Re: Bill Gates in the news: Deja vu

[Ali Reza Hayati]

Akira, I think you're confused. Let me answer your message part by part 
so you don't cause confusion or misunderstanding for others.

On 19/05/2021 03:38, Akira Urushibata wrote:
> Reports about the personal life of Microsoft founder Bill Gates are
> appearing in the mainstream media.  Some charges sound familiar -
> nearly identical ones were cast upon a different person a couple
> years ago.
>
> I wonder why this is happening.  I see expressions like this:
>
>    "Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior"
>     - New York Times
>
>    "... pursued women who worked for him at Microsoft and at the Bill
>     and Melinda Gates Foundation, creating what were described as
>     uncomfortable work environments" - NBC News
>
> Bill Gates met Jeffrey Epstein several times.  He does not deny that
> the meetings happened.  His spokesman, however, seems concerned that
> the nature of these encounters is misunderstood.

This is true. However, RMS never had any encounter with Epstein for any 
reason and he called Epstein a serial rapist many times. The 
controversial comments were also not about the nature of the crimes but 
how they were put in words.

So while Gates may be asked about the intentions behind those meetings, 
RMS is clear that he never met and supported anybody n that case, what 
RMS did was to describe the meaning behind the words, not anything else. 
So there's no need to be concerned about the nature of relationship 
between RMS and Epstein, as there's no relationship.

> One thing that has become clear is that Microsoft's board has
> investigated the founder's relation with a female employee and
> concluded that it had been inappropriate.

This true. However, the case, specially the hate letter, against RMS is 
not about RMS' relationship with any FSF employees as there were no 
relationship in the matter. None of the ones who "claimed" they were 
hurt by RMS did have relationship in the term of 
girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/etc. with RMS.

What was the case was that RMS asked some people out and insisted on 
that. Now, maybe the insisting part made them uncomfortable but that's 
no crime. Not for RMS, not for Gates, not for anybody.

> Has the FSF board investigated the widely held claim that Richard
> Stallman "defended" Jeffrey Epstein?  I don't think they have
> investigated anything.  As a consequence they have allowed rumors
> of their founder's "bad behavior" run out of control and cause
> unnecessary confusion and damage to personal reputation.

FSF board did investigate that. So did a large members of our great 
community. Stallman actually never defended Epstein, he just explained 
the meaning behind some words. You can read those comments and emails 
yourself.

Bad behavior is relative. I'm comfortable with many stuff while some 
people even consider jokes as bad behavior. But if you want to compare 
Gates with Stallman, the difference is that Stallman never had any 
relationship with those who claim are hurt, but Gates did have 
relationship, as we see on news, I'm not judging or deciding anything.

> I have a request: Do not do to Bill Gates what you would not like done
> to yourself or Richard Stallman.  It is possible that the stories that
> are recently surfacing are not true.  Do not turn your eyes away from
> what may appear to be lame apology, for therein often lies the seeds
> of truth.

I support this. Nobody should be punished for crime one didn't do. If 
Gates is innocent, he shouldn't be punished.

However, you say, and I quote, "It is possible that the stories that are 
recently surfacing are not true." This is a weird statement because it 
is not impossible. All of the claims *can* be untrue.

About the apology, if you think what RMS wrote was a lame apology, you 
should first prove that what was claimed against Stallman was true. I 
don't expect someone who didn't commit a crime to be punished or to 
apologize, I think you think so.

If you haven't read the claims or followed the actual story, I can 
suggest https://stallmansupport.org/ with every detail needed and some 
great articles that explain the matter.

I hope you haven't just followed some people's baseless claims and 
believed them without really fact checking and analyzing. Check the 
website I sent and please do ask if you had any question.

Best of all.

--
Ali Reza Hayati (https://alirezahayati.com)
Libre culture activist and privacy advocate
PGP: 88A5 BDB7 E07C 39D0 8132 6412 DCB8 F138 B865 1771

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