Poll: Would you support the Consumerist in the Dell scandal?

I think the point is that it's time to start taking the power back from large corporations who feel nothing but contempt for the same people who keep them in business.
Even if it's in such a small way as this, it's still better than firmly planting your head in the sand, with your ass in the air and a nice sign on your back that says,
"Please corporate America, keep railing me!"

If we all just sit back and let big business throw their weight around, and silence the consumer whenever something is written that doesn't fit in with their marketing scheme, then we'll reap what we sew, and continue to get sub-par products as well as the continuing degradation of customer service/support for said products.

And I also think in this example, if you read the letter from Dell's council, you can't help but notice the total lack of respect and general tone of contempt that saturated every paragraph. Not to mention the underlying belief that "The Consumerist" wouldn't have the intelligence to counter any of the empty threats made by Dell's council.
That alone should be enough to fire-up most intelligent people. It was as if "Mommy Dell" was wagging her finger in their faces like "The Consumerist" was nothing but a naughty little boy.

WE, the "consumer", are the ones that keep these people in business, and it's up to US, the "consumer", to hold these people to the standard that they pretend to hold themselves to in order to get us to buy their products.

If there was no problem with Dell or their products, then I think it's safe to say there wouldn't be an issue here, but once something is exposed from the inside, you see them scramble like roaches in the light to do a little damage control before something bigger gets exposed, or God forbid, someone else might take a closer look at Dell and decide their money might be best spent elsewhere.
On a large scale, that could be disastrous for their already falling profits.
After all, the profit is what they're all about.
The customer is nothing but a money conduit.

In general, I have no problems with Dell... because I never bought any of their products, but I can assure you that if this letter came from the council of any corporation that I buy from regularly, I would have to rethink any future purchases with them.

will...we just posted this:

[Direct to Dell blog]

What purpose is served in suggesting responses to a hypothetical situation that hasn't occurred?

Lawyers are expensive.   A big company like Dell can throw the Consumerist a whole bunch of "requests" and force the Consumerist to consult an attorney to deal with each new request.  Gawker media probably has an excellent in-house counsel (Gabby), but eventually she will need to consult an outside lawyer if Dell presses the issue.

The Consumerist can conceivably be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees even before they see the inside of a court room.

Besides, I think Dell has learned some valuable lessons from this situation.  Without all the complaints from consumers like us, can you be so sure that Dell would have backed down so easily? 

I'm sure you did the legwork necessary to be certain that it was the truth, too.

The Consumerist never claimed that the story they published was "The Truth."  They simply said "hey this is what someone claiming to be a former Dell employee told us."

When other Dell employees wrote in with their own opinions, the Consumerist published those, too.  If Dell Corporate thought the article was inaccruate, I'm sure Ben would've been more than happy to publish Dell's responses. 

Having this open discussion expedites the flow of accurate information to consumers. 

Instead of responding with their own facts, Dell brought out the implied legal threats, which is a good indication that there are things in the original post that Dell doesn't want you to think about.

What's the matter with you? Have a personal dislike for Dell?

I've had mixed experiences with Dell.  They often make stupid mistakes in customer service (they once sent me two laptops when I only ordered one, and charged me for three), but I will give them this:  Once the mistakes are escalated up to the higher level customer service people, they've always went the extra mile to fix the problem.  Kind of remind me of this situation, actually.

FWIW, I took my bar on a Dell Inspiron, so I guess you could say I once trusted Dell with my life.

Well said Weej!

And I also think in this example, if you read the letter from Dell's council, you can't help but notice the total lack of respect and general tone of contempt that saturated every paragraph. Not to mention the underlying belief that "The Consumerist" wouldn't have the intelligence to counter any of the empty threats made by Dell's council.

That is basically how many corporations use their lawyers.  They know that most people don't want legal trouble, so they end up sending out a lot of meritless "requests" and "warnings" to people without firm legal basis for doing so.  

That is how the RIAA stays in business.  And that is why it is important to never give an inch to these corporate legal departments.  They have to learn the hard way that consumers do bite back, and they bite back hard.