Jason Lancaster

Being a part of the web application world, I thought I might mention how absurd this recent Myspace suit is. I really hope out of a matter of principle myspace and its lawyers fight instead of just paying off the plaintiff’s. I found an article in the New York Times this morning that was pretty good overview and some good quotes, including:

"This MySpace lawsuit is reminiscent of a relatively new and sometimes lucrative form of American justice: the consumer passing blame to a provider," Ms. Swindler wrote. "Is it the fault of Philip Morris if people become addicted to ‘light’ cigarettes? (A jury said it is.) Is it the fault of McDonald’s if a customer if burned when she spills hot coffee? (Also yes, according to a jury.) And is it MySpace’s fault when teenage girls are duped by older men? I guess we’ll see what a jury decides."

And another, which had me chuckling and questioning my 8 coffee-a-day, 6pack a night, chain smoking habits:

"I recognize that there’s a certain part of the population who don’t know a steady fried chicken diet is bad for them. I feel bad for these people," Mr. Chan wrote. "However, these are probably the same people who don’t put on their seatbelts and who suck down endless coffee during the day and Coors at night. So let’s be honest with ourselves here. You’re not going to save these people. You’re just screwing up the chicken for the rest of us."

This was referring to the recent KFC suit for partly hydrogenated oils. Darwin at his best, baby!