Black Unicorn wrote:

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Your complaints about "free research" suggest that you have the sense that you are more valuable than or superior to other contributors.

I think that's quite a reach on your part if you are pointing it out generally.

I don't think so. Other people don't think so. Please don't be unhappy, I'm actually trying to be helpful. I've enjoyed reading your work. Specifically, your work on spoliation has affected my thinking, and probably that of others. Sometimes it's a little hard to tell that one is having an effect. Often a really good post elicits minimal response because there's not much more to be said. And thousands of readers of this list never post at all. However, you have made a variety of remarks which could be seen, not too unreasonably, as being just a little bit condescending. If you are feeling that people are behaving inappropriately towards you, it might be worth considering if you might be unintentionally conveying this impression.

If you mean with specific reference to legal points regarding the production of documents and such- very much the focus of my early legal career- then I would submit to you that I would have to be awfully stupid _not_ to have more experience and expertise in these matters than anyone who had not spent the amount of time I had in the field.

No, what I am specifically addressing is complaints of having done some research and "jocular" requests for money. Other people who have experience and have done research have not made these requests. (Okay, some have, but they warrant the same response.)

I am more than happy to volunteer my expertise, and my research time, to try to focus discussions (or confuse discussions depending on your view) with respect to legal matters that impact system design.

Good! As I've said earlier, I find these posts useful.

I, after all, don't demand cites from C++ manuals, or physics texts when a fairly recognized expert in those fields posts on those topics here.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to do so. This isn't just an engineering thing, academia functions the same way. People want to know the chain of evidence. This is healthy. I don't especially believe in trusting "recognized experts" because so many of them are simply "recognized." In your case, nobody even knows your name, so is it all that unreasonable to ask for a citation? (Perhaps you didn't enjoy being insulted, but that's part of the deal if you trifle with the Lion of Aptos. ;-)

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It's a free world, but it might work better not to insult people, even if the insult is slightly veiled.

I think if you review the posts on this topic over the last few days you might find that I've been perhaps the most civil of the authors, even in the face of some pretty caustic replies.

Is this really all that civil? :

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(Your spoliation posts have been interesting. Thank you for writing them.)

Oh, you read them? That will be $750.00 please.

To me, this is condescending and that is unwarranted. If you feel that you are slumming it, it's a good idea not to let on to the slummees.