The father of Microsoft's Bill Gates died on Monday. Normally I wouldn't wish ill on anyone, but for 2 reasons, I'm happy the man is no longer around:
He has done enough harm already, simply by raising his son and unleashing him upon the world.
He founded/owned the law firm Hasbro attacked me with in 2006.
How I came under fire
In the mid '00s, the internet was becoming more ubiquitous in daily life, and Wizards of the Coast (the makers of the Magic: the Gathering collectible card game) were expanding their online presence. Instead of having the unregulated online community discussing upcoming cards and sets, as had been going on for years, Wizards wanted control over the narrative.
I had become known as someone who could spot bullshit a mile away, and when someone had a rumour/leak about cards from an upcoming set, it would be me who was able to determine if it was legitimate or not. I rose to moderator and then administrator of a large and influential forum called MTGNews (and later, MTGSalvation).
Hasbro (the owner of Wizards) decided to sue me in order to discover the identity of someone who had leaked some cards through me on the forum. I can't talk about all the details of what happened, but the Wiki entry on it is somewhat accurate, if you're interested.
Lawsuit out of the blue
It was a document from "Preston Gates & Ellis" that started the whole thing off. They are known as a ruthless and effective team of lawyers, usually hired by rich corporations. I was blindsided, and had no idea I had been stepping on anyone's toes. General consensus was that discussing rumours of upcoming releases drove interest - and sales. If they had asked and explained themselves, I would have reconsidered my posting. Instead, they leveraged all their might against me, and it nearly destroyed me and my little family at-the-time, in order to get me to rat on the original source of the rumour.
Afterward, I made an official statement here. (Wow, was that already 14 years ago?!)
While Bill Gates Sr HIMSELF wasn't on my case, now you understand why I have one extra reason to say "good riddance" today.
DRutter
Shall we celebrate?
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Too bad he got to pass down his genetics. You know, all those lovely traits that make them far superior and worthy of committing mass genocide. Nasty, conniving little shits, with slightly higher measure of left-brain intelligence. How do they think their genetics are worthy or that the world is could function based on their traits...they're so greedy and neurotic, they'd be killing themselves off if they were the last family on the planet.
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