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A Hacker 'Hero' Has Been Banned From Cyber Conferences After Decades Of Inappropriate Behavior (buzzfeed.com)
Several readers share a report: John Draper, a prankster hero to an early generation of hackers, used his status at cybersecurity conferences to arrange private meetings with teenage fans and a reporter where he touched them inappropriately, multiple men have told BuzzFeed News. The allegations are the latest in what has become in recent weeks an explosion of sexual misconduct reports that have roiled a seemingly endless list of industries, from Hollywood to the news media to the Alabama Senate race. As in many of those other cases, Draper's actions were well known to at least a core of people who had regular contact with him. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak told BuzzFeed News that Steve Jobs once told him that Draper, an early associate, once asked Jobs to sit on Draper's back in the 1970s, an offer Wozniak said Jobs declined as being "out of the ordinary." But in the hacking world, where unusual behavior is accepted and often celebrated, there were few official steps taken to prevent Draper's overtures to unsuspecting fans. Volunteers who worked the annual DEF CON hacking conventions in Las Vegas recalled that one of their responsibilities was to separate Draper from his teenage followers. Draper's behavior drew attention at other conventions as well, where he was a frequent presence. Brandon Creighton, a long-standing volunteer at hacker conferences who was familiar with rumors about Draper, recalled escorting him from a private party after ToorCon in San Diego in 2007, though exactly why was not clear.
Some people still don't get it...
The problem is - when the person "asking" is in a position of authority, the person being asked doesn't always "feel free to say 'no'". And often the person "asking" uses their position to imply there will be negative repercussions if the other person does say no, or (as appears to be the case with Roy Moore) to use their position to bully the other person into silence.
#DeleteChrome
Flirting, making passes, and asking permission - when the askee is free to say 'no' - isn't criminal. Even if it's kinky.
The summary and TFA make it clear these actions were directed toward teenagers and that he would offer to take them somewhere private for "'energy' exercises or stretches."
It's not a witch hunt if event organizers for years have been trying to prevent unsuspecting people from falling into his traps.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
What kind of authority is he supposedly having? He's no teacher, he's no scout troop leader, he has no way of handing out any kind of repercussions whatsoever, what the hell are you talking about?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Jesus Christ you dumb fuck, are you so embittered about your tiny penis and lack of social skills that everything has to be about feminists?
This is a man in his 70s, who made a routine habit of making inappropriate advances to underage teenage boys and the like.
This has nothing to do with feminism, and it has everything to do with an old man who was using his waning piece of celebrity to make inappropriate advances and generally be a creepy old man.
But go ahead, demonstrate how much of a butt-hurt dejected bitter loser you are by making this about feminists. Maybe because you're sad that the creepy old guy never stuck his fingers in your ass? Or maybe you're feeling guilty because he did?
You fucking people who go on an on whining about feminists and SJWs ... you're assholes, plain and simple. And what you're defending is the right to be an asshole. In real life, if you go around talking like that someone is going to break your jaw for you.
Your right to be an asshole isn't something to celebrate.
So, in other words, a person should not be able to try to hook up or date anyone below their "strata"?
That sound suspiciously like the caste system and we see how well that works out in place like India, eh?
Look...real aggression is one thing, rape is rape, etc....but geez, the definition of this is going down to ridiculously low levels.
As a guy, we all (mostly) know that hooking up with a lady is a numbers game. You flirt with and make passes, whatever you want to call it, with as many attractive women as you can, and out of that, you'll get hits.
You get rejections too....but hell, is it now that any girl you hit on and get rejected, means this was an "unwanted sexual assault" on her???
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Hey dumbshit. Sexual assault, sexual abuse, rape, and sexual misconduct in the workplace are not partisan issues. Get that? Your straw man about banning males from positions of authority is retarded. You clearly do not understand the dynamics that play themselves out in abuse situations. You are the classic asshole that blames the victim -- "can't place all of the blame on the perpetrator"?? Seriously, what the fuck dude? Rapists rape. Abusers abuse. Do you think people choose to be victims of rape and abuse? Do you think they choose to place themselves in a "victim mindset"? When your daughter is assaulted, will you blame her? Seriously think about that. She was askin' for it, right?
You sir, are a fucking asshole, and obviously part of the problem. You can politicize anything. You can make robbing an old woman a political talking point -- the old bag shouldn't have been there in the first place, right? She should have been home baking cookies, right?
This type of constant and complete divisiveness will be the downfall of the US.
"...these people." Go fuck yourself.
Beware of the Leopard.
If you're at a hacker convention that is not the appropriate time to hit on a women (or a man). That's why the good Lord made singles bars. You're professional environment is not a dating site. How hard is that to understand?
There is literally no right or wrong time to meet a significant other. In fact, a convention where people of similar interest gather, is probably a time when you'll meet people, exchange with them, and form bonds. Some of the those bonds could lead to friendships and more. Dating and meeting people is not an activity in and of itself. It happens organically during social activities of all sorts, of which your job, schooling, shopping are all a part of. To try and paint any non-professional bonds that happen in professional settings as wrong is simply to ignore human nature.
That being said, harassment and assault should not be tolerated. But you're saying that flirting, or simply having a nice chat with someone you feel you're connecting with should be banned, which is downright ludicrous.
"Not to mention all the idiots who use words like boxen."
Anonymous Coward on Monday August 04, @06:49PM
They're trying top broaden the definition of power. Same with some of the Louis CK. Because people "look up" to you or even if you're popular/famous/powerful in your field doesn't mean people don't have the choice to say no, or report your behavior. It's a way to absolve people of their responsibilities. And yes, sometimes victims do have responsibilities. If you enable your perpetrator to continue to hurt other people by keeping quiet, especially for money, you are wrong and don't get the "but, but, but... victim blaming!!! Muh victims!!!" card. This halo of sainthood and complete lack of responsibility we seem to be bestowing upon the Sacred Victim is getting way out of hand.
"get the word out"? If you have documented cases of child abuse why didn't you go to the police???
Are you really trying to suggest that Lewis CK, a successful guy in an industry where who you know is everything, had no power over women at the start of their careers trying to break in?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
"Feminism infantilize women."
A movement to give women power over their own lives, such as the ability to decide who they want to screw, is "infantilizing". Slashdot: come for the tech stories, stay for the brain-dead comments. Thanks for coming through.
What the whoring commenters are not factoring in is Weinstein's willingness to destroy the careers of those who wouldn't sleep with him, or especially those who talked about it. It's not just about sleeping with him for the career boost.
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