Current Industry Liabilities

HBO’s drama series ‘Luck’ recently ended due to the death of three horses. Two of the horses developed stress fractures and had to be put down; the third horse died in its stall after it started rearing up then suddenly falling. California Penal Code section 597 reads that every person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills any animal, or causes or procures any animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance... is, for each offense, guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision. Luck was huge production for HBO but with all the dismay this incident has caused, the channel could not afford to keep the show. “Among those condemning the equine deaths was People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which called oversight of the animals' welfare inadequate and alleged that old, unfit horses were being overworked” (Elder, 2012). In my opinion I think the show should have been cancelled as well. There should be no reason why those horses were overworked. I understand that there are deadlines and dates to make, but horses that are retired racers should not be doing the work of a full time racer.

Earlier this year, the government of Ireland was sued by EMI for the delay in passing a SOPA-like law requiring ISP censorship. Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock, fears this block will put a limit on the opportunity of innovation. There are currently 80,000 signatures opposing the legislation. In my opinion, I agree that this limitation will put a limit on the innovation for Ireland (Meister, 2012). I agree with the need for the law, but perhaps there can be a whole in the system for programs that involve innovation.

Barbara Walters was recently in a lawsuit that was holding her accountable for bullying her daughter’s ex girlfriend into being silent. Barbara didn’t want the lesbian relationship to “ruin” anyone’s reputation. Barbara previously mentioned the incident in her autobiography, but left out the lesbian description. She said her daughter’s ex-girlfriend was kicked out of school for abusing drugs. Barbara Walters won the defamation lawsuit. In my opinion, I think Barbara is guilty of this negligent act. I think Barbara should pay for bullying a young person into being quiet over her personal life so in order to protect her own (Gardner, 2012).

Sources:

Elder, L. (2012). 'luck' horse deaths: Hbo drama featured 'unprecedented' losses before cancellation. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/17/luck-horse-deaths-hbo_n_1355380.html

Gardner, E. (2012). Barbara walters wins defamation lawsuit brought by daughter's ex-lover. Retrieved from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/barbara-walters-lawsuit-defamation-305334

Meister, S. (2012). With foes aplenty, ‘irish sopa’ now is law. Biederman Blog, Retrieved from http://biedermanblog.com/technology