Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Richard Stallman is the founder of GNU (and then the FSF, which turns 40 next month). They say Dr. Stallman is all sorts of things. He is. He has done so much.
They say that Dr. Stallman occupies many positions or roles, e.g. programmer, writer, philosopher, public speaker/lecturer etc. while his friend Prof. Moglen is an historian, writer, former coder (so he can grasp the technical matters), and of course a lawyer, which means that he can use knowledge, experience and a licence to litigate against bad parties, using the law against them (when or where needed). Being cross-disciplinary and exceptionally talented (one was recognised as gifted at a young age) made them very effective, hence they also became the target of scorn and online libel.
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants. We've seen then filed 3 lawsuits [1, 2], including the latest one [1, 2], which I drafted myself as a Litigant in Person (the prior two were drafted for us by a famous barrister who had come from Ofcom).
We still have "Techrights Legal" - it is something that we floated around 2010 in our Wiki. I am still learning the processes, forms, protocols, various procedures in courts and some related tools, templates, pro tips etc. We expect to be compensated for what they did. They'll need to pay for what they did, not only to us but also women they physically strangled.
I recognise that writing here is not enough; it can have impact, sure, but holding people accountable takes more than writing. If we're combining knowledge and experience in connected fields and disciplines, e.g. scientific research, investigative journalism, source protection (privacy awareness) and coding, sys admin fu, legalese, activism, and so on then we can accomplish a lot more than an ordinary news site.
Having done this for 19 months already (if not 4 years), we deem it appropriate to put our foot down on this abuse and seek liability (penalty) for those who do the abuse.
In 2023, 1 year and 3 days after I had resigned from my job at the time, I wrote to Mr. 'secure' boot: "If you want to sue, be sure to provide a valid address (not your outdated one) so I can sue you and win and perhaps bankrupt you."
Based on utterly foolish public posts of his, he's now trying to borrow money from childhood friends to pay for his lawyers. He should know he subjects them too to legal liabilities. Did he tell them?
After the holidays we'll take things up another notch.
I say holidays because while we are on holiday the abusers have already sent us like 8 E-mails in a row, nonstop, despite us being on holiday hence unable to properly respond based on substance and even though the Microsoft SLAPP cases were being combined already (with the Judge also being on holiday). They are trying to make up a bogus, phony narrative, consistent with what they have done for about 2 years. They believe (falsely) that only they are entitled to holidays. That's just part of their bullying and this week marks 5 months since the investigation against them (in British authorities) began; it's still ongoing and active.
Whatever vision "Techrights Legal" had, this is turning out to be a lot of fun. The people who spent over a decade abusing us are stuck, with nowhere to go, and eventually they'll need to pay us a lot of money. They too are starting to realise this. █