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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."'"
What's the sense in having laws if you can't apply them selectively and perniciously.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
Except that this, the very case that's "starting it all", is also the exact reason why this is not the right way to do things. Somewhere in the middle, perhaps, as sometimes it is the actions of one person which need to be punished, but it is more often the actions of the company as a whole, the culture behind how the company operates, that needs to be addressed.
This man did nothing wrong; he sold a product that was not safe for kids to use and labeled it as not safe for kids to use. He should not be liable for the actions of the employees of the toy stores who sold them to kids, nor for the actions of the employees of the distribution houses that sold them to the toy stores who hired employees who then sold them to kids. He didn't sell them to kids himself, and he didn't sell them to toy stores where he'd only reasonably expect that they'd be sold to kids. He labeled them as not safe for kids and clearly did not intend for them to be sold to, or used by, kids. Blame all of the irresponsible parties for any children harmed by these things, for sure; let's start with the parents who bought these for their kids or left their own set where their kids could get to them (they're labeled quite clearly and should be locked away from young children, and only used by older children under close supervision, just like any other dangerous item), then the purchasing agent at the toy store who thought it would be a good idea to sell an item labeled as not safe for children in a place where things are bought primarily by and for children, then the distribution house employee(s) who thought selling unsafe items to toy stores would be a great way to make a buck. And that's where it should stop.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
How about the parents who gave their [now dead] children (read: under 13) the thing be charged with manslaughter, unless giving them other things they shouldn't have which results in death [the list is is quiter long, but includes firearms, cutlery, chemicals, etc.] is also okey-dokey.
"the vast majority are frivolous lawsuits" cite sources
This has been studied extensively. Every study I have read on this shows that judges tend to toss out the frivolous lawsuit and that the majority of cases that got to trial actual have some merit.
As long as were piercing the corporate veil, shouldn't we go after the CEO's that have cost the US taxpayers billions of dollars first? Or are government rules and regulations, and punitive actions only applicable for the little guy?
1. The product was not defective.
2. No harm was done that I have read.
3. No, the banks were not prosecuted, which makes this even more egregious.
4. He didn't make a mistake.
This is the out of control Feds doing what they do best, punish people who are creative and trying to get ahead. It is about control.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
If it was me and I had my life's work taken from me, and now being forced into bankruptcy and poverty, I'd hold the CPSC leaders responsible.
A government without fear of the people is not a republic. Time to put the fear back into them.
"So there is a chance companies will no longer get pathetic fines and be pretty much unaccountable for this misdeeds. Individuals who made decisions within the organization will be held responsible. Good."
Um... NO.
First, you have to identify actual misdeeds. Buckyballs were NOT sold as children's toys! They were labeled that they were NOT for children.
The fact that Buckyballs were recalled at all is what is pathetic. But also of great concern. Because if the government were to win, then any company that makes cleaning products that kids get hold of and poison themselves with... or car manufacturers... or makers of power tools... anybody who sells things that are NOT children's toys could be prosecuted simply because someone let their children play with them (or negligently gave them access).
The criminals here were the adults who let children play with unsafe objects. Hell, makers of children's toys who include a label that says "Warning! Contains small parts. Not for children under 4 years old." is exempt from this kind of government harassment. Yet you're seeing someone being pursued for this when they weren't even selling children's toys! It is OUTRAGEOUS.
This is an extremely dangerous precedent and the government must lose this case. Otherwise, anybody could be prosecuted for anything, merely if some child gets hold of it. Bad, bad, bad.
No, the company was told to come up with a corrective action plan to deal with the danger which the Consumer Product Safety Board thought that the product posed The CPSB gave them a two week deadline or face a lawsuit. In the meantime, contrary to precedent, the CPSB contacted retailers directly. The CPSB filed lawsuit the morning after the corrective action plan was filed (meaning the CPSB had not had time to review the plan before they submitted the lawsuit).
In response to the lawsuit, the CEO of the company launched a PR campaign to attempt to raise public awareness and political pressure to save his business. When the PR campaign failed, the CEO dissolved the company (since the CPSB had essentially outlawed their only product). Oh, and by the way, my understanding of the legality of the situation is that it was legal to continue selling the Buckyballs until the CPSB got a court ruling in their favor.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Because if the government were to win
Unfortunately, the government already won. The case is over, the company closed down.
Now the worst part is the government wasn't satisfied with that, and they are suing the creator for basically everything he owns, despite very few injuries, and no deaths as a result of these balls.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Who gave that magnet to the kid?
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
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.
My kid ate one or your magnets and had to have his bowel removed is not necessarily a bogus claim.
So if your stupid crotch fruit eats some drain cleaner it's the drain cleaner manufacturers fault fault, right? No moron. It's your fault.
THEY'RE CLEARLY LABELED AS NOT FOR KIDS.
I am so tired of the lack of personal responsibility in society today. It's always someone else at fault.
Who is John Galt?
Fucking parents, how do they work?
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
Only problem is, there are no misdeeds. These things were clearly labeled as not for kids. While there has been a very small number of injuries (small enough that many toys intended for children are actually more dangerous), they are clearly not the fault of the manufacturer, distributor., etc, but the fault of inattentive parents. There will always be injuries to children because of inattentive parents.
Unless you want a complete nanny-state, where everything potentially dangerous to kids is prohibited (wonder how they will get rid of all those stones just lying around, for example), you have to accept that parents are responsible for their kids safety. That includes teaching them to be careful when they are older and it also most definitely includes not letting anything dangerous lying around within their reach when they are at an age where they take everything into their mouths.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I'm in complete agreement with you. Ever since the early 90's the world has moved towards a "its not my fault because" type attitude. Its not my fault that little sally is a b*tch and failing school, she has ADHD/Aspergers....
I've got three kids, and one had a set of buckyball magnets. I gave them to a 15 year old as he was old enough to know he shouldn't eat them. When they were in the "everything goes into the mouth" phase i didn't give them powerful magnets. I bought age-appropriate toys to avoid this exact problem. It should be common sense that at a certain age you need to watch the kids and protect them from themselves.
Combine the "it wasn't my fault attitude" with the ability to sue for a lot more then if you won an average lottery and you have a real mess on your hands.
Well, I'm of the opinion that everything in this world doesn't have to be "somebody's fault". Or more precisely; placing blame isn't necessarily very interesting or useful to solve a problem. Sometimes, it's just better to look at things as they are, objectively without judgement, to identify the most constructive course of action.
I'm certainly not trying to argue that this is the manufacturers fault. The parents shouldn't let their children play with such things, so if you must choose a single party to point at, it would probably be them. But the reality of it is that people are going to make mistakes. Not everyone is going to realise all potentials dangers all the time. Doing something as extreme as prosecuting the parents for child abuse in this situation isn't actually going to help anybody, unless they force-fed their kids magnets. And in all likelihood, those parents already got a number of sleepless nights and enough feelings of guilt to very careful selecting toys in the future, which is about as much as you can realistically hope to achieve.
From a more systemic point of view (and without having seen exactly how the warning used to read), I am guessing that the best solution to reduce the number of accidents, if that's what we want to do, would be to explain more clearly why the magnets are dangerous to children. People are usually more inclined to follow instructions if they fully understand the logic behind them. For example: "If accidentally swallowed, these magnets will get stuck in the intestines, probably tearing a hole in them. Treat them like poison. Keep them away from children." would be more effective than for example: "This is not a children's toy. Improper use can lead to injury or death."