Mozilla boss Brendan Eich resigns after gay marriage storm

The chief executive of Mozilla - the company best
known for its Firefox browser - has stepped down.
Brendan Eich was appointed just last month but
came in for heavy criticism for his views on same-
sex marriage.
Mozilla's executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker
announced the decision in a blog post.
"Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different
standard and, this past week, we didn't live up to
it," she wrote.
"We know why people are hurt and angry, and they
are right: it's because we haven't stayed true to
ourselves.
"We didn't act like you'd expect Mozilla to act. We
didn't move fast enough to engage with people
once the controversy started. We're sorry. We
must do better."
Mr Eich has also stepped down from the board of
the Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit organisation
which owns the for-profit Mozilla Corporation.
Angry users
Mr Eich, who co-founded Mozilla and was also the
creator of the JavaScript scripting language, made
a $1,000 (£600) donation in 2008 in support of
Californian anti-gay marriage law Proposition 8.
Although it was initially passed, it was later
overturned by the US Supreme Court in 2013.
When the announcement of Mr Eich's appointment
was made on 24 March, angry users voiced their
opinions on social media. Several high-profile
Mozilla employees also weighed in. Three board
members also recently resigned - but Mozilla said
the events were not linked to Mr Eich.
"The three board members ended their terms
before Brendan was publicly announced as CEO for
a variety of reasons," Mozilla said in a statement.
"Two had been planning to leave for some time,
one since January and one explicitly at the end of
the CEO search, regardless of the person selected."
The announcement was made by Mitchell Baker,
Mozilla's executive chairwoman
But the most damaging act of protest came via
dating website OkCupid.
Users who went to the site using Mozilla's Firefox
browser were greeted with a message that read:
"Hello there, Mozilla Firefox user. Pardon this
interruption of your OkCupid experience.
"Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent
of equal rights for gay couples. We would
therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla
software to access OkCupid."
Mozilla initially defended Mr Eich's appointment,
but Ms Baker's blog post announcing the chief
executive's departure made apologies for doing
so.
"We failed to listen, to engage, and to be guided
by our community," she wrote.
She added that any potential replacement for Mr
Eich was still being discussed, and that more
details would be announced next week.