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Comment by yesco | Hacker News Reader

Personally, I think the subsequent libel lawsuits demonstrates it was all just ego

So he was supposed to just accept being called "Butt-Head Astronomer"? Sure, I’d respect him more if he did, but I’m not going to call him pompous or having a big ego just because he didn’t.

Well, suing for libel clearly shows he's an idiot, since there's no claim of fact.

Usually if you file a patently frivolous lawsuit, you get sanctioned.

It’s not very nice to call someone a butthead, but to sue over it just sort of makes their case.

I'm a bit lost here. Shouldn't the blame fall more on the people who used someone else's name without permission and acted like jerks when asked to stop?

Why are we holding the victim to a higher standard now?

It's possible for someone to have the legal right to demand something and still be a butthead for demanding it. Noting that fact doesn't make you a jerk.

As I mentioned earlier, I was not here to debate the legality of his (or Apple’s) actions, but from the moral perspective.

In my view, what the Apple engineers did was inappropriate, especially when they doubled down after being asked to stop. It’s not unlike typical bullying behaviors seen in high school ("it's just a joke, why so serious?"). Jokes on someone else are only funny when they approve them.

The moral perspective is what we're talking about. Resorting to the courts over petty nonsense is not a moral act.

Not approving the joke because you can't take a joke is a moral flaw.

That's a good point.

If he had called Apple “a butthead fruit company”, it wouldn’t make sense to hold him to higher standard.

But a legal response to some light hearted rudeness? That was him taking things to a significantly lower standard.

If instead, he had used “Butthead Astronomer” to refer to himself on occasion, that would have only added to his (already significant and well deserved) legendary status.

> If he had called Apple “a butthead fruit company”, it wouldn’t make sense to hold him to higher standard.

What is this supposed to mean?

That nobody should critique someone, for such a proportional response.

Yes, that's the nature of free speech. Butt-Head is clearly a statement of opinion and not of fact. Apple is entitled to communicate their opinion of people. It is clearly not defamatory.

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