DISQUS

Technology Liberation Front: A Brief Note on Ad Hominem Attacks on the TLF

  • Doug Lay · 2 years ago
    Tim isn't at one end of the spectrum. He's pretty moderate as far as copyfighters go. I'm pretty sure he believes copyright should continue to exist as a legal concept (I reluctantly agree) and he's even defended the Supreme Court's Grokster decision (I disagree on that one).

    I don't think Solveig is an extremist either, at least not in demeanor. She makes her points rationally, as opposed to the sentimental tough guy posturing of folks like Patrick Ross and Chris Castle. I do think Solveig's credibility (and PFF's credibility in general) is harmed by the association with Jim DeLong, whose recent writings seem increasingly crackpot, drifting off into police-state fantasies about government-mandated deep packet inspection, which apparently the public is going to rise up and demand on an internet-wide basis. Yah right.

    You are absolutely right about the "honeypot" theory regarding TLF. It's ridiculous. This is a great blog, great place for discussion.
  • Tim Lee · 2 years ago
    Well said, Adam. We ought to be able to discuss these issues rationally without resorting to personal attacks.
  • Mark Blafkin · 2 years ago
    Amen, Brother.
  • Erik Schmidt · 2 years ago
    I've found plenty I agree with and plenty I disagree with at TLF, which is why I enjoy reading it so much. Free exchange of ideas without the chaff found on so many other sites is what makes it one of my favorite reads.

    I don't care who is making them, ad hominem attacks are the last refuge of those who can't adequately argue a position.
  • Scott Carpenter · 2 years ago
    I think people are a little careless with the ad hominem label, and as Enigma has pointed out, it doesn't seem to get leveled at others who make them here. (I'm thinking in particular of a certain red-baiting commenter.)

    I'm not sure how my comment qualified as ad hominem. I thought Crosbie was just being silly and having fun with the association between this site and some others, and I just picked up on that. So flame me for goofing off. I enjoy discussions here on positions I agree with and disagree with. I don't seriously think this is a honeypot site or there is some kind of control conspiracy involved, but there's no doubt a relationship between this site and the others, and I think it's fair game for speculation, tongue-in-cheek or otherwise.
  • Jim Harper · 2 years ago
    In the spirit of goofing off - I'd like to note that Adam misrepresented this post as brief. It's not brief. Adam doesn't do brief.
  • eee_eff · 2 years ago
    I think people are a little careless with the ad hominem label, and as Enigma has pointed out, it doesn't seem to get leveled at others who make them here. (I'm thinking in particular of a certain red-baiting commenter.)

    I totally agree, and that is why I don't ever make ad hominum attacks.
  • Luis Villa · 2 years ago
    If a certain righty poster who does ad hominem all the time were included, this would carry a lot more moral weight.
  • eee_eff · 2 years ago
    I hope you guys (and others) will take what I have said seriously because we certainly welcome your contributions to the TLF, but I would hope those contributions would not be done in such poor taste in the future.

    Exactly what are you talking about, Adam?

    It seems that you are being awfully thin-skinned, and recall the rather viscous words used against me several posts ago? No one from TLF objected then, but they do now.