what was the word?

don't be angry

Is that a threat Elie? It kind of seems like a dare.

Without the comments, this site is worthless. Blow in one commenter and you lose them all. That's why it won't happen.

Dear 5: hahahahahahahaha. "Without the comments..." Priceless.

Why are white people so vulgar?

CHECK YOU VULGAR COMMENTS

This post will spur the most vulgar comments of them all. Let the contest begin ...

ATL was the first thing I thought of when I read the story yesterday. The offensive comment was very PG in the grand scheme of bad things you can say on a blog. A newspaper reporter should have a little bit more respect for the principles of free speech, which while not guaranteed in this instance, still has an important place

Where's the Star Wars reference Ellie?

- Dissapointed

Where's the Star Wars reference Ellie?

- Disappointed

This can only end in the return of the buttcheeks poster

Commenter baiting is way better than your usual race baiting. Good work Elie.

Elie, your lawyer's take on this was much better:

http://randazza.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/kurt-greenbaum-disgrace-douche-pussy/

Where's the Star Wars reference Ellie?

- Disappointed

Where's the Star Wars reference Ellie?

- Disappointed

I've often wondered how the worst, most cowardly commenters (presumably associates) could sit at work, commenting from their employer's computers and not worry about this. I realize that it's probably hard to trace/prove, but for people in such a risk-averse, CYA profession, it strikes me as odd...and sad.

2: I'll give you phonetic a hint when I see you next Tuesday.

2: I'll give you a phonetic hint when I see you next Tuesday.

meep

Elie,

Why don't you delete the IP logs?

Nice cartoon. Nice comeback on the commenters, Elie.

Hey Elie-
"Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society."
-Justice Stevens in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission

Mitch: I've had a hell of a day and even worse week. And all I want to do is get some fucking sleep.

Beanie: Whoa. Whoa. Why the F-ing? Why in front of the kid? All ya gotta do is say "earmuffs" to him, and you can say "Fuck, shit, bitch."

Frank: Cock. Balls.

Beanie: I'm just trying to make a point, Frank. You don't have to celebrate it.

Meep you! You meeping meep!

Elie, please tell us which shticks are your top 3 favorites and bottom 3 least favorites.

5/7: 5 is actually right, less so from a usefulness of the site perspective, but from an advertising dollars / economic viability of the site perspective.

A site trying to make ad dollars is only as good as its community and the number of clicks it gets. If ATL didn't have a larger commenter base, that would mean people would only be clicking maybe 4-5 times per day to read a few articles. On the other hand, comments produce lots of following up, rechecking the board for replies, etc. It drives a lot of the repeat traffic and ad views.

So, if ATL starting narcing people out for short of anything but a legitimate threat on someone's life, it would immediately lose credibility, most of its commenters, and thus, most of its advertising monies.

Also, it would be kind of hard for ATL to be soliciting tips from people in law firms if it had a reputation for outing commenters -- no one would trust it to keep peoples' names quiet, and thus, tips would dry up, cutting ATL off from a lot the news it reports on.

Meep

meep

Holy shit. He went after a guy who said the craziest thing he ever ate was pussy? Look out Carrie. There is another martyr of heterosexuality on the scene. And just playin the odds, he has to be smarter than you.

CHECK YOU SPREAD BUTTCHEEKS

18. Did I understand you correctly? It strikes you as sad that more people don't feel chilled from speaking their minds for fear of being outed and fired?

Felonious
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge

every so often, Elie posts stories such as this as a veiled threat to his throngs of detractors. Elie, you see, is a very sensitive type, sensitive to the fact that he is not very bright nor is he very grammatically gifted.

I wonder what Lat's take on this is.

Notice the delay in vulgarity as commenters try to figure out whether their initial spurt of panic is justified. Don't worry, I'm sure ATL won't rat you out.

Pussy.

skadden matched cravath bonus levels for 2005 and 2007

I was giving Kash a Cleveland Steamer last night when she told me that Elie has banned Lat's IP address.

33: Not 18, but he seems to be suggesting that it's stupid to post on ATL from work, because firms log Internet usage, and it would be extremely easy to find out who posted something inflammatory about the firm on the ATL boards.

Ex, someone says "I'm a WilmerHale employee and the firm is doing X and Y wrong." If the comments got to the level of releasing quasi-confidential information or were sufficiently problematic, the firm's IT people could just scan the logs to see who from a firm computer was posting to ATL at the time that the comment was made.

In other words, if you're going to trash your firm, probably a good idea to do it when you're at home, not while you're at work.

