[mattnumbers]

For what it's worth, RMS' statements on the matter don't appear to concern what is "right", "wrong", or "acceptable" - they appear to concern only the available evidence.

Then again, I've only seen the two quotes appearing in the HN threads.

[azernik]

They absolutely do - the meat of the outrage is at the e-mail (full thread, in awful formatting, at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6405929-091320191420...) is the claim that sex with underage girls should not be considered "assault".

EDIT:

The specific relevant passage is on page 7. Copied verbatim - line with a '>' is Stallman quoting another e-mail in the thread.

"""

> Giuffre was 17 at the time; this makes it __rape__ in the Virgin Islands.

Does it really? I think it is morally absurd to define "rape" in a way that depends on minor details such as which country it was in or whether the victim was 18 years old or 17.

I think the existence of a dispute about that supports my point that the term "sexual assault" is slippery, so we ought to use more concrete terms when accusing anyone.

"""