How To Destroy Your Enemy: Demand a Video Apology

I think I’d rather fight the MPAA and RIAA than piss off the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They’ve absolutely destroyed Michael Crook, the man who placed a fake Craigslist sex ad and then published as many personal details as possible about the people who responded. Crook got the attention he wanted, including a spot on Fox News.

A number of websites posted an image of Crook from that Fox news spot, and Crook responded by sending out fake DMCA takedown notices. The EFF sued Crook on behalf of one of the sites to receive the notice, 10zenmonkeys.

Crook settled the case, and was required to record this video apology. He is also being required to take a copyright law course.

Crook is clearly a loser, has destroyed the lives of many people who responded to his bogus Craigslist ad, and deserves this kind of humiliation. But it also seems to me that the EFF may be getting a tad over zealous in its desire to defend our right to violate copyright and other intellectual property laws, and needs to take a step back and consider if the oppressed are now becoming the oppressor. In requiring the creation of this video, it seems to me that they’re lowering themselves to the same level as Crook. The guy has been completely humiliated in public now, which makes for great content, but the EFF needs to be careful in how far they go. Defending individuals against huge multi-corporation entities is one thing. Destroying human dignity is something else.