CykonotMay 6, 2024

@ben lawsuit! Lawsuit! Lawsuit!

"Terms can change without notice" etc clauses are often unenforceable.

People should class-action these predatory scrapers. I BET m$ has used data they did not have rights to for training. Errbody should sue. Sue sue sue. "AI" is the providence of mankind, not some rich douche

Show threadtembryglintMay 7, 2024
@cykonot @ben lawsuits only work if the prosecution is willing to swallow the court costs, sometimes spanning years. This is how companies get away with criminal acts Scott free. Usual War of attrition stuff. 🫠
Show threadsortius
@tembryglint @cykonot @ben prosecutors don't determine lawsuits
May 7, 2024 at 2:12amWeb
Show threadNoah GibbsMay 7, 2024

@sortius @tembryglint @cykonot @ben

Prosecutors don't. But the prosecuting *side* has to pay their lawyers during those years of lawsuits. It's not cheap.

Show threadsortiusMay 7, 2024
@codefolio @tembryglint @cykonot @ben citizens don't prosecute lawsuits, you're the plaintiff. Why can't people admit they're wrong and walk away?
Show threadBen Ford May 7, 2024
@sortius @tembryglint @cykonot @ben prosecutors absolutely do determine lawsuits. If there’s no profit in winning your case then a prosecutor won’t take it and you lose by default.
Show threadsortiusMay 7, 2024
@binford2k @tembryglint @cykonot @ben what? That's not how law works in the real world dude
Show threadTom RitchfordMay 7, 2024

@binford2k @sortius @tembryglint @cykonot @ben A prosecutor pursues criminal cases. They have nothing to do with lawsuits, which don't even use the same courts.

Making such grossly wrong statements with such certainty is not a good look.

Show threadBen Ford May 7, 2024
@TomSwirly @sortius @tembryglint @cykonot @ben so I used the wrong word. Never claimed to be a legal expert. 🤷 That doesn’t change the point of the conversation, although I now realize that the person I responded to was being pedantic about a word rather than conversing in good faith.
Show threadTom RitchfordMay 7, 2024

@binford2k @sortius @tembryglint @cykonot @ben I mean, that's how the law works - you have to get the words just right.

In the US and other English speaking countries, a "prosecutor" only deals with criminal cases - this is not. You're talking a class action suit, and a plaintiff's attorney. The plaintiff's attorney doesn't have to pay "court costs" in most cases, but they do have their own fees, and you're right that might last for years and that many attorneys might not take the risk.

1/

Show threadTom RitchfordMay 7, 2024
@binford2k @sortius @tembryglint @cykonot @ben Particularly in this case, the damages might be quite small, so even if the plaintiff wins, the results might not even cover the lawyer's fees, which would as you argue discourage anyone from taking the case in the first case, but there are organizations which might take it pro bono, simply to set a precedent.