Cryptocurrency lawsuit: Ethereum Foundation required "suicide pledge"

Heliodex

Actual document: https://ethereum.org/foundation/mandate/

VulgarExigency

I wish I had been surprised by what I read in this article.

Finnucane

"a 38-page document outlining leadership’s vision for the foundation for the next 1,000 years." This would by itself be enough to start packing all your office things into a cardboard box.

pjc50

> "Authors, maintainers, editors and distributors of “this software” would pledge to ensure the software remained free and publicly accessible, and would also vow to “take his or her own life with a sword upon failure to uphold any of the pledges in this license,” the illustration read. It was labeled “Source Seppuku License,” an apparent reference to a traditional Japanese ritual suicide. When the document went out on that Friday in March, employees were told to commit to the principles in the mandate by Monday or quit their jobs, according to the lawsuit brought by Kayleen Fulton, a Boulder woman who was fired from the Ethereum Foundation after she led employee resistance to the suicide pledge." .. wow. When your employer starts posting like Yukio Mishima of course you sue them. I have a new entry in "most unprofessional thing I've ever seen". And no, using the "should not be taken seriously" defense is also hugely unprofessional.

BadBadJellyBean

> “If you reward making a stink with outcomes, then everyone will know that essentially making that kind of show both internally and externally is the way to cause outcomes inside of the EF,” he said, according to the lawsuit, which cited a recorded conversation between the pair. Well she was too effective at organizing a resistance. Can't have that.

Zigurd

Weirdness used to be a charming aspect of the tech industry. Now it's death cults, fascism, accelerationism, "monarchists," "effective altruism" and whatever other brand of curdled dark perversion haunts Silicon Valley.

imguienjoyer

this is cringe, but less cringe than having to wear the nooglers hat

Arodex

I can't express something better than this observation I read the other day: >again, something of a banal observation, but i think contributing to the general feeling of powerlessness and rage in america today is the extent to which our elites engage in such flagrant, grotesque, even performative contempt for the rest of america >i don't exactly think andrew carnegie loved the little guy exactly--he was, at best, the good cop to frick's bad cop--but he at least put on the appearance of charity, decorum, civic-mindedness >meanwhile today's elites mostly seem interested in apocalypse bunkers and sex cults and getting real jacked on testosterone and ranting about the woke mind virus >regarding the rest of us as, at best, hogs bound for the slaughter, and not even particularly hiding it https://bsky.app/profile/sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com/pos...

comrade1234

You can't sign away your rights like that in a contract. The contract is invalid.

avaer

If you go deep into the crypto world you'll find that this messaging resonates well with "degens" (as they sometimes call themselves). They love this stuff, it signals how "pilled" you are. It may or may not have to do with a large proportion of them being high on drugs (weed, psychedelics, cocaine), in addition to obviously being terminally online and bubbled. They are also extremely anti-authority, because a lot of what they do breaks the law in bigger and lesser ways, especially tax/financial law. And they often will drive millions and millions of dollars of crypto toward these ventures, often anonymously. You have to read these kinds of things in the context of the target audience, which is very real. Source: I made it out.

qoez

I feel like it has to be a joke, but I wonder if such a clear "joke" would make other things in the contract possible to be invalidated in court given that if one assumes that part is a joke how can one tell what other parts are also supposed to be or not to be a farce in the contract.

javier123454321

My falling out of love with crypto was due to the realization that these 'foundations' were effectively governing bodies participating in the minimum level of decentralized theater to grant them plausible deniability in a court of law. Bitcoin is still extremely interesting, as it has no such body, only a bunch of anarchy minded anti-social but very smart group of volunteers fighting each other. At least they practice their anarcho libertarian experiment in the mailing list, to its huge detriment.

TheCleric

This really changes the meaning of the catchphrase "HODL"

zzzeek

> An email to the foundation seeking comment on this story was not immediately returned Thursday, but a foundation leader at the time told employees the suicide pledge was not meant to be taken literally, according to the lawsuit. After employee pushback, managers updated the commitment form to clarify that the form had “nothing to do with literal seppuku,” according to the lawsuit. Oh see it was just a joke - a joke , get it? ha ha, see by watching how many employees were complaining, we retracted it - just a "joke", right? after we put it out there saying nothing whatsoever and demanding a yes/no loyalty pledge. it was boundary testing. this company should go out of business.

sandworm101

Where is the endorsement? I see a corporate mandate, not an employment contract. Corporations put out all sorts of fluff. If employees took it seriously then everyone working at facebook should have a VR helmet on their head 24/7.

rchaud

What if they changed it to something friendlier, like a pledge to drink a refreshing glass of Kool-Aid should management request as such?

opengrass

Neurotics do neurotic things. >the author, maintainer, editor or (re)distributor… shall uphold the following… to take his or her own life with a sword upon failure to uphold any of the pledges in this license, or upon modification or removal of any part of this license.

Frieren

Fits with Crypto philosophy. To let working class people to die so billionaires can use crypto for tax avoidance and crime payments. Not surprised at all.

accountrequired

"Crypto foundation" in headline is Ethereum Foundation and I do not like them.

drcongo

I'm instantly suspicious of anyone who thinks a 1000 year ~~reich~~ plan is a good idea.