That’s the internet these days. It’s been going on for decades. Game developers got death threats over minor changes to video games and nothing happened to them. Is it that surprising that tactic has continued?

People can make fun of the company all they want. That’s fair game. They shouldn’t be calling the guy’s personal phone or harassing his family, that’s totally over the line.

But nothing happens. The behavior gets a pass so it continues to become more common. That passes for debate now.

And I can find relatives/friends on Facebook to harass. Doesn’t make it ok.

Just like the fact we have agreed upon rules against using chemical weapons or attacking civilians in war (which some violate), the fact something is possible doesn’t mean society should accept it.

If we don’t have even the basic civility of not getting death threats over whatever minor thing someone on the internet is mad at, even mixing us up with their real target sharing our name, what’s left?

Everything becomes full force win at all costs, no matter how stupid or trivial. Who wants to live like that?

To be clear, threatening people in person is against the law too.

Let's all say it together: just because you can doesn't mean you should

This all sounds great in the abstract. But reality is different due to the power differential. McNally is just one dude (albeit with a huge following). Lee is obviously a toxic jerk and his attacks and mockery of McNally triggered both McNally repeatedly proving the flaws in Proven's technology.

McNally obviously did the correct thing it seeking counsel and basically demolishing Proven's case in court. Too bad the SLAPP stuff doesn't work with DMCA takedowns.

And everyone else cheering on the sidelines (who isn't a paid shill of Proven's like the guy making the "liberal" comment)? Well giving Lee's company shit is fine IMHO. Call up the publicly available phone numbers, make service requests to flood his business etc. Fine with me. You poke the Internet bear, you get some claws.

As to the threats? If they actually occurred (which is questionable considering the BS Proven has been saying), then let the authorities know about them. That's not on McNally at all, it's more Lee being a jerk who doesn't know about the Streisand Effect, combined with social media companies that allow stuff like that to happen. It's also a good idea to not expose too much info about your personal life on social media that can be linked to your business, opsec ya know?

> the lock company owner amd his family. The guy is definitely a toxic bully, but he was indeed violently harrassed by filing a lawsuit

I think you're confusing who filed the lawsuit here. That was also the lock company owner as well (Lee/Proven).

While I agree that flash mob harassment from the Internet is a terrible dynamic, filing baseless lawsuits has been a longstanding way to predictably summon them. So if the table stakes of launching or defending these type of aggressive attacks have gone from a significant amount of money for attorneys, to a significant amount of money for attorneys plus public relations and/or having a large audience, does that really actually change much? Either way most people simply don't file lawsuits, even if they've been actually wronged, due to the extreme personal stress.

The straightforward way of diminishing mob justice is to make people believe the system provides justice. If we lived in a society where McNally would predictably win the lawsuit [0], and be predictably compensated for his expenses/time/emotionalDistress for being on the receiving end of this baseless SLAPP, then there would be much less mob outrage to begin with. As it stands, everyone can imagine themselves receiving these types of legal shakedown letters, but having much less power to push back.

[0] it sounds like this particular suit was slapped down pretty hard and "quick" by the standards of the legal system, but there are many similar cases that don't go this way

You’re getting downvoted which is unfortunate because I think you make a worthwhile point.

Emotionally I disagree with you. It feels like a bully is getting what a bully deserves. Logically, I think you are right though. Crowds just aren’t equipped to handle these situations. There are cases where the wisdom of the crowd is correct, but there are many more where it multiplies harms.

The underlying problem is that it never feels like justice is being served. Another comment mentions that there should be harsher punishment for false DMCAs. I don’t think the “wisdom of the crowd” approach is the best way to write those wrongs but I lament that modern justice has not been up to the task.

I’m going to border closely to blaming the “victim” here, but if the lawsuit had been filed without toxic, threatening, man-baby social media posts, we wouldn’t be hearing about it. Harassed because he filed a lawsuit? C’mon, there’s a lot more to it than that. When one goes swinging their dick around on Twitter in an attempt to garner support (from one’s equally toxic fans, I presume), one will also likely attract equally toxic folks who disagree. Talk enough shit, and you’ll eventually get a punch to the face. Right or wrong, such is the world long before social media.