Putting any personal feelings about smarminess aside, I assume people are using the word brilliant to describe this because:
1. He complied with the order
2. ..while gaining an enormous amount of press
3. ... and generating more revenue
If enormous corporations are going to lawyer after tiny business, it's awesome for said businesses to use PR-judo to leverage the attention into something positive.
1. He complied with the order
2. ..while gaining an enormous amount of press
3. ... and generating more revenue
If enormous corporations are going to lawyer after tiny business, it's awesome for said businesses to use PR-judo to leverage the attention into something positive.
[Edit: My more detailed thoughts on why this is completely acceptable in a top-level comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6995479 ]