Oculus Founder Issues Statement in Response to Controversy
"I am deeply sorry that my actions are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners.The recent news stories about me do not accurately represent my views.
Here’s more background: I contributed \\$10,000 to Nimble America because I thought the organization had fresh ideas on how to communicate with young voters through the use of several billboards. I am a libertarian who has publicly supported Ron Paul and Gary Johnson in the past, and I plan on voting for Gary in this election as well.
I am committed to the principles of fair play and equal treatment. I did not write the "NimbleRichMan" posts, nor did I delete the account. Reports that I am a founder or employee of Nimble America are false. I don’t have any plans to donate beyond what I have already given to Nimble America.
Still, my actions were my own and do not represent Oculus. I’m sorry for the impact my actions are having on the community."
Original story follows:
Oculus Rift founder, Palmer Luckey, is believed to have financially backed a pro-Trump, anti-Clinton support group.
According to a report on The Daily Beast, the group - called Nimble America - describes itself as a "social welfare 501(c)4 non-profit" organisation, and is thought to be behind provocative anti-Hillary Clinton imagery. Taking credit for a billboard depicting a cartoon Clinton face accompanied by the text "Too Big to Jail", Nimble America states it is dedicated to proving that “s**tposting is powerful and meme magic is real".
At the time of writing, many posts pertaining to Nimble America are being removed. However, Luckey told The Daily Beast he had posted on Reddit with an account, “NimbleRichMan”, given him to by the organization’s founders. Despite being listed as vice-president on the website, he insists he's merely contributed financially because it "sounded like a real jolly good time".
“I came into touch with them over Facebook,” Luckey said. “It went along the lines of ‘hey, I have a bunch of money. I would love to see more of this stuff.’ They wanted to build buzz and do fundraising.”
“The American Revolution was funded by wealthy individuals,” Luckey is thought to have posted on Saturday, using his NimbleRichMan pseudonym. “The same has been true of many movements for freedom in history. You can’t fight the American elite without serious firepower. They will outspend you and destroy you by any and all means.”
A fundraising drive on the same day, however, caused unrest on the Reddit community. Stating that all donations would be matched by an anonymous "billionaire", Nimble America hoped to "raise a YUGE amount of money to S**TPOST across America". Reddit posters were concerned that any drives to diverted funds from the official Trump campaign were suspicious, causing some members to hit back against attempts to "monetize [the] community".
When questioned further by The Daily Beast, Luckey acknowledged he would not "keep throwing money after something" if the fundraising attempts proved unsuccessful.
“I’m not going to keep throwing money after something if I don’t see any results,” he said. “I think these guys are pretty legit. The sums of money are so small, I don’t think they’re out to scam anybody. If they disappear with the money, I wouldn’t throw any more money at them.”
We've reached out to Luckey for comment and will update this article as soon as we receive a response.
Luckey sold his VR company, Oculus, to Facebook in 2014 for \\$2 billion, and is estimated to have a personal fortune of \\$700 million.
"While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus' existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas," a Facebook press release read at the time.
Vikki Blake is a very jumpy survival horror survivalist. You can find her twittering over at @_vixx and twitching at twitch.tv/vixxiie.
Комментарии