From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Mon Aug 23 1999 - 06:50:34 MDT
In a message dated 99-08-22 22:40:53 EDT, spike66@ibm.net (Spike Jones) wrote:
> Help us Obie Wan Gregory, you're our only hope.
Fortunately, it isn't up to me. But the adoption of new technologies IS
helped or hindered by how the law perceives and accommodates the risks
presented by new ways of doing things. This was the subject of a paper I
presented at the Spring, 1998 Foresight Institute Senior Associates
gathering, "Tiny Torts: A Liability Primer for Nanotechnologists":
http://users.aol.com/gburch3/nanotort.html
This brief and very basic paper generally discusses how the common law of
torts has evolved and adapted to the introduction of new technologies. What
you will find there is the comforting knowledge that in fact the common law
has developed principles by which introduction of new technologies is not
only possible, but is actually ENCOURAGED by common law tort concepts such as
the "reasonable person", "foreseeable risk" and "state of the art".
In this regard, I would note (as I have before) that non-lawyers should not
draw conclusions about how the legal system works from accounts in the
popular press. Journalists succeed by selling sensational stories, such as
the huge products liability verdict against GM mentioned, or the famous
McDonald's coffee burn case. What DOESN'T get reported is the vast majority
of the cases in which manufacturers use the standards found in the law to
defend the reasonable steps they've taken to develop and market sound new
technologies. (Likewise, the reasonable workings of the appellate system
aren't usually reported, so that the papers don't cover things like the
eventual outcome of the McDonald's case -- in which all but a small portion
of the original damage award was overturned -- or, more importantly, where
important new rules excluding "junk science" from trial courtrooms have been
developed.)
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Civilization is protest against nature;
progress requires us to take control of evolution."
-- Thomas Huxley
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