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Comment Re:Europe exported it's polluting industry (Score 1) 63

There is also the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine in California.

It has been opened and closed several times as the Feds and state of California tussle over it.

California greenies want it closed. The Feds want it to operate, even at a loss, for supply chain security.

It is currently operating with DoD subsidies, but production needs to be ramped up.

Comment Re:Blaming the victim (Score 1) 47

The restaurant is independently owned. Disney ended up involved because their website listing (which again, is subject to the same blanket TOS as the rest of their online services) had incorrect allergy information. Disney's response, tone-deaf as it was, wasn't wrong: you're supposed to verify with the allergy accommodation information with the restaurant.

Which was not the case here.

It was not a Disney owned restaurant - Disney's involvement was limited to incorrect information on their website, and their TOS basically laid out how that is to be handled.

The plaintiff had every reason to sue the restaurant for negligence, but to sue Disney would be like suing Facebook because someone in the marketplace sold you a counterfeit iPhone. Maybe you'd even be successful if could if you could prove that Facebook knew the seller was selling counterfeit goods, but again, there's usually a clause in the TOS that says it's on you to verify that you're trading with someone trustworthy and if you get screwed, your legal bone to pick would be with the seller.

In the grand scheme of things, what probably happened here was that the lawyers figured Disney would just fold and settle, which is entirely why Disney comes off as being asshole-ish in these types of situations, otherwise you'd end up with every person who slipped on some spilled popcorn in their theme parks trying to score an easy payday.

I'm sure there's some similar dynamics at play with suing OpenAI. You usually don't hear about parents suing when their teen unalives himself with a rope bought from Walmart, but this is new untested ground and there's the possibility that people might be more sympathetic to punishing an "evil" AI company, more so than the store where they buy their groceries from.

Comment Re:Will be prohibited into the United States (Score 1) 24

So has the USA of old, cf. COCOM.

So does the new trumpistan, too, except that unlike the USA of old, trumpistan has been using this approach to only to cause pain, suffering and destruction.

With a second large supplier, the world will be slightly better off. Expect also that India will join shortly to become a third source of low quality, diluted stuff as well. As a fringe benefit, the destruction of the global trading system at the hands of trump will also remove a lot of the "intellectual property protection" bullshit, so we'll see rare and expensive medicine remain such only in places where the governments will stick to that illusion.

The last 15 years of the human civilization will be a lot of fun.

Comment Re:Oh the humanity! (Score 1) 47

if cases like this continue anyone under age will require the internet to be unlocked by their parent.

For the most part it already is.

The major loopholes are open WiFi hotspots and prepaid phone cards. If we required ID for those things, you're pretty much keeping kids off the internet without their parents being involved in some way.

The ironic thing is though, most kids are not online via a clandestine burner phone they bought with cash and connected through the WiFi at Starbucks - their parents gave them the phone/tablet and pay for the plan and/or home broadband connection. The parents are just under some weird delusion that the entirety of the internet is safe for children (it's not, nor should it be).

Comment Re:Blaming the victim (Score 1) 47

Yep. Disney tried a similar tactic, citing the Disney+ terms of service when one of their guests suffered a fatal allergic reaction at a restaurant at one of their parks. Disney wanted to use the ToS to send the case to arbitration, but relented.

Disney uses the same TOS for many of their online portals, which was why the news ran with "it's the Disney+ terms of service".

Plus, it really is the victim's fault if you go into a restaurant with a potentially life-threatening food allergy and don't bother to let the wait staff know you have an allergy. Assuming the allergy information online is 100% accurate is like playing Russian roulette. Kinda like giving your kid unrestricted internet access and hoping everything just sort of works out.

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