Re: Hit Man Manual

[Don Stovicek <drstove -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

What a horror story, Tim. I don't imagine the family of the person who died
would agree with you, but as a writer I understand precisely where you are going
with you very pertinent statements. This case is so absurd. What the hell
happened to the Constitution and Bill of Rights?

Thanks,
Don Stovicek


Tim Altom wrote:

> I just caught a short story in the paper about Paladin Press being sued for
> publishing its book on techniques for being a hit man. Somebody bought it
> and used the techniques to kill a woman. Her estate's suing Paladin.
>
> Now, I'd imagine that few of us write murder manuals (although thoughts of
> murder do creep in from time to time during the process) but the story mused
> about the wider meaning of the appeals ruling that threw out Paladin's claim
> of First Amendment protection. Websites about picking locks and avoiding
> taxes could be next. And it started me thinking about even wider potential.
>
> I know that over the years I've had to put in safety messages that could, if
> taken out of context by an unscrupulous rogue, be used as a recipe for
> destruction. For example, saying "Mixing these two chemicals could result in
> an explosion, toxic gas, and attendant death of bystanders" is just another
> way of telling a would-be terrorist "Mix these, stand well back, and enjoy
> the fun". Almost any warning about poisons, toxins, radiation, or biohazards
> could be used this way. And it would be almost impossible to skirt the
> subject without eliminating all the warning benefits, too.
>
> Granted, it's a ways from Paladin's book to a manual, but are we liable if a
> scumball uses information we've innocently provided as a means of
> destruction? Are we presumed to know better than to provide such
> information? Are we in the position, as the law so quaintly puts it, "knew
> or should have known"? We are, after all, the professionals here, and the
> law might well presume that we should have been the ones to anticipate such
> tragic consequences. We're probably not criminally liable in any case, but
> civil suits are a much different animal, requiring far different standards
> of proof and inference.
>
> The Paladin appeals court is in Virginia, by the way.  Paladin is
> headquartered in Colorado. And just to be strictly precise, all the appeals
> court decided was that Paladin's book wasn't covered by the First Amendment.
> Everything else is still up in the air. So I'd suppose our manuals aren't
> covered, either.
>
> Tim Altom
> Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
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