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>they can't just write a single thing that writes all wrongs. Found the attorney! Nobody asked for "a single thing that writes all wrongs." Simple, broad laws

>they can't just write a single thing that writes all wrongs. Found the attorney! Nobody asked for "a single thing that writes all wrongs." Simple, broad laws can absolutely be written, they are especially easy to write, and they are usually the best laws for decent average citizens, but decent average citizens are not who laws are written for in the United States. Most people already know this.

kulahan 1y ago
Isn’t it kind of helpful to have an attorney’s opinion on law? Anyways, it’s very easy to complain there isn’t a law which eliminates whatever fees you think are ridiculous across a large swathe of industries. What specific implementation would you suggest, though? I’ve not heard of these apparently simple approaches.
- ImPostingOnHN 1y ago
  > What specific implementation would you suggest, though? I’ve not heard of these apparently simple approaches. Good question! Thank you for asking, I will do my best to help provide the answer: One common implementation is to require that all marketing show the final price most prominently, which seems reasonable to me. "But wait," some may interject, "That final price may vary depending on jurisdiction!" Yes, that is true, and entirely possible to deal with, and requiring advertisers to account for that is a better solution than requiring all customers to deal with the alternative. Besides, nobody is forcing the company to vary the price. They can just charge a flat price that accounts for the average of all local fees, and/or eat the fees, which was the intent of the legislation in the first place.
  - kulahan 1y ago
    Thanks for answering! So you’re saying the solution is basically more clarity? I think I could agree with that. Probably effects similar to when we added calorie counts to menus here in America.
- Spivak 1y ago
  I don't exactly want a law that eliminates the fees, just that displayed prices are the "out the door" price that can be broken down however you like internally. Without it it's much more work to comparison shop because you have to actually try and purchase from everyone to see the real price.
ncallaway 1y ago
> Simple, broad laws can absolutely be written, This isn’t a law. It’s a regulatory policy. Simple, broad laws have another term that you can often use to describe them: “sweeping”. Those kinds of changes are better left to legislators, who are responsive to political pressure and subject to elections. I’m all for regulatory rulemaking by executives, but it should generally be careful narrow rulemaking. Simple, broad, sweeping changes should generally be left to the legislature.
- ImPostingOnHN 1y ago
  > I’m all for regulatory rulemaking by executives, but it should generally be careful narrow rulemaking. Simple, broad, sweeping changes should generally be left to the legislature. I would agree, if not for the empirical evidence showing us that legislators rarely make the changes that the people want. If they're not going to do it, somebody else has to. Narrower changes would be nice, but they require a correspondingly short feedback loop of decide-act-adjust, which does not currently exist for legislators or most government administrators. If one desires narrower changes, I encourage them to first ensure the government moves and responds to customer (citizen) needs, faster than it currently does. Either way, government structure and action should be what meets the needs of the people.
moomin 1y ago
Broad laws and regulations have obvious problems that should be evident to anyone who works with code for a living. There’s a reason lawyers are cautious and precise.

kulahan 1y ago

Isn’t it kind of helpful to have an attorney’s opinion on law? Anyways, it’s very easy to complain there isn’t a law which eliminates whatever fees you think are ridiculous across a large swathe of industries. What specific implementation would you suggest, though? I’ve not heard of these apparently simple approaches.

ImPostingOnHN 1y ago
> What specific implementation would you suggest, though? I’ve not heard of these apparently simple approaches. Good question! Thank you for asking, I will do my best to help provide the answer: One common implementation is to require that all marketing show the final price most prominently, which seems reasonable to me. "But wait," some may interject, "That final price may vary depending on jurisdiction!" Yes, that is true, and entirely possible to deal with, and requiring advertisers to account for that is a better solution than requiring all customers to deal with the alternative. Besides, nobody is forcing the company to vary the price. They can just charge a flat price that accounts for the average of all local fees, and/or eat the fees, which was the intent of the legislation in the first place.
- kulahan 1y ago
  Thanks for answering! So you’re saying the solution is basically more clarity? I think I could agree with that. Probably effects similar to when we added calorie counts to menus here in America.
Spivak 1y ago
I don't exactly want a law that eliminates the fees, just that displayed prices are the "out the door" price that can be broken down however you like internally. Without it it's much more work to comparison shop because you have to actually try and purchase from everyone to see the real price.

ncallaway 1y ago

> Simple, broad laws can absolutely be written, This isn’t a law. It’s a regulatory policy. Simple, broad laws have another term that you can often use to describe them: “sweeping”. Those kinds of changes are better left to legislators, who are responsive to political pressure and subject to elections. I’m all for regulatory rulemaking by executives, but it should generally be careful narrow rulemaking. Simple, broad, sweeping changes should generally be left to the legislature.

ImPostingOnHN 1y ago
> I’m all for regulatory rulemaking by executives, but it should generally be careful narrow rulemaking. Simple, broad, sweeping changes should generally be left to the legislature. I would agree, if not for the empirical evidence showing us that legislators rarely make the changes that the people want. If they're not going to do it, somebody else has to. Narrower changes would be nice, but they require a correspondingly short feedback loop of decide-act-adjust, which does not currently exist for legislators or most government administrators. If one desires narrower changes, I encourage them to first ensure the government moves and responds to customer (citizen) needs, faster than it currently does. Either way, government structure and action should be what meets the needs of the people.

moomin 1y ago

Broad laws and regulations have obvious problems that should be evident to anyone who works with code for a living. There’s a reason lawyers are cautious and precise.