http://www.scripting.com/ It's even worse than it appears. en-us Copyright 1997-2007 Dave Winer Sat, 26 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT Sat, 26 May 2007 23:41:28 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss OPML Editor version 0.72 dave@scripting.com dave@scripting.com http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/05/26/onMediation.html <p><a href="http://scripting.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/scripting-news-for-5252007/#comment-66839">Observation</a>: "At least it's over." <img src="http://www.scripting.com/gifs/QBullets/qbullets/sidesmiley.gif" width="11" height="11" border="0" alt="smile"></p> <p>And yes, I learned a lot. </p> <p>Creativity is coming back in new ways. I, and UserLand, were under a cloud from 1992 until 2007. It's amazing how much we got done, considering. The cloud is now gone. This morning, I felt like the stack has been popped back to much brighter days. We'll see if this holds up.</p> <p>My small Web 2.0 <a href="http://www.kottke.org/05/10/weblogscom-sold-to-verisign">dividend</a> now appears reasonably safe. Another way of looking at it is that I got back a good chunk of the cash I put <i>into</i> Web 2.0. </p> <p>Yesterday's <a href="http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/05/25/greatCommunity.html">post</a> was entitled "community" for a very good reason. As I went into the mediation, I remembered how genuinely happy people seemed to be when the deal with VeriSign came out. I couldn't understand why, usually people seemed to resent my success. And weblogs.com seemed a particular lightning rod for grief. Now, a couple of years later it's more clear. I had a <i>much</i> bigger reservoir of goodwill than I was aware of.</p> <p>Another bit of information. While the threat of a defamation suit was hanging over me, I heard from a number of bloggers who had been similarly threatened, and caved. This was understandable, but disheartening. I felt in yesterday's negotiation that I was not just looking out for my own interests, but also trying to create a precedent for bloggers in the future. You may not have to cave under a threat of a lawsuit, although I understand that there are good reasons people do it. However, before making a decision, look in your homeowner's insurance policy, if you have one. Many of them cover defamation judgments, believe it or not. </p> <p>Most of the terms of the settlement are confidential, but otherwise I did not agree to limit what I say publicly, or remove or modify any posts. In some ways I knew Russo pretty well, and I was pretty sure he wasn't misleading me in the past about his respect for the First Amendment, and as it turns out, that belief was correct.</p> <p>Do I feel like a winner? More so this afternoon than I did last night. I'm optimistic that when I get on the plane on Monday for Copenhagen, I'll leave more than California behind. <img src="http://www.scripting.com/gifs/QBullets/qbullets/sidesmiley.gif" width="11" height="11" border="0" alt="smile"></p> Sat, 26 May 2007 22:50:52 GMT http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/05/26/onMediation.html http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/05/26/afternoonHumor.html <p><a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/05/26/i-can-has-tsty-bvragz-plz/"><img src="http://images.scripting.com/archiveScriptingCom/2007/05/26/cat.jpg" width="300" height="261" border="0" alt="A picture named cat.jpg"></a></p> http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/05/26/steveSez.html <p>Geez, <a href="http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/05/dave-winer-threatens-to-sue-over-free.html">apparently</a> I've pissed off Steve Jobs, again. <img src="http://www.scripting.com/gifs/QBullets/qbullets/sidesmiley.gif" width="11" height="11" border="0" alt="smile"></p> Sat, 26 May 2007 23:37:54 GMT http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/05/26/steveSez.html