In article ,
Michael Black wrote:

I suspect it's a joke. It's specifies a couple of kit manufacturers,
one of which has pretty much disappeared and the other one of the big
names nowadays, and talks of modifying commercial equipment, but says
nothing about those who actually build stuff with solder.

I hope you're right.

I fear, though, that it might be the sort of bottom-feeding "look for
any excuse, file a class-action suit against a bunch of deep-pocket
companies, and aim for an out-of-court settlement" sort of thing. The
deep-pocket companies (Kenwood, Icom, and Yaesu look like the targets)
buy off the suit for a few million dollars (because the costs of
defending the suit, even successfully, would run to rather more than
that). The people suckered into agreeing to act as members of the
class end up filing claims and getting $0.50 each, and the lawyers
take at least a third of the total as fees.

Spoofs tend
to have that sort of narrowminded silliness about them. And it's
obvious to me that if anyone was liable, it would be the solder manufacturers
(or even the government for lax standards) and not specific kit manufacturers.

Alas, here in the United States, anybody can sue anyone over anything,
and force the defendants to shell out big bucks in legal fees. Even
if the defendants win, they may not be able to recover their legal
costs from the plaintiff.

It's distressingly common for lawyers to file "shotgun" liability
suits, including as defendants any party who had _any_ involvement in
the matter. In many states, if the plaintiff wins a judgement, and
most of the defendants have no money (e.g. the companies which are
bankrupt or nearly so), then any defendant _with_ money can be held
liable for the full judgement even if the court had found them only 1%
responsible for whatever damages occurred.

This is one reason why many companies "buy off" such lawsuits with an
out-of-court settlement which doesn't admit any liability. The
possible financial risk of losing the suit is often far too great.

A few puffs of solder when someone is taking a diode out of their rig
is not going to do anyone damage. Kit building does allow for more
contact with solder. But it's the build from scratch people who have
the most contact. I have little bits of solder all over the place, to
keep it handy just in case I need it or because I've had it in a pocket
or whatever.

You _do_ wash your hands before eating, if you've been handling it?

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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