Hacker News Reader

Comment by mirimir | Hacker News Reader

Yes, I get that the Shadowserver Foundation does good work. And that they acted quickly, after being pointed to your tweet.

However, if your tweet hadn't gotten traction, and if Namecheap hadn't been proactive, you'd likely have never gotten the domain back. I mean, you had the Namecheap CEO on the case! And for a business losing a domain like that, it'd probably be fatal.

I get that many think that Americans are hugely too litigious. But there is the argument that there ought to be compensation for damages.

You say that "[t]he primary loss I suffered was in terms of time". But arguably your time is worth something. Such as your customary billing rate, times three.

Edit: Or just send them an invoice. At perhaps 50% over your customary billing rate, given that it was a rush job.

View on HN

> I get that many think that Americans are hugely too litigious. But there is the argument that there ought to be compensation for damages.

That point of view is rather unfortunate. Why does it have to be about damages? GP even ends his comment on a very postitive note about things that would help. Not every mistake needs to be punished. It was a false positive, and it was heartening to see that all the parties acted fast enough. Why not just move on instead of outraging over hypothetical concerns?

EDIT: I have no idea how to quote parent comments here.

I was kind heartened by how quick they reacted. However it is quite true that Americans are very litigious; however, austria, germany, israel are worse than us, and England isn't far behind.

I don’t think I hear anybody from those countries talk about sueing nearly as much as any US citizen.

What is your source for that?

> Why does it have to be about damages?

If someone attacks you, and causes physical or even mental damage, they typically face criminal and/or civil penalties.

That's common, throughout the world.

> Not every mistake needs to be punished.

Maybe so. But the people responsible for the damage could proactively offer compensation. That'd arguably be the honorable and compassionate thing to do.

> It was a false positive, and it was heartening to see that all the parties acted fast enough.

It's clear that they acted recklessly. So it's not just a "false positive". And what's "fast enough"? A few days after a totally implausible attack isn't that fast. It should have been fixed within the day. After at most a few emails.

>But arguably your time is worth something. Such as your customary billing rate, times three.

Wouldn't the legal fees and time spent litigating exceed the winnings?

Yes, that's a good point.

But maybe some attorney might do it pro bono.

You know, for the exposure.

Or just on contingency, if it's an open-and-shut case.

In a lawsuit, the fees can be added to the damages.

Generally no, they can't. In the US. Other countries have different rules.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney%27s_fe...

> I get that many think that Americans are hugely too litigious

No, really they aren't. There are a lot of lawyers in America, but most never set foot in a courtroom. They mostly just do "important" paperwork and give advice on following rules.

I know a lawyer who last month wanted to sue someone in federal court, only to discover that Joe Random lawyer is not allowed to file lawsuits in federal court; he had no idea that there was such a thing as a federal trial bar and that membership requires significant experience in federal court under the supervision of a member. He spent a week trying to find anyone that would be willing to file his lawsuit but none would. So he hired a law firm to sue in state court - that is much easier I guess. Anyway, the point is that he is a good lawyer with years of experience doing the lawyer thing, but no experience with litigation. That's normal.

Average Americans are not litigious, because the overwhelming majority of Americans would not actually be able to afford a lawyer if it came to it. Lawyers are expensive.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com