Bonum Certa Men Certa

Misuse of Buzzwords Like Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things to Dodge Liability

Hey Hi
Artificial Intelligence (Hey Hi) isn't a valid excuse



Summary: Terms like "Artificial Intelligence" have long been used and misused to justify wrong "moderation" and various accidents (such as 'driverless' [sic] cars), but we can help European officials see through the façade and hold reckless companies accountable, in spite of all these disingenuous 'legal hacks' with loopholes they exploit/create (through lobbying)

The EU is conducting a survey about some buzzwords, hype waves, and other nonsense. But eventually it is about liability, it is about who to hold accountable. Today, rather than present the survey, we'll focus on some background information.



The directive and supplementary information use terms such as "Artificial Intelligence" and "Internet of Things", so you know it's not about substance but nebulous concepts. From the main page: "REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE Report on the safety and liability implications of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics..."

Well, robotics is a real thing, machine learning methods are a real thing (statistics for the most part, albeit formalised within frameworks or sets of methodologies), but "Hey Hi" (AI) and the rest of it suggests we're dealing here not with technical people but politicians infatuated/brainwashed by marketing people and corporate lobbyists.

This other page says: "COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Evaluation of Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee on the Application of the Council Directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations, and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products (85/374/EEC)..."

This is about Directive 85/374/EEC, whose page says: "In 2020, the Commission published a report on the broader implications for, potential gaps in and orientations for, the liability and safety frameworks for artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics..."

Of interest:



At this point in time, an associate has noted, "the goal would be to increase general awareness so that informed decisions can be made [...] rather than a call to action at this time it needs to be an awareness [campaign to] bring attention to four links just posted above. In the fourth link it is only part 3 which is relevant. [...] with the proper background knowledge it is an opportunity to nudge things the right direction, perhaps."

“So we are left today with 100s of millions if idiot companies with their idiot bosses and frazzled employees sending attachments and having multiple, conflicting versions of the same document, and having lost messages (via Microsoft Exchange) to add on top of the normal stress.”
      --Techrights Associate
Putting aside buzzwords from EU officials, as the associate has worded it, "the questions in the survey are an attempt at addressing the problems even if they don't know much about the software design underneath. One aspect which can be worthy of copious amounts of text would be the question of how much software is actually fit for purpose and what the protections people should have if they use it as advertised. Microsoft can't have it both ways. They can't both blame the victim at the same time as they are telling the victim that the software should be used in the way they are blaming the victim for using it in."

"For example, they design interfaces to be clicked on and obfuscate a lot of important information, including metadata, while embedding scripts and such, advertising it all as desirable features. Yet when those features are (mis)used the user is blamed instead of the the vendor. Same for attachments. Furthermore the reason e-mail is used as a surrogate for file sharing is that Microsoft killed off Novell NetWare without either replacing the functionality or allowing the market to fill the vacuum. So we are left today with 100s of millions if idiot companies with their idiot bosses and frazzled employees sending attachments and having multiple, conflicting versions of the same document, and having lost messages (via Microsoft Exchange) to add on top of the normal stress."

We shall follow up at a later time/date with suggestions of feedback for the EU. The above background can (or could) help prepare for a potent response, which we'll do separately now that it's over.

This debate as a whole concerns strict liability and with the consultation out of the way we have some critical words.

"Current regulations regarding product liability seem to focus around goods sold and explicitly exclude services," our associate notes. "An increasing amount of software is tied or run on remote servers, putting them into a hybrid category. As these lean towards becoming services (e.g. Microsoft Office) how much of that is being done as a dodge from product liability regulations? Software is covered, technically, but ignored so far. Products, thus software, are covered in particularly when they are used as advertised. Therefore when Microsoft victims use Microsoft products as advertised and still get harmed, Microsoft is technically liable, even if the laws have not yet been enforced that way." [1, 2]

"Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985, article 6.1 could be revisited in the context of proprietary software:"

Article 6

1. A product is defective when it does not provide the safety which a person is entitled to expect, taking all circumstances into account, including:

(a) the presentation of the product; (b) the use to which it could reasonably be expected that the product would be put; (c) the time when the product was put into circulation.



To conclude: "Microsoft should not be allowed to abuse Art. 7b to try to dodge; any holes that exist are there are the time of publication, public or not."

We'll probably say a lot more later today, possibly in a video.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025