Hacker News: wsng

New comment by wsng in "German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews"

wsng — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:33:26 +0000

The harm was not done to the readers of the AI generated response, but to the defamed companies.

And yes, it is ok to remove choice if the existence of that choice violates other person’s rights.

Google can continue offering that choice if they make sure nobody is defamed.

New comment by wsng in "German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews"

wsng — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:25:31 +0000

The ones who were defamed are companies, and the ones who don’t check the AI generated response are their potential customers which won’t buy from them.

It is obvious that the defamed companies are the ones having a problem, not the ignorant viewers.

Why should those companies not hold Google liable for that outcome?

New comment by wsng in "Facebook is paying people overseas promoting Alberta separatism"

wsng — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:03:40 +0000

> Just like 1.3 million global road traffic deaths per year are the price society pays for having cars, and believing that people should still be able to freely own and drive cars doesn’t make someone a “car absolutist”.

Car traffic is heavily regulated to reduce the harm being done by cars/drivers.

New comment by wsng in "Spain blocks prediction markets Polymarket, Kalshi over lack of gambling licence"

wsng — Wed, 27 May 2026 12:58:58 +0000

In German law, any contract, including bets, is void if it is “sittenwidrig”. For example, if your wager in a bet is to become one’ slave in case you lose, this bet is void.

New comment by wsng in "How to convert between wealth and income tax"

wsng — Fri, 22 May 2026 22:20:34 +0000

It's ok if they pay their taxes in shares, in case they ran out of money.

New comment by wsng in "Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to sovereign payment"

wsng — Wed, 20 May 2026 15:59:31 +0000

Lagarde is not a convicted criminal. She was convicted for negligence, but this is not a criminal conviction.

New comment by wsng in "Anthropic acquires Stainless"

wsng — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:21:04 +0000

The regulation is enforced if someone uses it as title, e.g “Diplom-Ingenieur Max Mustermann”. I am not aware of a court ruling for any other kind of use.

That being said, in Germany there is no official degree named Diplom-Ingenieur Softwareentwicklung, it is always Diplom-Informatiker. Also, the Expression “Softwareingenieur” is not used, the straightforward translation of software engineer would be either Informatiker (emphasizing the degree) or Softwareentwickler (emphasizing the skill).

This is no legal advice: As far as I know, the regulation is strictly about German titles, so putting “software engineer” in your LinkedIn CV is out of scope of this law.

New comment by wsng in "Dario Amodei calls OpenAI’s messaging around military deal ‘straight up lies’"

wsng — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 12:13:06 +0000

It's different with services. If you close a mobile phone contract and use it for spamming, the supplier can cancel your contract.

New comment by wsng in "I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services"

wsng — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 16:41:59 +0000

It was not a flawed idea, but flawed execution. The law should have mandated to adhere to the user's "do not track" setting in the browser.

That being said, it was very early regulation in this field, and more recent approaches are already better, e.g., GDPR, DMA.

New comment by wsng in "How to talk to anyone and why you should"

wsng — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:16:43 +0000

As part of a smalltalk training, we had to go out and approach strangers in the public. I entered a tram to try my luck. As soon as as I sat down, someone else started to talk to me, and we had a nice conversation. I didn't even need to break the ice myself. So I can (anecdotally) confirm that people can perceive if you want to connect or rather want to be left alone.