this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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Does anyone have a TL;DW? Cause I just smashed the transcript into DuckDuckGo AI Chat on GPT-4o and asked it to summarise it and it came up with this
Which isn't helping enough
Disney lawyers are using an arbitration clause in their Disney account agreement to try to dismiss a lawsuit over a death caused by allergies at Raglan Road. You should be able to find the articles from there.
It's a bit simplistic to say that it's specifically a Disney+ issues.
To summarize differently, their argument goes that if you signed up for a trial of Disney+ (or some other such service), you agreed to an arbitration clause as part of the terms of service.
They are arguing that the arbitration clause therefore applies to everything Disney-related, even if it's a service unrelated to Disney+.
I doubt this will stand a court's scrutiny and will likely get tossed as unenforceable for being an unconscionable contract. Still, Disney sucks for even attempting such a maneuver, and it equally sucks that the US legal system is in such a state that they think this is a possible avenue for success.
I wonder how much of it is Disney thinks this might actually work versus the ole delay, delay, delay tactic. Probably a little bit of both.
They're gonna do the delay tactic too but this is more insidious.
The amount of money the husband is asking for isn't all that much, pennies to them and in the greater scheme of things this is a nothing suit to them, low stakes. Since it's low stakes they're trying this tactic first to see if it'll stick and create that dangerous precedent. I don't suspect it'll go through but with all these right wing pro capitalist judges it might, and it's worth trying for them since it's such a low stakes suit.
The even bigger irony is that he only sued for $50k. That’s peanuts for big D. Their lawyers probably got more for digging up that arbitration clause.
Disney will happily spend a million to defend against 50k if they have a chance of getting a court decision that their contract is valid for everything associated with the Disney brand
It’s broader than just a Disney+ trial account, it’s part of the whole Disney account, such as when you buy tickets as he did in 2023. Between that and the Florida judge I’m not sure it will get thrown out.
Best case scenario is forced arbitration is just ended. It should be an option, not a requirement.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jl0ekjr0go
I wonder if you can buy tickets in person to avoid making the account.
Except Disney lawyers actually cited the clause the in the Disney+ subscription.
Yes, there's more, but they actually cited Disney+.
I really can't emphasize that enough.
Guy dies in Disneyland. Family sues. Disney lawyers say he can't sue since guy-that-died had subscribed to Disney+ before and agreed to the terms of service. The terms of service he probably scrolled by when he registered say "you can't sue us". That was the most recent move I've heard.
That's an insane oversimplification of the proceedings but it appears like it's gonna come down to this clause. The clause that the user signs upon registering to Disney+ is a binding arbitration clause. You can read more about that here: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mandatory-binding-arbitration.asp
Basically says you waive your right to sue us. Ianal btw. Also Discord has this same clause in their terms of service.
Disney is taking it waaaay further than anyone else by saying a free trial to D+ means any legal interaction with Disney goes to arbitration, not just for D+.
Arbitration clauses in EULAs are bullshit anyway, but if this isn't thrown out of court in a way that kills the concept of being able to sue for damages when every business adds this clause.
If this holds up in court and becomes precedent it will create a lot of people with nothing left to lose with a lot of grudges against these companies. I can't say I would have any sympathy if executives became targets for heinous acts of violence stemming from such an injustice.
This. With digital feudalism now crossing into the physical realm this way, it'd be nice to see people finally sharpening their guillotines.
It was a woman that died I believe, and it's her husband suing. It was him that signed up for the trial though, not the wife. The death was also caused by anaphylaxis, after the couple repeatedly checked in about the allergy being accommodated and were assured it would be.
Right. I was not aware of that. This whole thing is just horrible. Really hope this clause can't be enforced. Disneyland's neglect caused a death.
Yeah like, lawyers and corporations are messed up, but this really feels like a new low.
AYO how is that legal? What some random commercial company made up can't be above the law, right?
Capitalism!
:-(
The video is 2 part, first is the summary of the case and another is about why this argument from Disney is the biggest pro piracy argument.
Basically, the case is about a doctor who had a food allergy and went to a Disney owned restaurant that promised to cater to people with food allergies. The doctor asked staff 5 times to make sure they were aware of her allergies, and all 5 times they said yes. It's literally the most straightforward wrongful death case ever. But then Disney decided they want to fuck more people over, so they made an argument that the case should tossed and move to arbitration because her husband signed up to Disney streaming service on a free trial, years ago. And Disney is ignoring a lot of other facts, like that husband is not the one suing, her estate is, he cancelled the trial before the period ended, so he wasn't even a subscriber at the time. The streaming site has an arbitration clause, but Disney park doesn't so it doesn't even matter. If the case can't go forward, it will be only because US is a corporate-owned shithole, legally it's a moot argument.
As far as piracy, it just highlights how fucked up everything is since if the husband just pirated, DIsney couldn't have used that argument in court. So Disney created a situation now that if you want to be able to sue them for your loved one's death - pirate Disney. It's the most pro piracy argument that even the biggest normies can relate to.
In an attempt to weasel out of the liability for the woman's death Disney's lawyers pulled out the forced arbitration clause of the widower's Disney+ subscription.
Meaning they're effectively arguing that because he gives them money to use their service they should be allowed to get away with murder or at least criminal negligence.
I don't think they've realised yet, what a foot-gun this argument is. On top of the obvious moral issues with this line of argument. I mean, this has "give us your firstborn" vibes.
Assuming I read that right, and assuming that's right: Person bought Disney+. Clicked accept in the EULA when they did. Was served food that gave them allergic reaction. Binding arbitration agreement basically means their case against Disney was tried by Disney employees instead of in court. If they pirated content instead of paying, they never would have accepted the EULA, and they would have gotten to sue Disney in a real court.
Tbh that is the video more or less. What’s unclear? Happy to help.
Why would it suddenly be not OK if the victim pirated..?
He said it is totally ok to pirate - as per the summary he has argued this from several angles. This is a new one.
His point is folks are being punished for following the rules.
I gotchu fam.
Disney big boy, doing bad boy stuff. Oopsy killed someone but says it's ok, might get away with it.
Buying stuff now is all a service, go old school and buy paper books and pirate digital stuff. If the person who died at Disney had been a pirate, then Disney would be NOT OK MURDERER.
Yeah I don't understand the logic behind that last one.
If the person who died at Disney had not paid for Disney plus, but instead had pirated what they wanted to watch on Disney plus, they would not have signed the contract with Disney plus. That contract forfeited them the right to sue Disney.