Caution: That warning label on your cup of coffee isn't necessarily for your benefit. It's probably there to protect the company's bottom line. "Most of the common warnings you see today result either from regulation or from some lawsuit or anticipated lawsuit," says Ryan Calo, a lawyer who studies technology-related legal issues at Stanford. In the eyes of most corporations, lawsuits are the things that kill profits-so companies are willing to attach to their products even the most obvious or absurd warnings on the chance that it might help them avoid paying out when someone manages to,say,hurt themselves listening to an iPod. So: protection against dangerous products or against human stupidity? Maybe we should ask the surgeon general.
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