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Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

lawforcomputerscientists.pubpub.org

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Re: Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

#51

Post by johndhi »

eru wrote: post #43
johndhi wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Yes. That's the idea. The US legal system relies more on "ex post" legal enforcement - meaning, if you break the law then you get busted and you personally pay the victim. Europe is a more "ex ante" system - they rely on regulators to strictly define what the law should look like exactly and actually requires industry to do very specific things to comply with it. If someone gets hurt the system compensates t…

UK doesn't seem to have quite as much suing as the US? And they also have a common law system. In contrast, German military procurement is famous for its endless lawsuits.

One different with UK is they use the 'English Rule' of fee-shifting. In English civil lawsuits, the losing party has to pay the attorneys fees of the other party.

In the US, there's basically no downside of suing someone if you can keep your own costs down.

Re: Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

#52

Post by Terr_ »

geraldhh wrote: post #48
Terr_ wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you include common-law and look at the broader cycle, I'd argue the legal system is more like a JIT optimization rather than source code: We formalize and streamline lots of existing implicit social rules and shared expectations, things that exist-before and can operate-without any formal legal text... Just not as well. In other words, the relationship is more like recipes versus cooking. People cooked foods fir…

thou nobody ever got put in jail because he defied the recipe

King Henry III disagrees [0], but arguably that's both.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assize_of_Bread_and_Ale

Re: Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

#53

Post by gamblor956 »

trashtester wrote: post #47
gamblor956 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally, what the average programmer "knows" about the law is the equivalent to what the average lawyer "knows" about programming: the superficial, easy stuff that you can pick up without any actual training or effort.

Virtually every grown-up will interact with the law multiple times per day, especially traffic laws. Half the population has not written a single computer program in their life.

Virtually every grown-up will use a computer multiple times per day, even all day.

That is the same level of interaction as your example.

Re: Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

#54

Post by eru »

johndhi wrote: post #51
eru wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UK doesn't seem to have quite as much suing as the US? And they also have a common law system. In contrast, German military procurement is famous for its endless lawsuits.

One different with UK is they use the 'English Rule' of fee-shifting. In English civil lawsuits, the losing party has to pay the attorneys fees of the other party. In the US, there's basically no downside of suing someone if you can keep your own costs down.

That makes sense, thanks!

Re: Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

#55

Post by trashtester »

gamblor956 wrote: post #53
trashtester wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Virtually every grown-up will interact with the law multiple times per day, especially traffic laws. Half the population has not written a single computer program in their life.

Virtually every grown-up will use a computer multiple times per day, even all day. That is the same level of interaction as your example.

I didn't argue about "using a computer", only about "programming".

I agree that "using a computer" is an experience most people will have a similar exposure to as they have to legal matters.

"Programming" is more analogous to writing litigation documents or contracts, where formal errors tend to have very bad consequences.

Re: Law for Computer Scientists (2020)

#56

Post by johndhi »

godelski wrote: post #44
johndhi wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. Thanks. But... When I offer to do this here no one takes me up on it! So maybe the world doesn't need my blog.

Maybe it is the phrasing. I think it might help if you followed a format like Lawyer in tech here. I find these types of articles often disappointing because the focus on technicalities rather than the real takeaways. For example, the article points out but the take away is . If anyone has additional questions I'd be happy to answer I think this would generate more engagement. Personally, I have so little knowledge i…

Great point. Thank you.
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