picard102
Senior Member
So with about 56 hours to go and $27,000 before reaching the target I suspect that Gawker will kick-in whatever is necessary at the last minute to bring the fund over the top. They have too much riding on this video not to. Unlike the Star that used very careful language saying the video "appears" to show Rob Ford "apparently" smoking crack - Gawker has called Ford "Toronto's crack smoking Mayor". Obtaining this video is their best defense against a defamation lawsuit which will cost far more than $27K. Also another thing to consider is Gawker will most likely own the rights to the video and I am sure that they can make a lot more than $27K off of the rights to this video. I can see it getting over 30 Million hits on Youtube. How much would that be worth to Gawker?
They really don't have anything to lose by not getting the video. Defamation in the US is much harder then in Canada, where as you only have to say something untrue here, in the US you have to prove it was malicious.