I’m suspicious that Lightcone has already been deterred.
Even if they haven’t, we should prefer/pursue punishments that don’t involve setting a bunch of money on fire to pay lawyers, with a lawsuit as the last resort; we are not yet at that last resort, and probably won’t ever end up there.
Deterrence isn’t merely about Lightcone being deterred from future action, but also about other parties that are considering saying potentially defamatory things regarding others. If they can see that past defamatory statements carried legal consequences, they may be more inclined to exercise greater care; thus harm from future defamatory statements could be avoided.
I’m suspicious that Lightcone has already been deterred.
Even if they haven’t, we should prefer/pursue punishments that don’t involve setting a bunch of money on fire to pay lawyers, with a lawsuit as the last resort; we are not yet at that last resort, and probably won’t ever end up there.
Deterrence isn’t merely about Lightcone being deterred from future action, but also about other parties that are considering saying potentially defamatory things regarding others. If they can see that past defamatory statements carried legal consequences, they may be more inclined to exercise greater care; thus harm from future defamatory statements could be avoided.