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U.S. Gov't Still Fighting the Man Behind Buckyballs; Guess Who's Winning?
usacoder writes with news of Craig Zucker, former CEO of the company behind Buckyballs, the popular neodymium magnet toys that were banned by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in July 2012. Zucker ran a brief campaign to drum up opposition to the government's ban, but it didn't turn out to be enough. Unfortunately for Zucker, the story didn't end there. Despite the magnets being labeled as not for kids, the Commission filed a motion to find him personally liable for the costs of a product recall, estimated at around $57 million.
"Given the fact that Buckyballs have now long been off the market, the attempt to go after Mr. Zucker personally raises the question of retaliation for his public campaign against the commission. Mr. Zucker won't speculate about the commission's motives. 'It's very selective and very aggressive,' he says. ... Mr. Zucker says his treatment at the hands of the commission should alarm fellow entrepreneurs: 'This is the beginning. It starts with this case. If you play out what happens to me, then the next thing you'll have is personal-injury lawyers saying "you conducted the actions of the company, you were the company."'"
I don't believe hand grenades have the same warning on them.
As a former Marine, I have some experience with hand grenades, and I can assure you that every case of grenades comes with an entire booklet of warnings, written in dense legalese.
and you have to read all of it within ten seconds
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
Or make things that stick together.
Silence is a state of mime.
The problem with this train of thought is where do you draw the line? Recall the hot coffee story a number of years ago. What temperate should coffee be served and who is responsible if you drive and spill it on yourself?
Some things already have ridiculous warnings like metal ladders and "do not use near live electrical lines". Does it need to be said that metal conducts electricity and therefor if the ladder touches a live wire bad things will happen?
Everyone is looking for a multi-million dollar lawsuit and so you get product warning labels warning you that the product label warning could give you a paper cut..
I accidentally spilled some bleach in my ammonia and I died a painful death. Can I sue Clorox?
Obviously not because you're a dead mofo. next question.