[bmelton]

I agree with your characterization of vandalism, but to

> Why should anyone on HN argue with a qualified legal opinion by suggesting alternative legal strategies?

there are a long list of reasons why we might want to:

- some of us have qualified legal opinions of our own

- it's a discussion site

- the victims here employed a poor legal strategy, as nuisance claims were obviously more likely to succeed than trespass claims, so it isn't like there wasn't room for improvement upon the actual legal strategy

- because even lay-people may be right on legal matters (though they rarely tend to be)

I'm sure there are many, many more reasons why, but off the top of my head, those will do. The idea that we shouldn't have free reign to discuss things we don't have expert knowledge of would, if put in action, eliminate the very purpose of forums like HN.