[karajorma]

I don't know if any of you have been following the whole Oatmeal/Funny Junk/Charles Carreon saga but if you haven't, it's worth reading as yet another example of someone who supposedly works in an internet related field not having the faintest clue how it works.

The story starts here with a rather dubious shakedown attempt. Company A is annoyed someone who draws comics on the web and hires a lawyer. The lawyer sends a typical lawyer letter demanding money or a threat of court action. Instead of ignoring it however the webcomic artists decides to raise the exact same amount of money for charity instead.

Instead of realising that he'd picked the wrong target and slinking away when the charity drive hits its target in 11 hours (!), the lawyer decides to sue the webcomic artist AND the charities involved. Is there anyone reading this who thinks that publicly announcing that you're planning to sue the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society is going to win you sympathy?

Then the wife of the lawyer decided to get involved. In addition to instantly Godwinning the entire argument by calling everyone on the other side Nazis, she's also decided to point out that she's not scared of the internet after having taken on the whole of Buddhism when they had the gall to be insulted when she told all the practitioners of the religion to go **** themselves.

And then the lawyer decides to sue the California State Attorney General too.

This is rapidly evolving into one of the funniest cases of internet self destruction ever.

[TwentyPercentCooler]

If you're going to come off as a total jackass from the start, you might as well just go all out and troll the entire internet.

...that's the only explanation that comes to mind, anyway.

[Nuke]

NUKE THE LAWYERS!

[Thaeris]

NUKE THE LAWYERS!

I endorse sentiments against those who would use legality to suit their own selfish interests. You may commence firing...

[Beskargam]

the lawyer and his wife especially are tools. Still some of the pranks done by the supporters of oatmeal, while funny aren't called for.

[karajorma]

I tend to agree.

But the point isn't that they're out of order, it's that they're out of order in a way that was completely predictable. Anyone who knows anything about the internet should know better.

[deathfun]

I have been following this actually
It's just too hilarious

[NGTM-1R]

the lawyer and his wife especially are tools. Still some of the pranks done by the supporters of oatmeal, while funny aren't called for.

The definition of called-for changes somewhere to the East of Reddit. Anyone who knows what they're dealing in probably realizes it.

[karajorma]

Not that Inman is any stranger to over-the-top rhetoric (his initial response to Carreon included a crude image of a woman seducing a Kodiak bear). He initially tweeted "It's interesting to watch a man with his dick in a hornet's nest try to solve the problem by tossing his balls in as well."

Pretty much sums up why I find this issue so hilarious. I mean I loved the whole Paul Christoforo thing to bits but at least when he realised exactly who he was ****ing with (i.e large portions of the internet) he tried to apologise.

[Flipside]

I wonder if this lawyer is nearing retirement age, it seems to happen with surprising regularity to older lawyers that they start getting 'Judge Dredd' syndrome, where they start believing that simply saying something is or is not legal makes it so.

[karajorma]

You wouldn't by any chance have been thinking of Jack Thompson when you wrote that?

[Flipside]

Heh, he is a prime example of it, but far from the only one. Lawyers have two things in common with stars, firstly, they are full of hot gas, and secondly, occasionally one of the old ones goes supernova in a spectacularly hilarious fashion

[pecenipicek]

urgh. i honestly hope that guy gets permanently barred from working as a lawyer...

[watsisname]

And banned from the internet?

[MP-Ryan]

The fact that he's even able to file lawsuits like these is testament to how far off the rails the US litigation system has gone.  Regardless, this is not going to end well for the Carreon's.  The fact that they don't get that is just a testament to how bad it's going to be.

[Flipside]

In truth, malicious litigation has been a growing trend in the US for some considerable time. It's only when it is stuff like this that it really shines out how ridiculous it can get

[karajorma]

And now he's dropped all the lawsuits and declared himself the winner.

[Flipside]

He's even blatantly admitted it was more about popularity than any real legal claim, which kind of opens the door for counter-suing over malicious litigation