Re: <nettime> #jakegate explained ... by a Dummy

[Carsten Agger <agger@modspil.dk>]

""

On 10/13/2016 03:44 PM, Patrice Riemens wrote:

> NB Two days ago, The Guardian newspaper published a long article
> about Jacob Appelbaum, the first text in mainstream media since
> the two pieces in Die Zeit Online (see refs below), and only the
> second publication I am aware of since the storm around 'Jake' abated
> somewhere in last Summer.
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/11/jacob-appelbaum-tor-project-sexual-assault-allegations
>
> This post was largely written in Romania a few weeks ago, and hence
> is not informed by the article in The Guardian. It also looks at the
> whole affair from a different angle, less focused on the person(age)
> himself.
[...]

Thanks for your article, Patrice, I rather think you nailed it with the 
context of the security hacking circles in Berlin, and in the world!

Two small comments:

In the Guardian piece, we read:

>Appelbaum says that he has stopped drinking and begun therapy. “I have 
obviously seriously hurt people’s feelings unintentionally and I deeply 
regret this,” he said.

To me, that sounds eerily like the words of an unrepentant bully who has 
been called out. He denies all allegations, but he's stopped drinking 
and entered therapy. If the allegations are false, why does he need therapy?

My own experience is that if people have a behaviour problem related to 
drinking too much, they're always very acutely aware of it, as much as 
they might deny it (the lady doth protest too much). Though, it must be 
said, many of us respond badly to high-level pressure and stress of the 
kind Appelbaum has been under. Still, a man in his position, as 
spokesman for Tor, Wikileaks, and even Edward Snowden, don't get off so 
easily because they frankly have a responsibiliy to the movement and the 
cause - both of which do *not* need tarnishing with allegations of 
bullying and sexual abuse. I.e., people in that situation have a 
responsiblity not to let drink problems or behaviour problems get the 
better of them, and Appelbaum does not seem to have lived up to that 
responsibility.

My other, and much more important, point is that things like this shows 
that these social movements - of hackers, hackerspaces, free software, 
free culture, homeless people's rights, etc. - don't need rock stars.

If someone in such a movement behaves like a "rock star" and everyone 
around him thinks he can expect to be treated like a rock star, mistrust 
that person and mistrust that movement. Persons should not matter. Where 
people are inevitably important (think Lawrence Lessig or Richard 
Stallman), it should be possible to recognize their contributions 
without elevating them to stardom. The "rock stardom" may have been the 
very trap in which Appelbaum as well as his victims were caught up, and 
everybody colluding in that elevation bear some co-responsibility of 
their own for the situation.

Best
Carsten

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