RE: Legal requirements RE: statistics

Kynn asked why arent more lawsuits being filed.  My answer would be at least
in Australia because Law Suits are considered last resorts.

The first step would be a long process of concilliation probably with the
assistance of HREOC and resort to the court is only as a last resort. I
would be almost certain that this has occured in more than just the SOCOG
and the companies have done the right thing without legal action being
needed.

It would appear that to some extent this process has happened in education
in the US too but not being there I cannot be definite about that.

Australia does not have a history of the huge damages claims that the US
seems to make so court action is not generally performed through thoughts of
profit so ambulance chasing is not a feature here.

Laws only provide the underpinning for a society's behavior they are
generally not the main reason for the behavior of individuals in society but
help to protect society when members will not behave in acceptible fashions.

I do not generally go round punching people, not because there is a law but
because it is not right to do so.  Sadly some members of society seem to
ignore the moral reasons and the legal reasons and need the courts to deal
with them.  There would also be a larger section of society that the law
provides at least some deterent from performing the action.

THe law should not have to be used to stop discrimination but may provide an
extra reason to do so.

Harry WOodrow



-
Then why aren't more lawsuits being filed?  Is there a shortage of
ambulance chasing lawyers or something?

--Kynn

PS:  To be clear on where I stand -- of course I am for accessibility,
     but that doesn't mean that I believe that all arguments made for
     accessibility are necessarily correct or even useful.  Perhaps it's
     a uniquely American perspective -- the idea that the government
     should NOT necessarily be required to get involved in every
     possible aspect of regulation.  Maybe it's a futile hope; I am
     sure that thanks to logic like that which you're espousing now,
     communications media such as the Web or discussion lists will
     quickly, within a few decades, be legislated into worthlessness.
     Nonetheless, I continue to cling to my naive belief that
     education and social responsibility may solve this problem
     -before- the governments of the world legislate expression on
     the web.

Received on Wednesday, 16 January 2002 03:15:09 UTC