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RE: Bill Gates Senior is dead

in #news4 years ago

Oh? Hah, famous or infamous?
I did have a lot of public support at the time, as I recall. I was fairly well known in the Magic world, even prior to the lawsuit. I'd made my way as a player, appearing in the top 10 provincially from time to time, but my main accomplishment was being able to figure out if unreleased card info was legit or phony. We had a "Rumor Mill" forum where rumours (and sometimes leaks - both intentional and otherwise - from Wizards) would appear. It got quite popular. People loved glimpses of what was coming in the next set. It drove interest way up, and the game continued to do well for many years. But like I said, Wizards decided to take control of the rumours and release of new info, on their own blog and website. I hadn't really been doing anything illegal, but they were powerful and I was tiny, so they got what they wanted from me. It messed up my relationship with my now-ex-wife, and basically was the first really bad thing that ever happened to me in my life. I can't blame it for everything which has happened since (life has never quite been the same), but I don't think it helped, either. But like I said, I got a lot of support. I was on slashdot and other widely-read news sites. I got 1000 private messages. There were even protests in places like France. Many people boycotted the following prerelease (big event 3 times a year). There were petitions with many thousands of signatures. People didn't like that the messenger was being shot. The similarities with Assange (and others who publish rumours, leaks, whistleblowers, etc) are pretty glaring. I almost feel like a precedence was being set, with my case. And I have certainly always hated being censored, ever since. When YouTube started doing it to me back in 2011 or so, I noticed right away, even though they didn't come out and admit they were doing it until 2018. I can't stand being silenced. I have stories I could tell, too, but seeing what happens to people who speak up has dampened my enthusiasm for telling them.

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You had and still have my support. Is good this platform exist because now there is no more silence for you.
Keep doing what you do being famous while being infamous.

Well, I am far less known nowadays than I ever was. This platform is tiny, and shrinking quickly. But even if it was a large platform, and I had a big audience, I still can't talk about what happened. I can only point to the statement I made 14 years ago. The real story has to die with me.

Thanks for your support :)