A company produces a landmine. I set the landmine up on my neighbour's front porch where it autonomously awaits its victim. Not autonomous enough? I purchase a "smartmine" where I can train it to interpret cues about whether it is my neighbour or just a visitor walking out his front door.

Is there ANY question who is at fault here?

You might think that the issue isn't when it *works* but when it *doesn't work*. I program it to take out a troublesome pigeon and it misunderstands and blows up a family of four walking by. I still wonder how it isn't my responsibility for knowing what I was buying and how I'm using it.

If I speak with the company and they warrant in a signed document that it will only, under any circumstances, take out pigeons THEN I can point the finger when pieces of the Johnsons end up on my roof. I have effectively asked the company to take the risk, likely for a price, and they have accepted. Or I have taken out insurance (by the way, SEVERELY risking my reputation as an effective pigeon management company).

I'm baffled at how people are trying so desperately to make an issue of this. This age of avoiding personal responsibility really has to stop.

And rights issue? Maybe I should stop now...