@GAGOOT @11112011 @kirby @mia The problem isn't that we're insufficiently approximating the law because I have an insufficient understanding of the law. I'm aware of what constitutes a threat. I've spent more time in court than I would have if it were up to me.

So we have a threshold for figuring out what the FBI cares about, that's something concrete: the FBI cares about whether or not someone says they are going to kill Larry Fink, at least. https://freespeechextremist.com/notice/ATpJWnM2n3svOoJ2sS :finksmug:. This guy's flavor of spam matches the post the FBI emailed me about and he posted it with the intention of getting Meticore to ban him, so it fits: a guy with a grudge against both Meticore and graf that uses fake threats to cause problems.

What matters in pragmatic terms is whether or not I get more email from the FBI before I've completed the software that makes all of these questions moot. Previously, when "run an instance and get other people to run instances" was the main plan, this kind of thing mattered a great deal more; the current plan is "ship this software that separates hosting from liability (in this case also obviating the need for hosts to begin with) and keep FSE afloat until then and not have to explain shit to the feds".

Court precedent matters once you are in court, it's a bullet point on a motion you file, and even then, you can get a loopy judge or an unaccountable jury and then court precedent matters to the appeals court. At present, because I have a plan that solves the problem (Revolver), I intend to avoid having to go to court, because I don't have the cash to do that anyway.

In any case, even if the law were not a factor, FSE has a general policy against drive-by spamming of arbitrary people. If you have an idea that is as convenient to implement as this duct-tape MRF and that still achieves the secondary objective of making FSE unattractive for use as a spam-cannon, I am interested in that. The things I'm short on are money and time and I can solve both by hacking and neither by letting that guy use FSE as a spam-cannon. So I'm keeping the MRF in place until someone has a better idea.