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from the resign:-to-sign-and-sign-again? dept.
Richard M. Stallman Resigns as FSF President and from its Board of Directors
https://www.fsf.org/news/richard-m-stallman-resigns (emphasis from original retained):
On September 16, 2019, Richard M. Stallman, founder and president of
the Free Software Foundation, resigned as president and from its board
of directors.The board will be conducting a search for a new president, beginning
immediately. Further details of the search will be published on
fsf.org.For questions, contact FSF executive director John Sullivan at
johns@fsf.org.Copyright © 2004-2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Privacy Policy.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 license (or later version) — Why this license?
Computer Scientist Richard Stallman Resigns from MIT Over Epstein Comments
Computer Scientist Richard Stallman Resigns From MIT Over Epstein Comments
Famed free software advocate and computer scientist Richard Stallman has resigned from MIT, according to an email he published online. The resignation comes after Stallman made comments about victims of child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, including that the victims went along with the abuse willingly.
"I am resigning effective immediately from my position in CSAIL at MIT," Stallman wrote in the email, referring to MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. "I am doing this due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations."
[...] Last week, Motherboard published the full email thread in which Stallman wrote that the "most plausible scenario" is that Epstein's underage victims in his campaign of trafficking were "entirely willing." Stallman also argued about the definition of "rape" and whether the term applies to the victims.
[Ed.'s note - just because Vice say things in the above blockquote does not mean that SoylentNews or its editors consider it a demonstrably provable representation of reality. We're just reporting that they are reporting, nothing more. At least this Ed. finds out-of-context quoting of short inflamatory phrases to be particularly disingenuous, and perhaps even a warning sign that manipulation of a quote has taking place. -- FP.]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 17 2019, @11:17PM (1 child)
Pretty sure you can say "nigger" here...
And yes. I actually care about intent.
The concept of free speech is much more broad than the legal implementation of it. This very much is a violation of the concept of free speech, because if people feel that they'll be fired for expressing certain opinions or even just uttering certain words, they'll be less likely to do those things.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Wednesday September 18 2019, @05:46AM
Sure, you can say that word here; but we don't live in a vacuum any more than RMS does. Even Bernie Sanders recently took flack for using that word in quotes, just like you did [mediaite.com]. This day and age, you serve yourself well to hide behind the clock of anonymity. That's the insane world we live in.
I agree that people getting fired violates the concept of free speech, if not the law; but what would be the legal remedy? How long should a TV network be required to air a program that has no advertisers? Should the advertisers not be allowed to pull out of their contracts? Then you're painting yourself into a corner binding people to contracts, making them less free in one area to support freedom in another. I'm afraid we're kind of stuck, and I stand by my assertion that the only real remedy is cultural. SJW insanity simply has to fall out of fashion, simply has to be reviled like McCarthyism is. It will take time. It may take another generation to tire of the folly of their parents, and to rebel against it in their own way as all generations do.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.