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There's a subtle difference: pharmacists are regulated by statute and are legally liable if medication they dispense on prescription causes injury. (Source: I u
by cstross 10y ago
There's a subtle difference: pharmacists are regulated by statute and are legally liable if medication they dispense on prescription causes injury. (Source: I used to be a pharmacist -- in the UK, > 25 years ago, precise regulations vary by jurisdiction.)
Ad networks are utterly unregulated. In terms of this pharmacy metaphor they're snake-oil salesmen.
- Retric 10y agoAll industry's are regulated. The general case is normal laws. Ad networks serving links to compromised websites is likely already illegal.
- cstross 10y agoI'm talking about professional registration (exams, licenses to practice, supervisory body, jail sentences for impersonation, forefeiture of registration for ethics infractions), not bog-standard trade law.
- Retric 10y agoIn the case of Ad networks serving up malware I don't know if that's a real defense. Yes, proactive regulation is often far more effective, but reactive regulation can often catch the worst offenders.