That will last until Sam gives up and drops them all when he moves on to whatever he’s doing next. They may be dogmatic about it but it’s only because they think they have cards to play.
To me it's the 100% committed 'vibe' they're giving off. It's weird. It's not how staff, especially technical/researchers (who usually bicker like anything over the most trivial of differences) behave.
Anyone who's managed a big research team knows that competing rivalries and internecine warfare is the order of the day. Literal slapfights have broken out over whether big or little endian encoding will be more efficient for any given scenario, for example.
Oh yeah I think Sam is sleazier than most people seem to think. I also don’t think he’s in the right because the board has been quiet. The whole thing is insular and one sided. Everything they’re doing/saying is to try and control the board. That is off-putting because it’s detrimental to the board’s intent. I’m sure they’re all very nice people and hard workers.
I don't know enough about Sam or the board at all, so curious as to reasons why he might be sleazy/sneaky.
The board being quiet, in my opinion, is not doing them any favors!
The board being quiet is adult behaviour. Release a discreet and generic press release then direct all further enquiries to the lawyers. That's how things should be done.
The frenzy of reporting and contradictory articles and froth and spin that's coming from the other side makes them look deranged, IMHO. It's incredibly childish and just makes it look like they have tentacles everywhere that they can drag these weird articles out of so many different outlets. It's not a good look unless you're really trying to look like HYDRA.