Mike Masnick ✅Jan 24, 2023

Super excited to be able to publish @kathryntewson's first Techdirt guest post... You do not want to miss this one.

"The World’s First Robot Lawyer Isn’t A Lawyer, And I’m Not Sure It’s Even A Robot"

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/24/the-worlds-first-robot-lawyer-isnt-a-lawyer-and-im-not-sure-its-even-a-robot/

The World’s First Robot Lawyer Isn’t A Lawyer, And I’m Not Sure It’s Even A Robot

Note: This post is an adaptation of what started initially as a Twitter thread. I’ve been going pretty hard on DoNotPay and its founder/CEO Joshua Browder for the past couple of days, and I&#…

Techdirt
Show threadJacob SchumerJan 25, 2023
@mmasnick @kathryntewson Did this guy just trick a bunch of VCs into giving him money to run a worse, illegal Legalzoom
Show threadMike Masnick ✅
@jacobschumer @kathryntewson HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
Jan 25, 2023 at 1:41amWeb
Show threadAndrew LeaheyJan 25, 2023

@mmasnick @jacobschumer @kathryntewson

Noted BlockFi investor DST Global? https://www.financierworldwide.com/blockfi-files-for-chapter-11-protection

BlockFi files for Chapter 11 protection — Financier Worldwide

Financier Worldwide
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Jan 25, 2023
@andrew @jacobschumer @kathryntewson and, well, there are lots of folks who have noted that Yuri Milner basically has been laundering questionable Russian money into Silicon Valley for years. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/yuri-milner-facebook-twitter-russia.html
Kremlin Cash Behind Billionaire’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

Leaked files show that a state-controlled bank in Moscow helped to fuel Yuri Milner’s ascent in Silicon Valley, where the Russia investigation has put tech companies under scrutiny.

The New York Times
Show threadAndrew LeaheyJan 25, 2023

@mmasnick @jacobschumer @kathryntewson

At one time he owned Mail.ru, which was *the* email host to choose if you were doing nefarious things (spam, software piracy, etc.) in the early 00s. They wouldn't shut down an email account for anything.

It seems there is a new grift.

Show threadAndrew LeaheyJan 25, 2023

@mmasnick @jacobschumer @kathryntewson

Here's another rabbit hole to dive down, Balaji Srinivasan (former Coinbase CTO mentioned above) was linked to the Dark Enlightenment movement -- which is a fun group.

https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/22/geeks-for-monarchy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment

Seems like the sorts of folks that are super about democratizing access to the courts. 😶

TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands

Show threadKathryn TewsonJan 25, 2023
@mmasnick OH FOR CRY @jacobschumer