How about keeping on topic and quit acting like you speak for the community at large?
Peter Bright legal issues
- Thread starter Chaoticwhizz
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How about keeping on topic and quit acting like you speak for the community at large?
I suppose it just surprises me he did not try harder.
When breaking laws with an intent to not get caught, rule one is, do not use the internet.
Rule two is, leave your cell phone turned off.
This is not a secret, just watch HLN for a few days and you will figure out that these are very key things to evading detection.
He was a tech guy who wrote about security concerns and then he does this online and sends dick pics and uses a cell phone that is registered in his actual name. It is odd he did not even get a prepaid phone and also strange that he used the very same photo from what he already posted to whatsapp and kinkd. If he was any other type of writer the behavior would surprise me less.
Sometimes it goes the other way, too. A guy I used to work with is currently on the run from law enforcement for sexually abusing a minor. When I found out about him, and about Peter Bright, my reaction was pretty much the same.
"Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do."
Sometimes the signs are there. It's terrible that those signs get ignored for so long, so frequently.
In this case, Ars is not going to be able to credibly claim they were unaware of the signs. It's not like they could have done anything to prevent any assaults, but ethics would seem to dictate that they had a responsibility to do something. "Not our problem" is not good enough anymore.
The longer people do these things the less they think they're going to get caught. That's when they get careless.
You're getting on him for addressing Dystopia getting his misogynist, protofascist chud bullshit on. Why aren't you getting on Dystopia for getting his misogynist, protofascist chud bullshit on in the first place?
"Keep on topic" while literal fashies are trumpeting #StandWithVic poison. The mind reels.
This was extremely surprising to me. You would think a good technology writer would understand all these issues. This is basic OpSec; it's something you should follow for normal day-to-day activities that have nothing to do with criminal behaviour (e.g. avoiding linking IRL photos/data to internet accounts whenever possible).
Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers?
(I remember when that movie came out)In all honesty I'm just upset. This entire affair is just beyond me. papadage's statement just let something go that I've not actually posted before. I'm growing weary of him sounding off like he's some sort of mouthpiece for the community in general.
I apologize if my statement caused offence.
Edit for wording.
Horseshit. Peter didn't do anything illegal, until he did. It's even more unethical to accuse and convict someone of something theyv'e never done. The only party that bears any responsibility for Peter's actions is Peter, not his employers, not the community, and not any of his friends.
The worst part about all of this is what the alt-right will try to do and turn this into a propaganda victory.
Also, who knows what civil liability shit show this might turn into.
Also, who knows what civil liability shit show this might turn into.
Yes, clearly that is the worst part.
/sarcasm
This is just the same cycle we see play out repeatedly. Some asshole makes all the right mouth sounds about hating the "bad people" and having ideological solidarity with the "good people". The "good people" tolerate his blatant assholishness, and he takes full advantage of that fact to continually indulge escalating asshole behavior. Eventually the situation boils over and the "good people" lament how the worst part of all this is that the "bad people", including a ton of randos that just noticed an asshole being an asshole with no political motivation what so ever, might be proven "right" about an asshole being an asshole.
And this isn't targeted at any one side. I've seen it play out over and over again on both sides. Both sides love assholes, so long as they are their assholes. And they never learn their lesson about picking their allies more carefully when it blows up in their face.
So then clearly you warned your employer about your coworker ahead of time because the signs were clear before the news came out.
And you must have also warned Ars about Peter, because you were certain about him, given that "the signs are there".
/s
Insight != Hindsight
Oh boy, here we go. The fascists are coming. Again. They're rolling in on the US in tanks led by Pewdiepie and his "literal Nazi" storm troopers.
Can you please keep your idiotic politics out of this?
Whatever, I don't care. I'll ban anyone who's unhappy with how we do things and wants to leave. Just speak up, I'll be at your service.
That’s the obvious thing. Did he do any of his activities while on trips paid for by Condé Nast. Did he use any Condé Nast issued/owned/paid equipment. There should be obvious equipment issuance language and boilerplate employment contract language about not using CN resources for illegal acts as well as potentially ethical behavior clause, etc.
The next obvious thing is manufacturer sponsored trips/accommodations acceptance also requiring legal disclaimers etc
Thanks.
(I don’t have an opinion about how you run your site. I just don’t like some of your friends).
Please delete my account.
While I am not rooting for him to get punched in the face and raped, I don’t really care if he if he gets help either. The main thing is that he’s locked away for as long as possible so he can’t harm any more children. His victims are the ones who really need help. Also his family who I’m sure are going through hell right now because of what he did. Psychiatric counseling rarely helps sex offenders anyway. Most of them won’t own up to their behavior and the harm they’ve caused. And they will always feel compelled to find more victims. The best thing for everyone is that they be kept away from society.
What really scares me about his case is that he didn’t immediately assume it was a trap. He’s either a huge moron (which I doubt), or child sex trafficking is quite common. And not only that but he’s probably done business with traffickers before. I would not be surprised if there are other victims besides the 11 year old. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI finds a massive collection of cp on his computer.
