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Comment by just2n | Hacker News Reader

Even the author of this article recognizes, and confirms, that it was a hypothetical.

It's completely defensible. Would you rather people go to jail for painting hypotheticals of crimes? Perhaps we should send everyone who's ever written a violent novel to jail? Thoughtcrimes are real, now. People can never be frustrated.

Further, why does this article repeat over and over that this wasn't "off the record" going to every length to try to justify publishing it? If there was no confusion about it being "off the record", there's no need to mention any of it. And it still doesn't matter.

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> It's completely defensible. Would you rather people go to jail for painting hypotheticals of crimes? Perhaps we should send everyone who's ever written a violent novel to jail? Thoughtcrimes are real, now. People can never be frustrated.

I haven't read anything suggesting that people should go to jail. I know I'm unlikely to use a taxi service that contemplates blackmailing or retaliating against me using private information if they decide that I'm too annoying, though, even if they decide not to do it. I'm kind of surprised other people feel differently, TBH.

> Further, why does this article repeat over and over that this wasn't "off the record" going to every length to try to justify publishing it?

So that the reporter's future sources will feel comfortable giving explicitly "off the record" information with the expectation that it will stay confidential. It has literally nothing to do with the accuracy of this story one way or the other.

"That's a nice car/set of teeth/daughter you are having there. It would be a shame if something happened to it."

The gap between a funny hypothetical and a veiled threat is small, but it does exist. This, to me, comes over as a veiled threat. As such, it wouldn't completely surprise me if this would lead to a criminal prosecution and possibly to a small conviction in court. It certainly feels more real than the typical "I have a bomb" joke at an airport that gets people in trouble.

When you're in a public place: do not say that you're rich and could fund a secret team of researchers to trash the reputation of journalists who write negative pieces about you.

Feel free to say that in your boardroom.

But if you say it in front of journalists don't then be surprised if journalists then report it.

Of course they carefully report the off-the-record status of the meeting, otherwise (as has already happened) you get people saying "what about ethics?" Establishing the nature of the meeting in advance closes those threads quickly.

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