Fitzpatrick cut off from Sup by the language barrier
Webplanet.ru
The founder of LiveJournal.com learned of the
scandal in the .ru zone, but he could not answer the questions of the Russian users of LJ owing to having no interpreter. The body of Brad Fitzpatrick
was brought to Russia last week to hold a PR event to mark the acquisition by
Sup-Fabrik from SixApart of the rights to service the Russian-language users of LJ.
Upon his departure from Moscow, Fitzpatrick reported in his blog that he was charmed by Russia, particularly by the episode with
Frank the Goat. The symbolism of this "goat hunt" story came to the founder of LiveJournal later, when he was informed of the
massive negative reaction to the deal. Fitzpatrick agreed that the Sup press conference was pointless and he
promised to answer all the questions put by the Russians. However, he still didn't find himself an interpreter. Same time, the management of Sup have published a Russian
FAQ with the same inarticulate answers that were given at the press conference. Remember that Webplanet raised the matter of
using the language barrier to inflate Internet bubbles.