Bonum Certa Men Certa

Mozilla's Strategy: More Lawyers and Spam, Not More Engineers

They send me stuff before even asking me if I accept an embargo (I do not; we reject NDAs and information embargoes from greedy corporations)

moz-spam

Summary: Mozilla has been contacting a load of people, asking them to generate inane hype over a useless hire by a notoriously wasteful CEO

They're hiring lawyers from firms that attack programmers, just like they hire managers from Facebook while they promise us privacy:

Hi Roy,

Hope you’re well. I am writing with embargoed news for Monday, September 12, 2022 @ 9:00 a.m. ET to give you a heads up that Mozilla has hired a new Chief Legal Officer:

Carlos Torres will lead Mozilla’s global legal and public policy teams, developing legal, regulatory and policy strategies that support Mozilla's mission. He will also manage all regulatory issues and serve as a strategic business partner helping Mozilla accelerate its growth and evolution.

Carlos comes to Mozilla from Flashbots where he led the company’s legal and strategic initiatives. Prior to that, he was General Counsel for two start-ups and spent over a decade at Salesforce in a variety of leadership roles including VP, Business Development and Strategic Alliances and VP, Associate General Counsel, Chief of Staff. He also served as senior counsel of a biotech company and started his legal career at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Let me know if you’d be interested in mentioning this in your newsletter on Monday? For your convenience, here is a link to our blog with the announcement (Note: the blog post will go live when the embargo lifts on Monday). I’ve also shared a draft of the announcement below. Thanks,

Cherie




DRAFT UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 9 am ET 9/12

Announcing Carlos Torres, Mozilla’s new Chief Legal Officer

Mitchell Baker

I am pleased to announce that starting today, September 12, Carlos Torres has joined Mozilla as our Chief Legal Officer. In this role Carlos will be responsible for leading our global legal and public policy teams, developing legal, regulatory and policy strategies that support Mozilla's mission. He will also manage all regulatory issues and serve as a strategic business partner helping us accelerate our growth and evolution. Carlos will also serve as Corporate Secretary. He will report to me and join our steering committee.

Carlos stood out in the interview process because of his great breadth of experience across many topics including strategic and commercial agreements, product, privacy, IP, employment, board matters, investments, regulatory and litigation. He brings experience in both large and small companies, and in organizations with different risk profiles as well as a deep belief in Mozilla’s commitment to innovation and to an open internet.

“Mozilla continues to be a unique and respected voice in technology, in a world that needs trusted institutions more than ever," said Torres. "There is no other organization that combines community, product, technology and advocacy to produce trusted innovative products that people love. I've always admired Mozilla for its principled, people-focused approach and I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to Mozilla's mission and evolution."

Carlos comes to us most recently from Flashbots where he led the company’s legal and strategic initiatives. Prior to that, he was General Counsel for two start ups and spent over a decade at Salesforce in a variety of leadership roles including VP, Business Development and Strategic Alliances and VP, Associate General Counsel, Chief of Staff. He also served as senior counsel of a biotech company and started his legal career at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

-- Cherie Crosby

she/her/hers 518.321.2144

cherie.crosby@berlinrosen.com


It's worth noting that the email itself contained surveillance; Mozilla Thunderbird warned about it. So the PR firm chosen by Mozilla is spying. This is where Mozilla's money goes.

"Notice that their links is to AWS and not to Mozilla," an associate noted. "More can be said about the embargo or lack thereof."

I never spoke to Mozilla, so they're clearly mass-mailing hundreds if not thousands of people with this (without following the correct protocol; you must first verify an embargo is accepted by the recipient).

Only they know the extent of the distribution and notice the screenshot at the top. Even Mozilla's own email client does not like it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Many Microsoft "Assets" Are Fabricated Baloney (to Game the Numbers)
At times it seems like what we deal with are many weak patents (on algorithms), valuations or speculations based on hype ("hey hi"), and stocks held by Microsoft and its own staff
"Internal Changes at Red Hat / IBM"
It seems like quite a few people are leaving
Confirmed in French Media: Mass Layoffs (10% Culled) in Microsoft France
Now some reports in French
Microsoft in Freefall in Finland
Can Finland eradicate Windows from all its infrastructure, including core operations that are sensitive to sabotage by cracking?
Google's Chrome Passes 70% and Web Standards Are Dying
The Web is quickly becoming devoid of any standards
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and Ponzi Scheme, Bubble About to Burst Entirely, Admits Goldman Sachs
the hype that Google News and The Register MS actively participate and profit from
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
 
Condoning Violent Behaviour and "Free Speech"
perhaps Microsoft Lunduke lost touch with what constitutes violence
Takeaway From the Google Verdict: GAFAM Has Too Much Control (Even Over the US Government and Courts With Government Appointees)
Many people feel disappointed but hardly surprised by the verdict
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 in One Month
As noted a few days ago, several times in fact, many people now recognise the importance of the FSF's mission, even if most people don't know what the FSF is
"Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
"Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 02, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 02, 2025
Links 02/09/2025: Oligarch Tech and Text Encoding Concerns in Ada
Links for the day
"People on LinkedIn Saying That They've Left Red Hat."
We already saw signs of it a month ago and named some of the people
Gone With the BRICs (or BRICS): "Linux 8" in Cuba
GAFAM must be worried
Telecompaper Reports Microsoft to Reduce the Workforce by Another 10% (in France)
Imagine what this will do to staff's morale
India is Back to Windows 8 (Market Share Down to 8%) as Android Soars to a New Record High
For Microsoft, India is a runaway market
Links 02/09/2025: SCO Summit and Russia Suspected Of Jamming GPS
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: Mediterranean Marriage and Staying Connected at 35,000 Feet
Links for the day
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users