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Comment Re:Freedom of political activism (Score 1) 1746

It would be understandable to boycott Mozilla if the CEO actually harmed an employee. It is unreasonable to perform a preventive strike, reasoning that "he will never be able to separate his beliefs from his work and therefore he is guilty a priori.

Legally, the only way employment discrimination can be addressed (in cases where it's even illegal) is if it's overt, explicit, and documented. Anything short of that and the victim is left with nothing but legal fees, with even less of a chance of getting a new job after having a history of filing a discrimination suit. Eich wouldn't have to act directly, openly, or even knowingly for a corporate culture to build up around him and his authority that "coincidentally" rids him of those meddlesome gays, regardless of the platitudes written into the stated corporate policy. From a practical standpoint labor's only defense is to assume guilt until proof of innocence, and in this case Eich is still unrepentant.

Comment Re:Freedom of political activism (Score 1) 1746

Eich worked to criminalize what people do privately.

Hyperbole.

It wasn't his marriage that got revoked.

Not when he's doing a private donation

Employment discrimination laws in the US are toothless (when they exist at all) and conservative lawmakers are doing what they can to gut them further. Conservative corporations have gone so far as to argue before the Supreme Court that management can be neither asked nor expected to keep their "sincerely held beliefs" separate from their business policy decisions. He can hire and fire at will, he can change policy on a whim, and he can even impose a hostile work environment to force out undesirables without saying a word or otherwise getting his hands dirty.

In the current corporate legal environment that leans heavily in their favor, there can be no expectation of separation of the public and the private for management. They simply have too much power over the lives of others to pretend anything else is possible.

which is only publicised for legal reasons

Unlike earnings reports?

Comment Re:I think this is bullshit (Score 1) 1746

What is the difference between Eich supporting a campaign to prevent gay marriage and his detractors supporting a campaign to prevent Eich from being CEO of Mozilla?

Eich doesn't suddenly find himself unwed, nor does he now have to leave the state to exercise all the rights and privileges he had yesterday.

Comment Re:I think this is bullshit (Score 1) 1746

Then at least acknowledge that the boycott push was an act of active and outright bigotry when Eich had (past tense) done something that some might see as intolerant

First, it is a false equivalence to claim that actively reducing the legal standing of a class of citizens based exclusively on sexual orientation is merely "something that some might see as intolerant."

Secondly, Eich has (present tense) still not apologized. He made no meaningful effort or gesture to those he helped hurt and disenfranchise, just the typical corporate "Sorry if you're offended" spiel.

A great deal of this furor would have gone away if there was an act of genuine contrition on his part. But he couldn't manage to do what George Wallace and Robert Byrd could.

the response to him was far far worse than anything he'd done

He hasn't had a marriage revoked.

Comment Re:Freedom of political activism (Score 1) 1746

Employer 1: "Oh, you are pro-choice? You want to deny unborn children the right to life. Fired!"
Employer 2: "Oh, you are pro-life? You want to deny women the right to self-determination. Fired!"
Employer 3: "Oh, you support the death penalty? You want to deny felons the right to life. Fired!"

This is wrong.

It's all perfectly legal, as is firing someone for being homosexual in many states. And for that one (at least) Eich has worked to keep it that way.

People must never be demoted because of political activism they do privatly

Eich worked to criminalize what people do privately.

not using the company brand

The CEO is the brand.

Comment Re:Talk about conflicted... (Score 1) 1746

To my knowledge, he has said nothing otherwise and apparently did not interfere with apparently LGBT friendly policies of the Mozilla Corporation.

He had no need to. He'd already used government coercion to impose on the private lives of Mozilla's gay employees outside of the office as well as all California gays regardless of whether or not they worked for Mozilla.

And besides, at the time he did not have the power to impose on gay employees' professional lives to the extent that a CEO can.

So what do I get out of this? The board saw a win-win, if he can weather the storm of the Prop 8 fiasco then they get one of the most technically competent CEOs available

But it would be at the cost of alienating all LGBTQ clients, contributors and their allies. OKCupid had a point: as an internet dating site they have an immediate business concern in gay rights.

otherwise, they push him out and get a lot of visibility for doing so (and maybe more converts).

No, Mozilla is now left with a heck of a lot of people with grudges and long memories. The fact that they thought promoting Eich was a good idea in the first place does not reflect well on them and will be remembered for a long time to come.

I think Howard Stern was right, if you're planning on leading a public company, keep your mouth shut and be everybody's best friend.

You don't sell a product and promote a brand by pissing people off.

Comment Re:I think this is bullshit (Score 1) 1746

His $1000 donation did not deny anyone anything, it did however assist an organization which could be seen to try to 'deny rights'

It revoked them.

... that group and it's side lost.

No, Prop 8 won.

Instead, we have a group of sour winners lashing out against not only those who lost, but the (previous) supporters of those who lost, even seeking to deny them the rights.

Eich sought to and succeeded to criminalize behavior between consenting adults, and succeeded. There is no realistic effort to have the state (any state) sanction Eich for his views.

He's still perfectly free to get a job at Hobby Lobby, Cracker Barrel, Chick-Fil-A, Target and Best Buy.

Comment Defining what is and is not a "tablet?" (Score 1) 387

I've grown attached to my ten inch Android tablet. I'd be willing to wipe it and try installing free Windows on it myself, but between having to be under 9 inches and being OEM only, I'm not about to buy a whole new tablet, especially not in a form factor that's too small for my purposes, just so that I can run Windows.

Too little, too late, in both senses of the word "little."

Comment Ames' View Too Narrow (Score 4, Insightful) 148

while these secret deals to fix recruiting were bad (and illegal), they were also needed to protect innovation by keeping teams together while avoiding spiraling costs

Yes, needing to offer competitive wages to creative team members would have increased the cost of the individual project, but that need not affect the company's bottom line if it finds cost savings elsewhere, like in executive compensation.

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