Post on his flickr account freely.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kgreenbaum/2852790661/

I wonder if this is Elie's way of saying: "Prepare for the Survivor: ATL, the End of the Schtick."

35: Glass houses, stones, and all of Strunk and White and edit your comment.

Lat----Kindly fire this loser as he has compromised the integrity of the site you worked so hard to build with his babyish thinly veiled threats to out commenters. You know, those of us who over the years have provided you with tips that have added the content to your site which compelled page hit after page hit.

Do something about this Lat, before we move on to another site who doesn't hire people like this guy.

Bitch spread dem buttcheeks so I can smell the juicy asslobsters!

35-
See my post at 24. It is cute that he may make threats but guess what Elie, you actually have no action against us. SCOTUS protects the idea of annonymous speech and there are protections for free speech (guess they do not teach the First Amendment at Harvard). Unless someone is activly making a threat (an immediate threat, which would be really hard to do on the internet since you are not in the actual area.) This is a legal site Elie, while most people here are not lawyers (or law students) some of us are. Learn the law before you say something stupid.

"Property ownership is totally overrated."

Um, yeah... Tell that to the Native Americans.

I wonder if this is Elie's way of saying: "Prepare for the Survivor: ATL, the End of the Schtick."

35: Glass houses, stones, and all of that. Go grab your Strunk and White and edit your comment.

34 - pretty sure from the article it was an unpleasant 4-letter word for "vagina." Not that the word "vagina" is itself very pleasant.

I wonder if this is Elie's way of saying: "Prepare for the Survivor: ATL, the End of the Schtick."

35: Glass houses, stones, and all of that. Go grab your Strunk and White and edit your comment.

oh please. paranoid much? Why woudl ATL bother to try and embarrass people into resigning? it would only hurt them. I think some of the people getting testy about "free speech" are just wondering whether any of the stupid stuff they've written over the years could ever get back to them. There is zero chance this site would out anyone-- have you actually read some of the more offensive comments? If they didn't act on those, they're not going to come over to your house and shame you for your lobster comments. Relax.

45 - speaking of saying something stupid. ATL owns its IP logs and can report offensive comments to employers at its discretion. Pretty sure nobody is suggesting that Elie has an actual legal cause of action.

Greenbaum is, imho, a d-bag and a pussy but he was free to do what he did. Just like Elie would be. Unless of course his promise not to would raise a section 90 claim...

48: No, it was the five letter word, synonym for cat.

It was "pussy".

a BIG boy

..

please don't call and have me fired elie

i think you've been very funny today

also i think i saw you riding the 1 line two weeks ago downtown somewhere between like 103 and times square but maybe it wasn't you

45 needs to re-take Con Law. Hint: private actors.

I can't believe a journalist called a school and got a guy 'resigned' for something like this. WTF?

Talk about a p-word.

Also, never piss off/ challenge an IT guy.

The IT guys at my firm are pussies. There I said it.

44 has a strong lead, so far.

45 - wow, did you pay attention in Con Law?

I am pissing on the pant leg of our IT right now, and he is just taking it because he is a pussy.

Seriously, Elie, could you rank your view of the schticks? I need the attention, and Kash seems to pay me none.

I would be so fired right now...

Bored now.

63 isn't that Pedro Bear?

Kashmir Hill is pretty cute. (Hint: Kash, now that you have my IP address, you know how to get in touch; I look forward to hearing from/sexing you).

Mormon Muslims = TTT

Welcome to the Internet: Say anything you want!!!!
The world is flat, and if you sail off the edge, a giant dragon will eat you.

68

You dont need the internet to say that. Thomas Freedman did so in print form

I have enjoyed this site for years but the sick and nasty comments have appalled me and done collateral damage, if you will, to my use and enjoyment of the site.

I understand that it is costly to vet comments but I wonder if you lose readers, like me, by letting anonymous trash-talkers befoul the site.

@70 - comments are hidden for your protection.

Not nearly enough attention is being paid to 45's self-pwnage.

70-
WAHHHHHH. cry baby

14 Wins. I think Elie just trolls the other sites for ideas the cites the original source. Although I shouldn't complain, that got me through law school writing requirements.

Elie is a big ass boy

74, isn't that what all bloggers do? We're not talking about investigative journalists here.

45/60--

Negative, 45 did not pay attention in Con Law. By reporting a commenter, Elie would not be violating free speech, because:

(1) The First Amendment applies to the government, not individuals or private entities. ATL is not an agent of the government. Amateur mistake--same one Prejean and Palin made.

(2) The commenter section of this blog is ATL's, not a public forum. Elie can restrict or report whomever he wants.

Say it with me now..."CONGRESS shall make no law"...

