivemind to affect change for any of the real, substantial problems we have in this world?
I can't help noticing that you don't seem to be helping the world right this second. Why are you posting on Slashdot when you could be affecting change for some of the real, substantial problems we have in this world?
Re:Sure... (Score:5, Insightful)
Surely you're not suggesting that it matters what colour skin they have?
It does when redditors are tracking down bomb suspects.
American checklist (Score:2, Insightful)
MEMO
TO: All persons who claim to be Americans
SUBJECT: Actually being an American, rather than a useful idiot
Before denouncing somebody as a "racist", "sexist", "homophobe" etc, please review your statement and the circumstances:
1. Did you actually hear the offensive speech or are you just jumping on the bandwagon and taking somebody else's word that the offensive speech was spoken? Remember: some people make claims like this as a way to invalidate somebody they have other disagreements with.
2. Are you sure the supposedly offensive comment was truly inappropriate? Sometimes a truly offensive person behaves in an offensive manner which invites a stereotypical response, and when that response is issued we are not confronted with a perpetrator and a victim, but rather with two people who should both be ignored (possibly because they are jerks or possibly because they were normal human beings being observed at a moment of frustration/anger)
3. Before you leap to the position that some speech should be banned, or some people should be denounced for saying things that were "not nice", please remember that the American position is: free speech. "Speech Codes", "political correctness" etc are fundamentally un-American and if you are tempted by them then you need a gut-check. If we only tolerate "pleasant" speech that we like, then we are not really for "free speech" at all. The American tradition is to let people speak their minds; most people will speak politely most of the time and when some speak impolitely we are each free to decide for ourselves whether we like them or not, whether we will listen to more of their speech or not, etc but we do not use the force of government or the power of the mob to shut them up no matter how much we disagree with them.
Thank You for helping us all stay free.
Re:Stuff that matters? (Score:4, Insightful)
English (Score:3, Insightful)
To be fair, the quoted statement is perfrctly valid in itself, and universities, indeed, require an English test for students whose native language is not English, for this very purpose.
I remember that when I arrived in US in September 1993, for a few weeks I could not talk to locals because I did not understand spoken English. I avoided talking to them because I expected it to be too much of a trouble for them to have a conversation with me. Once I adjusted to the spoken US dialect of English, I reached the point when communication with me was worth the trouble, so I could talk to people without expecting them to run away in frustration. That was common courtesy on my part.
On the other hand, if now some ignorant racist fuck will pretend that he doesn't understand me because he can kinda recohnize some Russian accent in my speech, I would tell him to go fuck himself with the Washington Monument.
Re:Stuff that matters? (Score:4, Insightful)
You hold the public in too high esteem. The majority of Americans would say "he musta been guilty or they wouldn'ta droned 'em".
People don't want due process anymore. They don't believe in innocence until guilt is proven. They have absolutely no sense of the civil liberty they are rightfully owed other than when it comes to wanting weed to be legalized because "textiles, dude".
Re:I know the guy... (Score:2, Insightful)
You're completely neglecting the part where he is using his lawyers to intimidate and threaten the authors of reddit posts, Facebook posts, and yelp reviews.
He's also not only suing people who forge tickets. He's suing students who used the To/From tickets on a round trip backwards. Or whose parents issued a chargeback becuase the bus never showed up.
In my opinion, his ticketing practices are crap - but that's not the real issue, at all.