People did warn Ars about Peter.
https://twitter.com/DrPizza/status/834118628312113152
This was two years ago. Since then, he repeatedly raped an 11 year old girl.
I don't know the full circumstances, so I can't condemn anyone based on that tweet alone (but there's a lot more material out there which could have put up red flags..)
All I'll say is: If you knew something, and didn't do anything.. shame on you.
No. He's far from the first person to get political on Twitter. The only real reason I can see to hone in on politics is to make the implication that all/many "leftists"/progressives are pedophiles, or vice versa. It's a cheap, unprofessional angle to take. He's also far from the first person to make jokes/accusations about the Trumps; unless you're (general you) trying to make the argument that everyone else who said it are also projecting (which is the unstated argument these sites are purposefully making).
That said, this is the last I'll post about the political angle. I was just pointing out to others who hadn't watched it what the general tone and content were, and the reasoning behind my comments.
Take it or leave it, I don't mind.
Peter had controversial public opinions regarding child sexual consent. Peter also liked winding up alt-right fuckwits on twitter, and these are the same sort of alt-right fuckwits who don't mind resorting to doing things like providing false reports to employers and law enforcement, up to and including swatting people they don't like. So yeah, you damn well can't condemn anyone on that tweet alone.
I didn’t follow much of the guy other than his Microsoft articles, but was he really into Star Trek? For some reason pretty much all pedos love Star Trek to the point where it has become kind of a meme in the law enforcement community.
But did they even investigate it?
Some things, even if you think they're false.. they're important enough that you have to take them seriously. Especially when his opinions on the age of consent are known, and relevant.
When you really dig into it.. there's A LOT of stuff out there.
TIL..
(well, last night actually)..
"cheese pizza" (oh, the irony.. @DrPizza) and "Captain Picard" have entirely different meanings in certain contexts in the dark corners of the web.
Good riddance. The management here coddled him for far too long. I feel sympathy for his ex-wife and that's about it.
I see zero evidence in this thread of the part that I bolded. Instead, I see some tangential irrelevance from Dystopia, which you and papadage seeming to be using as a jumping off point to get at him and take things even further off-topic.
If you have a beef with the guy, could the two of you maybe take it elsewhere? What you're all talking about has nothing to do with this thread.
Yeah, the problem is he most likely is a psychopath. And no amount of help is going to change that.
I always hoped that Ars would come to its senses and ban the guy. Instead, they act surprised when the scorpion they clutched stung them.
You're not victims. You're enablers. Delete my account.
You're not victims. You're enablers. Delete my account.
This is literally the same kind of nonsense presumption that the lunatics on 4chan are currently engaging in.
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Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen a single Ars mod or staffer imply that they're a victim. Nor have I see a single other person implying that those mods and staffers are victims.
Define "investigate". It's easy to concoct a story that sounds like it might be legit, but be extremely costly or impossible to prove. That's why actionable information is almost always required. If you can't go to law enforcement with it, then you shouldn't fire someone over it. To flip this around: for as someone with those controversial opinions and as publicly combative as Peter has been the past few years, do you really think he *hasn't* had numerous police reports filed on him, with investigations started and dismissed? I mean, we've had numerous people state how obvious it was that he was a pedo, if it was so obvious, wouldn't someone have filed a police report and have the cops conduct an investigation?
So far we know that he was in contact with a woman, asking for access to rape children and bragging about having raped a child. The absolute best, most generous interpretation is that he enjoys roleplaying sick fantasies, but wouldn't actually harm a child. The worst is that children have already suffered by his hand.
To be honest I don't think this whole discussion is going anywhere useful. We know the allegations. We know some people say they knew all along. There's not much else to add.
Hopefully the management won't hire someone with so many glaring red flags in the future.
He very well could be. Rehab for sex offenders doesn’t have great outcomes. Many simply won’t admit to what they’ve done. Others admit to it, but think it was consensual and the victim enjoyed it. Most of them can’t really empathize with their victims. There’s also the fact that’s it’s not even just a sexual attraction, but also a life altering obsession with a lot of these people, Peter here being a great example. Prison and the sex offender registry are the main things keeping these guys away from new victims, not rehab.
Not that you're going to be around to respond, or probably even read this, but he is banned, and was banned in the first few hours that this was blowing up. They're not defending him; they're not addressing it directly at all, probably because Legal told them not to.
I'll be one of the first to say that I'm not entirely happy with how Aurich runs the Moderation side of Ars - he is too reluctant to toss out obvious shit-stirring trolls, IMO - but by and large, the site is better for him running it, and I see nothing wrong with how he's handling this situation.
(And no, I'm not requesting a permaban for myself.
) I'm not a psychologist, but calling him a psychopath is probably way beyond the bounds of reason or evidence. If he's got a mental disorder, it's far more likely that he's a narcissist than a psychopath.
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