If this is real, confession to a murder is good. It offers closure to the family of the bereaved.
However, confession to advertise, before doing it to the police, is bad. It cheapens the worth of the life of the person that's killed. He's expecting backlash because he deserves it; in doing so, he's reducing the value of life.
I can only hope that in the end, good comes out of this.
In defense of the confessor...I have to disagree. He made this statement before being charged...some HN readers might remember the lawyer from this video:
That lawyer would go ballistic at this video...the confessor has basically given up any easy way to get a reduced charge, even though, with a good lawyer, you can bring charges down quite a bit. For starters, this was not a murder. At most, this was a vehicular homicide, and while all murders are homicides, the reverse is not true. Furthermore, vehicular homicide has to show (in most states) gross and reckless negligence. And yes, while the average person would agree that being drunk and driving seems to automatically to fill that bill, courts have shown otherwise. At the very least, I think we can applaud this man for not making a horrible situation worse by prolonging the court battle.
The startup-side of this seems crass, but in their defense, they did not solicit this confession:
I agree that the website looks sloppy and the viability of its mission is doubtful, but what's the insinuation here? That if they hired a better designer and followed the lean startup book, that what they've done here would be more acceptable?
Like most everyone here, I know of a few people personally who've either been killed or nearly destroyed by drunk drivers. When I was younger and more idealistic, I couldn't understand why it was so hard for people to get a goddamn designated driver. Now I kind of shrug...we have a culture of denial and selfishness, and carelessness comes naturally and fuck-it-it'll-never-happen-to-me is easy to be lulled into. Add to that, the ability for those with money and charisma to talk their way out of serious punishment, and there doesn't seem to be much else to feel but cynicism about it all.
But I'll admit this video surprised me with its message. Statements of sorrow are common after you've been sentenced to prison and had time to think about it and nothing to lose...they're pretty rare between the indictment phase and the verdict, and virtually unheard of before the charging process. So some website I'll never go to again will get an upsurge in traffic...small price to pay if it means more people watch the video and, hopefully, really understand the tragedy and take it to heart.
What I'm saying is that the blog using this as a marketing platform is crass and offensive to me. The video was on YouTube - bound to get far more traffic than any promotion they'd compel, and could have been produced without their promotion.
And we're supposed to be impressed that this idiot has now decided to take responsibility for his actions? You're supposed to - it's part of the social contract you enter into with the world when you decide to drink.
Take a look at their twitter feed. They're reaching out to media outlets boasting that they "made the video" and that it's "going viral". To them, this isn't about awareness, or honoring the guy that got killed ... it's about themselves.
Just Google "Vincent Kanzani", zero hits except for this story. Normally, I wouldn't complain, but I think that the idea of using fabricated, emotionally charged stories to try to "teach" is awful. People eat this kind of manipulation up, even here.
To anyone reading the comments before the article like I did: the title is misleading. A person was not killed on video to promote a startup. The article is about a video of a man confessing killing someone, and the man is using the video to promote his startup.
As the submitter, I'll just point out that I'm following HN's rules and used the OP's title. However, in defense of the OP, the title is not misleading. This man is confessing to killing a man and the source of this video, i.e. its original poster, is a new startup
edit: Also in reply to the parent comment, the man who is confessing is not the man who owns the startup (though that would create a pretty interesting legal/business situation)
Most people, I would guess, read the headline as "Man Confesses to (Killing Someone in Promotional Video ...)", even though it's meant to be read as "(Man Confesses to Killing Someone) in Promotional Video ...". It's very easy to misunderstand.
I want to say that a confession does very little and life altering changes like not drinking and driving might have done more good in the long run. Imagine if the guy confessing dedicated his life to charity work, instead of languishing in a prison cell?
I wonder if that's how Scandinavian countries, who are renowned for having much better prison conditions and rehabilitation programs, would handle such a case. For a repentant person convicted of manslaughter, assign them a lifetime of community service to make up for their crimes.
The challenge is to correctly identify the deserving candidates. You can fake remorse.
And there also is the other side. The lives that were lost and the lives that got shattered for no mistake of theirs. Not everyone has a large heart. Its difficult for some to see one of your close relation's killer walking free.
18 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 52.4 ms ] threadHowever, confession to advertise, before doing it to the police, is bad. It cheapens the worth of the life of the person that's killed. He's expecting backlash because he deserves it; in doing so, he's reducing the value of life.
I can only hope that in the end, good comes out of this.
http://youtu.be/6wXkI4t7nuc
That lawyer would go ballistic at this video...the confessor has basically given up any easy way to get a reduced charge, even though, with a good lawyer, you can bring charges down quite a bit. For starters, this was not a murder. At most, this was a vehicular homicide, and while all murders are homicides, the reverse is not true. Furthermore, vehicular homicide has to show (in most states) gross and reckless negligence. And yes, while the average person would agree that being drunk and driving seems to automatically to fill that bill, courts have shown otherwise. At the very least, I think we can applaud this man for not making a horrible situation worse by prolonging the court battle.
The startup-side of this seems crass, but in their defense, they did not solicit this confession:
http://becauseisaidiwould.com/saveyourvictim/
No - they're just happy to exploit the death and name of a man, who can't possibly consent, in order to promote their shitty Wordpress blog.
Like most everyone here, I know of a few people personally who've either been killed or nearly destroyed by drunk drivers. When I was younger and more idealistic, I couldn't understand why it was so hard for people to get a goddamn designated driver. Now I kind of shrug...we have a culture of denial and selfishness, and carelessness comes naturally and fuck-it-it'll-never-happen-to-me is easy to be lulled into. Add to that, the ability for those with money and charisma to talk their way out of serious punishment, and there doesn't seem to be much else to feel but cynicism about it all.
But I'll admit this video surprised me with its message. Statements of sorrow are common after you've been sentenced to prison and had time to think about it and nothing to lose...they're pretty rare between the indictment phase and the verdict, and virtually unheard of before the charging process. So some website I'll never go to again will get an upsurge in traffic...small price to pay if it means more people watch the video and, hopefully, really understand the tragedy and take it to heart.
And we're supposed to be impressed that this idiot has now decided to take responsibility for his actions? You're supposed to - it's part of the social contract you enter into with the world when you decide to drink.
Take a look at their twitter feed. They're reaching out to media outlets boasting that they "made the video" and that it's "going viral". To them, this isn't about awareness, or honoring the guy that got killed ... it's about themselves.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=vi...
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/06/24/columbus-vict...
Here's how a local newspaper covered it: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/09/05/ma...
edit: Also in reply to the parent comment, the man who is confessing is not the man who owns the startup (though that would create a pretty interesting legal/business situation)
And there also is the other side. The lives that were lost and the lives that got shattered for no mistake of theirs. Not everyone has a large heart. Its difficult for some to see one of your close relation's killer walking free.