This guy probably quit because he did this while at work, when he was supposed to be working. If he had done it from home on his own time and his boss was alerted, it probably would have been a non-issue.

18, 33,40 - most of the posters have been law students since Elie was hired so there is no fear of employer reprisal, especially when they pretend to be "in the know." You can tell by the noticable drop off in the quality of posts and increase in trolling.

77, wasn't the First Amendment incorporated to ass boys through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

42 is dead on. Elie's post was a rant about how he is bigger than all of the commenters but if he really wanted to he could out them but he won't because he doesn't care and none of you are as important as him.

So childish Elie not to mention wrong. Without commenters this site would never have emerged to where it is today. It was born out of the salary wars and fueled by anonymous comments and tips. It is just a more developed greedy associates board. Get off your high horse Elie. It is obvious that criticism does bother you.

I agree with 70. A lot of the comments are garbage. I wish ATL could set up a function where comments including offensive keywords could be filtered for those who chose to do so. Then I wouldn't have to sift through the trash for the few useful and/or interesting comments. Or maybe it's time to give up on ATL and make a permanent move to WSJ Law Blog. Hmm...

CHECK YOU PUSSIES

McIntyre doesn't protect your right to anonymous speech anywhere. It forbids the government from demanding that an anonymous speaker reveal himself.

Does ATL have a policy that would prohibit its owners and staff from outing people (and that would on fact bind them to protect anonymity in exchange for comments)?

Or are commenters really at the mercy of Mystal and whether or not he "cares" or is "angered."

Further, is it true, as suggested by a commenter above, that ATL retains IP addresses rather than delete them?

How about some transparency for your readers, Mr. Lat?

@45

You're sound to be a particularly douchey fucktard which I can only assume is the result of having gotten sand in your pussy in a misdirected attempt to see if you were missing out the ass lobster phenomena so often referenced on ATL. Hint: don’t use live lobsters next time.

Hope you manage to amble through the rest of your day without inadvertently inserting you cock in a pencil sharpener. Oh yeah, and you're a hermaphrodite.

Checking my motives,

HH

So what about all the commenters here that aren't employed (e.g. PE, Jake, Roxanna) and/or do not rely on work computers and connections to say vulgar things? Or for that matter, work at places that wouldn't care if an employee were vulgar (e.g. Fox News, brothel, WWF). Overall post fail.

We need another EIC contest Lat.

I think Elie should start investigating IP address posters. That way, law firms will have yet another reason to fire unproductive associates who post bullshit on ATL.

--Laid off first-year associate

Lat,

Is it true that Above the Law saves logs of commenters' IP addresses? If you are concerned about anonymity, why don't you delete them?

No shit, 78. You telling me you never surf the net when you should be working?

Good article, Elie. This St. Louis blogger seems like a HUGE asshole.

Bottom line message:

If Elie did care about what you submit, he could and might get you fired.

Exactly right 93. I am not drunk with power, but if I were, I could get you fired. Look at me, I am important Elie.

So clearly the main issue is the reporter tattling on the commenter, but the original article does say the commenter resigned -- what if it wasn't at all a coerced resignation, but rather something like, "is the 'headmaster' seriously confronting me about a blog comment? F this, I quit." The reporter was silly and petty in his actions, but the school management was just as bad in its complicity with this obvious privacy violation.

95: Given the economy, that's a pretty generous guess as to what happened. Odds are, it was more like, you resign voluntarily or we make a big spectacle out of this, investigate what you've been up to further, embarrass you at a public hearing, and then fire you.

They forced him to take his OWN JERB!

88 FTW

"It is cute that he may make threats but guess what Elie, you actually have no action against us. SCOTUS protects the idea of annonymous speech and there are protections for free speech (guess they do not teach the First Amendment at Harvard)."

That's right 45, because Elie was threatening to sue commenters. Congrats. for getting to the heart of the matter.

What no posts on TilaTequila's naked meth rant on ustream!! Get on it. Yet again ATL is scooped by TMZ, Perez Hilton. She's asian, dates a black guy and is a lesbian that should satisfy ATL qualifications for a post.

To all posters a piece of advice: get rich. This is the only way be afford saying what you think and not fear getting fired.

Getting rich. The cause of and the solution to all of our problems.

AFLAC

Reddit community caught wind of this, and they're not okay with it:

http://imgur.com/ELhGP

Nice 104. I hope this guy is crapping his pants that he might lose his job. It really was a pretty low thing to do over what was clearly just a joke. Not even a particularly vulgar one I might add. I could see if the guy said something that would create a safety concern for school children but this clearly was not the case. I used to hear worse in gym class.

