The law intrudes on the blogosphere again, although most of us, even the law professors, want to keep it out. OK, I’m talking about Don Luskin going afterAtrios, I mean Don Luskin’s lawyer going after Atrios. I have no idea about the case’s merits, because I learned long ago (if I were a lawyer, I’d be a third generation one) the law has nothing to do with common sense, and little to do with the statute as written. While I don’t agree with Mr. Luskin’s approach, I’m not outraged by it. He’s making use of the biggest weapon available to him in a fight, so my problem isn’t so much with Luskin, but with the law.
Either Luskin has a case in which case Atrios will have to hire a lawyer, slog it out, and ultimately comply; or Luskin doesn’t have a case, in which case Atrios will have to hire a lawyer, slog it out, and utlimately not comply. The cost, time, and effort will be about the same in either case. Of course, the meter is running for Luskin too, so this isn’t cost free for him, either. And this is why most of us would prefer to keep the blogosphere free from legal entanglements. We like being able to say anything and not have to worry about consequences.
I’d have more symphathy for Atrios but I couldn’t find where he had any sympathy for those who are normally targeted in the “real world” – those with deep pockets. The civil justice system is broke in this country, and while I don’t think any of the proposals I’ve seen so far have been sufficient to really fix its problems – the most significant of which is that it is a system of legal extortion and coercion. Further disclosure: the Other Fearless Leader is an insurance claims adjuster (and I’ll really put up some traffic numbers when I start telling her stories) and I have a somewhat different take on a lot of the civil suits out there (a word to the wise – move any relatives in nursing homes to Florida because when they die (yes, Virginia, its inevitable, despite what most people think) they’ll be worth a lot of money to their heirs regardless of why they died). Sometimes, the little guy is the ass, because he has the law on his side.
While I was there, I found the Krugman Cat Altitude Index to be very funny (full disclosure: I’m allergic to cats, so I find the KCAI much funnier than I would the KDAI).
I also found A.W.’s throwdown with Brad DeLong to be both interesting and revealing.
UPDATE: Luskin and Atrios have issued a joint statement that ends Luskin’s threat to file suit. And while there was much rejoicing, inquiring minds wonder if Atrios had to remove any comments and/or agree to remove comments of a particular nature in the future.
