So essentially what you are saying is that I give Mark Helrpin to much credit, right? I guess we could chalk this article up to ignorance and stupidity.

I just felt that this was to intelligently written for someone who doesn’t seem to understand anything about copyright. But then again I might have been wrong.

A troll has never been meant to be applied to a person. Troll as a noun qualifies a post, a writings, a discussion and what followed. Troll in the usual accepted sense that is.

Nowadays many seem to use it to qualify a person and here are the definition what a troll is, when used that way:

“I find that the term “troll” means pretty much nothing, or it just means “somebody doing something I don’t like.” – Theresa Robinson

“…a term of abuse that is levelled both at genuinely problematic users and users with contentious but potentially legitimate views.” – Mark Richards

On the Internet, “today, the word troll are both verb and noun, and are applied loosely to any outsider. If you don’t like someone’s manners, he is a troll. If you don’t like a gadfly, he is a troll. If you don’t like a philosopher, he is a troll. If you don’t like a inquirer, he is a troll. If you don’t like a humorist, he is a troll. If you don’t like a teacher, he is a troll. If you don’t like witches, they are, well, witches and must be witch-hunted.” (see ad hominem and witchhunt). “Thusly, from weirdo to witches, from teachers to philosophers, from gadfly to firebrand, from loner to gay, they are all trolls online at your call. Quick spun the guild of killfilers and troll-criers. Anyone who has contrariwise things to say or the manner of saying it is a troll.” – “troll ignorance”, Xah Lee

Apart from a seemingly confusion between a troll and a flamebait in your saying, all you just replied is mostly speculations about the author intents, and faulty thinking (asking other to behave as you wish to fix your own errors…). I’d like to point you to Hanlon’s razor: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.”.

In the domain of copyright and intellectual property, stupidity seems (at least to me) to prevail and many not to say most of people who have an opinion on that matter are clueless and lack the firm grasp required to understand the matter at hand.

About labelling other troll, it might help you cope with something you dislike but:

“Whatever you say it is, it isn’t. ”
Alfred Korzybski

I’m all for being open minded, and I rarely label anyone a troll. Hell, I will take time out of my busy day to explain things to people, and I like to debate about controversial topic.

But sometimes a troll is a troll. It is supposed to be inflammatory, it is supposed to be exaggerated, outrageous and miss the point by a mile. And this is when I choose not to get involved in the discussion.

It’s just a waste of time and resources at this point. What is the point of debating a person who doesn’t seem to have any inclination to even consider compromise? Why would I debate someone who sees the discussion that can be won by viciously attacking anyone who does not agree with his carefully crafted, inflammatory statements?

Trolls think that they do something productive. That they incite conversation, and make valid points and show people new ways of thinking. Sometimes they do. Most often however they simply are just an annoyance and a distraction.

And if a person labeled a troll will redeem himself by actually doing something worth while like Torvald mentioned in the article, then we will happily reinstate him as a human being, publicly admit we were wrong, and retroactively give him credit for being right all along.

how come that so many people today still promote the myth of troll handling through ignorance and indifference.
this advice relevant to newsgroup, is towards newbies who aren’t aware of what trolling is, but this never was and never will be an adequate global response/solution.
I’m still amazed by how many smart people can believe that closing eyes, covering ears, and crying out loud “BLABLABLA!” hoping their problem will be hidden from their sight when they stop acting stupid.

here’s a worthy read back from 2002 “on ignoring trolls”: http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/writ/troll_ignorance.html

“We are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when we discuss it freely.”
— Thomas Babington

“There are two ways to slice easily through life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.”
— Alfred Korzybski

LOL!

Ignore the Troll, he’ll leave and start posting in some other forums like the Washington Post or BBC World News or something like that.