Jack Allnutt

Software Engineer 👨‍💻
Europhile 🇪🇺
Lib Dem 🔶
Living in #Manchester 🐝 (well, technically #Salford).

Bridged BlueSky account: [@jack.allnutt.net](https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/jack.allnutt.net )

Twitter (in abeyance): https://twitter.com/allnutt_eu
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jack.allnutt.net
OS: :archlinux:
Pronouns: he/him

Last Notes

2026-08-15 19:00:54 UTC

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So many people smugly saying "bah, why do we need to be told not to use BBQs or fire pits, it's obvious it's hot and dry" yesterday.
Well, this is why 🤦‍♂️

2026-08-15 18:53:09 UTC

It's been ~25 hours since that emergency alert.
I can smell that somebody has lit a barbeque.
🙃

2025-06-19 16:58:39 UTC

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Personally, I am... wary of arbitration clauses.They can be less formal (and potentially cheaper) that going to The Court. But there are structural issues (an asymmetry of power) that can be abused. I would rather see an _option_ for arbitration than a mandate for it.

2025-06-19 16:58:28 UTC

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I will concede that you didn't intentionally peddle untruth so "disinformation" is too strong. "Misinformation" would still be appropriate, though IMO.
You asserted, without evidence, that mastodon.social's managers could cause somebody's death and suffer no consequences, then "I am trying not to be dramatic here".
My contention is that making that assertion is irresponsible, irrespective of whether arbitration is good or bad a) in this case, specifically; or b) in general.

2025-06-19 16:12:23 UTC

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(The CJEU case law is also retained EU law in the UK post-Brexit, with the High court saying "there can be no dispute that the UTCCD represents public policy" in the scope of the Arbitration Act 1996 - Para 105 of Payward v Chechetkin, [2023] EWHC 1780 (Comm))

2025-06-19 16:10:23 UTC

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Okay, well then:
* Council Directive 93/13/EEC - unfair terms in a consumer contract are not binding on the consumer. Annex 1(a) and (q) are particularly relevant here.
* CJEU cases C-168/05 and C‑40/08 - Arbitration awards where the arbitration clause is unfair are to be annulled, even if the unfairness wasn't argued during the arbitral proceedings.

2025-06-19 15:05:28 UTC

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Where are *your* citations that show that a German organisation would be shielded, under German arbitration law, from all consequences of it causing a death?
After all, you made that original claim, you should be able to provide evidence that it's true, right?

2025-06-19 14:09:47 UTC

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Well I would be *incredibly* surprised if England and Wales would allow an arbitration clause to ouster the court when it comes to an action resulting from a party to an agreement causing another party's death.
I would expect the same in most other European territories too as Article 2 of the ECHR places a positive obligation on states to protect the right to life - preventing criminal or civil proceedings for causing a death would almost certainly violate that.

2025-06-19 12:50:33 UTC

I'm disappointed by @npub1fdr…lvhs's posts regarding mastodon.social's proposed terms of service.
Saying that the arbitration clause would allow the instance's management to cause a user's death and face no consequences is - frankly - *disinformation*.
Yeah, he cites the Disney issue but he ignores the vital fact that Berlin is not Florida - not everything or everywhere is as fucked up as the United States.
This isn't to say that the arb clause is good, but those posts arguing against are *bad*

2025-05-17 20:23:26 UTC

Burned-in subtitles? huh? Why does Italy have these but others didn't #Eurovision

2024-05-29 15:38:06 UTC

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Embedded schema.org metadata in websites? Granted there are only a couple of consumers, but a large number of publishers