January 20, 2008
Autism, WiFi, and Law
Some months ago, there were any number of reports that there was a correlation between increased use of Wi-Fi, and other communications technologies, and incidence of autism. An example of such a report can be found from Business Wire, entitled, “Research on Correlation Between Autism, Cell Phones, and Wireless Computers by Tamara Mariea.”
That’s correlation, not causation, by the way.
For a thorough debunking of the Wi-Fi and autism correlation, see the solid analysis at Ars Technica, entitled, “Autism and WiFi, a Detailed Debunking.”
This is one of the times that, concerns about the excessive creativity of the plaintiff’s bar notwithstanding, one can be sanguine about the legal value of work like Mariea’s. The cost of undertaking a case is high, in analysis and money, and is a barrier to crackpot theories. Could be, might be, perhaps, etc. are just not enough to justify a case against any number of tech companies with the means to mount a thorough, compelling defense.
The cost for a press release of a shoddy study is low, but fortunately, law sets the cost of a lawsuit far higher.
