Saturday at WisCon I moderated a facinating, civilized discussion of IP issues. That left the brawling to the IP panel at Baycon where Brad Templeton, Laura Majerus, and Cory Doctorow had it out with Harlan “Destroy all Pirates” Ellison.
Note to dnm: I don’t appreciate you calling my friends Stallinst b*tches.
Update: Danny O’Brian wrote in to follow up:
Reading transcripts of conversations doesn’t mean we have to lower our
standards of civility: but we do have to lower our hackles a little. I think we have to grow accustomed to the fact that we throw rude names at everybody we know, good and bad, enemy or parent - but only under our breath or among our friends. When you end up amping those mutters and
closed discussions over the Net, casual comments get cast in stone. In passing remarks get blown out of proportion; Fights start anew over throwaway comments.
Another thing to keep in mind as everyone and their frog begins to cover conferences and other events in real-time.
