11 hours ago
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Randy Holloway, Ed Shaz/NextInstinct, Aaron Krug and 7 other people liked this
"you have employees out there who are attacking bloggers without consequences" - link(s)? - Dave Hodson
Dave: I'm not linking to them. That just gives them more attention, which is a reward for their behavior. - Robert Scoble
Dave: and if you can't figure out who I'm talking about you need to read a few more tech bloggers. :-) - Robert Scoble
like the post (...you're kinda feisty today) - Stanley Stevens
scoble - I have a few ideas. thinking i can ping a few internal people if it will help - Dave Hodson
Would you like some cheese with your whine? ;) Seriously, I read Dare's post before Michael posted and I don't see what the big deal is. If Techcrunch wouldn't have blown it out of proportion nobody would have noticed. What would Monday be like without a little MSFT drama though... right? - Eric Schoonover
Robert, interesting post, but it's like you think that the conference will now be canceled because you aren't going. I love your work and you do a great job, but come back down to earth. - Eric Newman
Dare's got a disclaimer on his blog: "The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way." So why Arrington thinks Microsoft is out to get him, I don't know. Arrington wrote, in the first sentence of today's article, that Dare was "a Microsoft employee and the son of a former President of Nigeria." So Dare is also officially speaking for Nigeria as well? Why you suck up to Arrington after he told you to go to hell yesterday is beyond me. - Karim
The bit Arrington deleted from his own rant about Microsoft using "their own employees as attack dogs to silent [sic] dissent" is borderline paranoid delusional. He'll be seeing black helicopters with the Windows logo next. As for the FuckedCompany joke: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007... - Karim
Still, you gotta admit, "OH NOES, TEH NIGERIANS ARE TRYING TO SILENCE ME" is pretty good linkbait. - Karim
Dear Robert,
If you have a problem with particular Microsoft employee that might have said something personal about particular blogger, that's fine. Take it with that guy; do not try to slander close to 100K person by insinuating that there are company-approved attacks on bloggers. Unless you have proof, this sounds too much like FUD or link-baiting.
Do you think your reaction would be the same if that person was affiliated with any other organization? Say, would you refuse to go to any conferences in Europe just because an EU citisen might have said something bad about bloggers? - Franci Penov
for those who don't know the whole story, a good summary is here: http://www.winextra.com/2008/1... it's such a stupid argument and Arrington overreacts so badly that you *almost* want to think he's melting down in order to drive traffic to his site. i'm not sure he's that smart though. - Karim
Karim, glad I'm not the only one who picked up on Arrington's sleazy reference to Dare's Nigerian heritage in his lurid blog post. Let his Twitter diatribe, recounted by Steve Hodson, and Scoble's post put the final nail in the coffin of the "Are Bloggers Journalists?" debate. They are not. - Sprague D
Lets get real here for a minute if anyone was doing any attacking here - especially last night on Twitter it was Michael and the *complete* conversation (if you can call it that with Michael calling a blogger a jerk and a moron) can be seen here http://www.winextra.com/2008/1... .. So robert I'd maybe check and see who said what as you are prone to tell other what to do - Steven Hodson
Robert I cannot believe you got involved with this. Seriously, this is a clear sign that Arrington is degenerating into a childish brat. Dare had something to say and Michael couldn't maintain professionalism even though that was what he was demanding of Dare. He's an immature hypocrite and while associating yourself with this might have been good for your short term pageviews in the long run you lose respect, then no one cares what you have to say anymore. - Aaron Krug
Robert, this is unbelievably passive-aggressive. No evidence, no love, no links. Really disappointing. Either be clear or maybe better to refrain? - Dennis E. Hamilton
via twhirl
actually, Steven, for the *complete* conversation you should include the part on FF where Scoble was sticking up for Arrington, and Arrington -- lashing out at his *supporter* -- told Scoble to go to hell too. :-) Just, you know, to make it clear who was losing their shit. lol - Karim
Good summary of the night, Steven. - Jordan Hofker
@Karim, you got a link to that? - Aaron Krug
@Karim ya I'd like that link if possible as well to add to the post - Steven Hodson