The serious point is that the computer the guy posted from is his work computer. He probably had to sign a sheet of paper at some point suggesting that he was aware of his employer's acceptable use policy, and it probably says no using dirty words on the internet.

We should all be careful about work computers, and that's the way our employers want it.

But since I'm anonymous, and I like to pretend that every day is like a day in law school, let's play policy. As a normative matter, do we want our newspapers to report our occasionally dyspeptic comments back to our corporate masters? If a web site allows one to post as "guest" is there not some expectation that, at the very least, they'll give the commenter a warning before revealing their identity?

Personally, I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with the notion that just because I'm at work I've lost every expectation of privacy vis-a-vis my employer. Yes, I understand that's the general rule, but is it a good rule?

Oh well, now that I've let my dudgeon fly, it occurs to me that in the spirit of ATL, I ought to employ a vulgarity myself. Sensitive souls are hereby advised to stop reading.

Mary!

Oh please, dear? For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.

Walter Sobchak

And 45 needs to go hit the books again. Private actors, indeed, as noted above.

91% of the respondents to the Legal Satyricon blog thing Kurt Greenbaum is more of a douche than the "pussy" commenter. I agree. What an asswipe deluxe.

91% of the respondents to the Legal Satyricon blog thing Kurt Greenbaum is more of a douche than the "pussy" commenter. I agree. What an asswipe deluxe.

When I post potentially controversial things, I NEVER EVER EVER post them from work. I do them on an open wifi from my laptop- good luck calling up Starbucks tomorrow to see what the tat'd barista thinks about who could've left that annoying post.

Also, this reporter is the world's largest douche.

Lastly: Elie, you (and the reporter) seem to have overlooked that the guy may have just posted twice because, like lots of people, he didn't see him comment right away and assumed it was a do-over.

110 - Isn't your IP address unique to your computer, not to your connection?

(and what is "tat'd")

@111 - No, not at all. You're thinking of a MAC address, and even that is easily spoofed.

Some IP addresses are used by many, e.g., the entire country of Qatar has one IP address.

www.kurtgreenbaum.com

Elie,

Don't get too excited, but at the end of the day, all of us don't completely hate you. Sometimes we even like you. Thank you for not turning us in...

Elie (you fat fuck)

So if commenters bother you enough, you will contact their employers, inform what they commented on, and help identify them so they get fired? Your are as stupid as you are fat. Don't you realize you are alienating all your readers!?!?! You are such a fucking idiot. If it wasn't because of affirmative action you would be some unemployed losser... Oh wait.... No offense.

the weirdest thing Kurt ever ate was some dude's balls.

oh boy, i hope no one calls up my employer....

bottom line: Kurt Greenbaum is a douche.

NO KURT YOU ARE THE DEMONS.

I reread this. It's actually a pretty good post by Elie. I think I took him the wrong way at first.

Elie is on FIRE this week!

CHECK YOU PROXY SERVER

-PROXY SERVER SECURE

guys in my high school would make vulgar comments all the time, which were subsequently sent to their employers, it really was no big deal.

Kurt is a big sloppy smelly juicy unclean turd.

What... I don't want to get fired for calling that cunt a pussy.

I will never understand the commenters who go out of their way to read the comments just so they can then post about how the comments disgust them and then threaten to stop reading the blog because of it. Why don't you just stop reading the comments?

CHECK YOU IP ADDRESS, MEEPER

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=151583

http://www.maskmyip.com/

http://www.sharewareconnection.com/titles/mask-ip-address.htm

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/mask_ip_address_software/

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/macproxy.html

@5, stop kidding yourself. The few literates who still bother to check this site skip the comments; nobody wants a glimpse into the minds of the angry, emotionally troubled, sexually dysfunctional mouthbreathers currently making their way through the ranks of the nation's firms and law schools.

Dear David,

That you allow this person to man the comment section, with his overt threats to its inhabitants who merely call him out for what he is, a stupid person who focuses on black issues (which likely comprise about 3% of your readrship) and evidently cannot take any criticism, compels me to stop viewing your site.

Your site formerly worked. That you haven't the gumption to can this fuck tells me you have zero management skills.

I've read this blog for years, contributed to it, sent in tips, but I am through with it. Best,

Actually Elie, I do like you sometimes. Two days ago i thought your berkley post was really funny. It is just your veiled threat to your loyal readers was bull shit. You should acknowledge that fact and then we can all move on.

What's more likely to get you fired these days: calling someone a nigger, or calling someone a cunt? Thanks. Not sure which one I shouldn't call my boss.

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