This stance is admirable but comma.ai is partly owned by investors. Isn't he obliged to find the lowest cost solution to this ? Or is George Hotz planning to spend his personal money on the lawsuit ?
It's also likely that this post is part of the defense strategy. If you were the patent troll, what would you do at this point - withdraw the claim and try again with an easier victim, or try to find out whether the "if this continues" part is true?
If I could get the trial moved to a jurisdiction where I'm friends with a judge, which I recall was part of the strategy, I'd keep trolling. While geohot gets love on a hacker forum like HN, most courts (and people in general) as far as I can tell just assume guilt.
(Source: Worked as a litigator for 7 years.)
Besides, there is no fiduciary requirement to handle situations like this in any particular way. Fiduciary duty is to keep the business operating. Maximizing profit and minimizing costs are generally good practices; but they are not (legally) fiduciary duties.
They released new HW, that gives them lower margins and volume didn’t pickup as much as they planned.
I’m guessing this stance will be popular among engineers who will hear about the company and apply for jobs.
If you invest in a geohot-owned business, you should probably know who you're bankrolling. This type of behavior by him is hardly surprising.
geohot is rich and if he chooses to use those riches to end a stressful event and start sleeping well again, I wouldn't judge him one bit. Personally I'd rather be in the hospital that be in court.