I'll buy the part about spending more time with the family. The rest will happen (and continue to happen) whether it's Microsoft or anyone else, especially as the lines continue to get thinner between original style journalists and bloggers. Family should be No. 1! As far as the Twitter exchange, in the larger picture, I doubt anyone really cares. If they do, they'll soon forget. Kudos to Steven for the refresh .... for those of us that were doing quality family time this weekend :) - Charlie Anzman
It also might be a good idea for ALL tech show organizers to reevaluate entry pricing during this period. Passed on two last week. No regrets at all. - Charlie Anzman
The impression I get about this bust up between mike and dare is that it's localalized. Msft havebeen pretty food on the blogging front lately. And Robert, the credit crunch bad got you into a negative mood. Can't say I blame you either. - Roberto Bonini
just look at http://twitter.com/Scobleizer and http://twitter.com/TechCrunch. Robert tweets a couple of times about how Dare *is* representing Microsoft, "no matter what the disclaimer." (there are some FF comments associated with those tweets.) Then Arrington tweets to Scoble, "Yeah you can go to hell too." Scoble replies it's funny because he was taking Arrington's side, and follows up with "I like Mike even when he attacks me." ??? - Karim
Steven, your story also might ask why Arrington found it necessary to tell everyone that Dare is the son of the ex-President of Nigeria, and include the nasty comments on Dare's blog from the sock puppets "Lou Rawls" and "yogorilla" as example of the quality Arrington's supporters bring to the debate. - Karim
see also the techcrunch link above where Arrington himself joked that TC had acquired FuckedCompany.com. Apparently when he's making the joke it's funny. When Dare makes the joke it's OH NOES MICROSOFT IS TRYING TO SILENCE BLOGGERS!!! - Karim
I admit I don't have Scoble's cojones to write a blog like this: "I decided to cancel my FastCompany subscription, as some of their employees are supporting political attacks on bloggers." - Franci Penov
how about "I decided to cancel my vacation to Nigeria, as some of the sons of their ex-presidents 'dare' to attack Arrington without consequence." [shakes fist in direction of Nigeria] - Karim
I work for Microsoft. And I'm happy to say that Mike Arrington is wrong here. Dead wrong. That's my opinion as an individual and I'm allowed to have it. And I'd bet anything that deep down, Scoble knows I'm right. Anyway, happy time off from the PDC Robert. If the news is interesting, you'll pick it up elsewhere. - Randy Holloway
via twhirl
Randy: you're wrong. Microsoft's blogging policy is "don't be stupid." It's stupid to argue with the press. It's even stupider to try to claim "I'm not representing Microsoft" when online. Especially when you start a post with "I work for Microsoft." - Robert Scoble
Heh, you didn't have to say who it was, the comments are more than enough to find the attacks. - xero
Robert, respectfully, "It's stupid to argue with the press?" first, Arrington is *press?* The guy who says "fuck you" to Wired (http://twitter.com/TechCrunch/...), "you're a moron" to people who politely disagree with him (http://twitter.com/TechCrunch/...) and "go to hell" to his friends (http://twitter.com/TechCrunch/...), this is the respected *press* we're talking about? - Karim
second, are you saying, on their *personal* blogs, Microsoft employees can't disagree with or challenge anything in the press, just because "it's stupid to argue with the press?" that just seems to make no sense, so I hope I'm misunderstanding you. - Karim
Robert- it isn't stupid to have an opinion. What is stupid is for people like me to fear Mike Arrington. I have no fear of Arrington and I won't act like I do. As for Microsoft, you and I both know that the company has a professional relationship with Mike and he has full access to PR teams and executives. Why doesn't he call one of them if he's so unhappy? - Randy Holloway
via twhirl
Wow. Is it possible to disagree with all three parties in this dispute now? Amazing! - Michael Hart
Karim: I didn't say it was "respected press," just press. TechCrunch is reprinted by Washington Post online. - Robert Scoble
Does getting your words in the Washington Post make you "the press?" Because if so then hand me my press card. I don't want to dredge up the whole blog v. journalism thing for the millionth time, but the main point of the "fuck you" Wired article was that it seemed irresponsible for the Post to reprint blog posts of someone who invests in the companies he writes about. That sort of thing costs *real* journalists their jobs. - Karim
Any response to the second point? It just seems like you're saying Microsoft employees, in their personal blogs, shouldn't dispute anything anywhere in the press. I hope I have misunderstood you. - Karim
Karim: the press includes a wide range of people from those who do really important reporting to columnists who bloviate and tell you what they think. Yeah, you're right, I went too far with my point. Read my latest post where I talk about Frank Shaw's post (he's Microsoft's PR guy). - Robert Scoble
