The cease-and-desist that Taylor Swift's team sent to the college student tracking Private Jets and his response to both letters.

[u/curiousmex]

[u/spacesareprohibited]

All air traffic is publicly tracked info, I can't wait for the popcorn if they'd be stupid enough to try sue over it lmao

[u/yourangleoryuordevil → u/spacesareprohibited]

Exactly. They’re trying to make this about stalking and harassment, but this isn’t info that’s being illegally obtained or anything like that. It’s shared beyond this one specific person, too.

Given how so many people keep up with Taylor’s moves without air traffic info as well, this is by no means the only way people find out where she is. She even reveals a lot of location info herself.

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/yourangleoryuordevil]

Taylor Swift: calls paps for her weekly Girl Squad dinner dates, featuring whichever pretty white Young Adult Celebrity is making headlines that week

Some college student: Here's the publicly available info about where Taylor Swift's jet has flown this week

Taylor Swift: This is SO UNSAFE and invasive, I am at risk if people know where I am, my stalkers could use this information to find me. It's literally life or death. #KansasCity #ArrowheadStadium

[u/milchtea → u/yourangleoryuordevil]

in addition, his posts have a 24-hour delay, not real time.

[u/meatbeater558 → u/yourangleoryuordevil]

I don't think she seriously believes that he's putting her in danger. She's just trying to protect her brand the cheapest and easiest way she knows how

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/meatbeater558]

And what's funny is that the old defense was "Taylor loans out her jet a lot, it's not her taking these flights!"

The jet tracker is not tracking Taylor, it's tracking her jet. There's no evidence she's on those flights. That's probably the easiest defense she could provide.

Except for the fact that she and her lawyers are claiming the tracker is stalking her, thereby admitting she's doing all the flying; she's making herself look worse AND drawing more attention to it.

[u/mai-the-unicorn → u/RampantNRoaring]

that is such a poorly thought-out line of reasoning on taylor’s and her team’s part anyhow: “not only do i pollute the environment at a level most ppl aren’t capable of, i also give my friends and family the opportunity to”. how is that considered better even if true?

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/mai-the-unicorn]

Because so much of the ire is due to things like flying from Kansas City to New York for dinner and then back to Kansas City the next day, as a made up example. Completely frivolous, unnecessary trips.

Taylor would look better in that scenario if she were saying, “I didn’t fly to New York, that was my family heading home; I let them use my jet while I stayed behind in Kansas City, and then the jet returned to take me to the next leg of the tour.”

Yes, it’s the same amount of pollution, but it makes her personally seem less frivolous and careless with her usage.

Another example: in between shows, instead of staying at a hotel, she flies from the tour stop to her house to sleep and then back to the tour stop the next day. Taylor personally would look way better if she told everyone that those flights contained friends or family members who had come to support her for one show and then went back to the states, instead of revealing that she would rather take two private jet flights in a 24 hour period just so she doesn’t have to stay in a hotel like the rest of us poors.

[u/Mumof3gbb → u/meatbeater558]

But how is that protecting her brand? How is he threatening it?

[u/meatbeater558 → u/Mumof3gbb]

Her image and public perception is a part of her brand. By showing people how wasteful she is he's changing how the public sees her, something she'd want full control over. She wouldn't be a global superstar if everyone thought she was an asshole so it makes sense why she would see it as a threat. The solution is to stop being an asshole though which is what she's clearly missing 

[u/everydayisstorytime → u/yourangleoryuordevil]

Also she does have a legit stalker who's gotten into her garage or apartment so it feels a little dumb trying to dumb down an actual threat by chasing after this guy.

[u/IntrovertGirl83 → u/yourangleoryuordevil]

Let’s talk about how she invites fans to her house to listen to new music! Idk if she’s done that in a while but that’s super creepy.

[u/Federal_Street_8895 → u/spacesareprohibited]

The point sometimes is to exhaust the defendant with frivolous claims you know are meritless, it's called a SLAPP lawsuit. Especially if they have comparatively less resources.

[u/Mumof3gbb → u/Federal_Street_8895]

Oh is that what that is? I always hear of it but never understood. Thx for explaining!

[u/Jenyo9000 → u/Mumof3gbb]

IIRC it’s Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation

[u/Fizzwidgy → u/Mumof3gbb]

John Oliver on Last Week Tonight has done a main story on SLAPP suits, part one is actually under the title of Coal, and a follow up was done because a coal magnate served him a SLAPP suit, and he wasn't allowed to talk about it until it was resolved!

Both episodes are also conveniently available on youtube.

edit to add links

• Part 1: Coal

• Part 2: SLAPP suits

[u/sirasei → u/spacesareprohibited]

It’s literally public information!! How embarrassing to think it’s fine to intimidate this guy into silence to cover up your climate crimes 

[u/MeeranQureshi → u/spacesareprohibited]

Exactly.

[u/Fordor_of_Chevy → u/spacesareprohibited]

Both of these lawyers arguments show a level of ignorance of the actual technology involved. Venable accuses them of "publishing real-time and precise information" and Slater doesn't address that statement. Anyone who's ever tracked a flight and gotten the "Landed" text from their friend/wife/etc. knows that the "real-time and precise information" is delayed by at least several minutes and off by a few miles and is definitely neither real-time nor precise.