OKCupid pulls Firefox boycott letter
OKCupid has removed a letter that only Firefox users could see asking them to change browsers over the anti-gay marriage politics of Brendan Eich, Mozilla's newly appointed CEO.
The letter first appeared Monday to protest Eich's elevation to the chief executive role because of a 2008 donation he made in support of Proposition 8, California anti-gay marriage bill. Eich, a Mozilla co-founder and its chief technology officer until his promotion, came under fire by Mozilla employees, independent Firefox developers, and OKCupid for a 2008 donation in support of the voter-approved Proposition 8. His donation become part of the public record in 2009. The bill was later overturned by the courts in 2013.
Eich said in an exclusive interview with CNET yesterday that "[w]ithout getting into my personal beliefs, which I separate from my Mozilla work -- when people learned of the donation, they felt pain. I saw that in friends' eyes, [friends] who are LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender]. I saw that in 2012. I am sorry for causing that pain."