KNC wins Class Action against Miners. Court rules all a Business. Thus Lost.

[Searing]

KNC has won the class action in Swedish Courts. The courts have ruled that anyone who bought a KNC product of any type is automatically a 'business'.

Thus not protected by Swedish consumer protection laws nor by the very tough EU consumer protection laws.

So says Coindesk.

here is the link.

http://www.coindesk.com/swedish-court-rules-against-kncminer-mining-hardware-customers/


Man 1.5k usd  non refundable per KNC product to your own class action law firm and now responsible for the 90k usd to  KNC gets from you losing the class action.

Man ..KNC ..they sure got this 'Evil ASIC Empire' thing down pat

Edit: Some hope 😄 This does NOT seem to be the larger 100 person class action on review

[Longsnowsm]

Sadly after hearing about the other similar cases I really expected this was the direction this would take.  Their questionable business practices and warranty practices are pretty slimy, but hard to get recourse for this kind of thing.  Works out great for Knc, they got the seed money they needed to build a business, and exploit the market to get what they wanted...  Ethics doesn't seem like a strong suite for them.

All you can do is hope that there are enough people that remember and are able to tell people to stay away when the next BTC pump happens and Knc decides to drop another miner on the market.  I think we all expect that if the next gold rush of the pump happens that "mining hardware" companies will come out of the woodwork, and at least with this company we know up front if you buy something from them your pretty much on your own no matter what happens.  

I feel bad for everyone who is in the class action suite.  This is really messed up.

[tmfp]

Yeah, this is shit and fwiw KNC will be remembered for it (albeit amongst a group of neckbeards who don't matter a f*ck).

IANAL, but I'd have though that "hobby miners" would have normal consumer rights under the
 "an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession"
proviso.
Obviously not, according to the Swedes.

[sidehack]

So you can circumvent consumer protection laws by convincing the court that all your customers are by definition businesses for no other reason than that they are your customers. I'd say they got their money's worth out of that lawyer.

Does that mean there are no business protection laws? You can rip off other businesses as much as you want without fear of consequences? Or would that have to be a different lawsuit which they'd clearly lose but now nobody can afford to sue them under business protection laws because all the money's already spent on the logical course of action for consumers seeking protection under the law?

[Searing]

On review this does not seem to be the large 100 folk class action, thou not looking good

[NotFuzzyWarm]

To me it seems the key point is that the plaintiffs directly 'make income' from the miners vs crafters or hobbyists using a machine or tool to make something and then keep it or give away at no cost to friends,family, etc. That makes the buyers a business vs a consumer. The fact that a miner generally runs 24x7x365 doing what it does (generating income) clinches it.

Now if the suit(s) had been based on simple failure to fulfill the terms of a sales contract or other Breach of Contract I think the Courts wold have looked at it differently.

[philipma1957]

And a  new case for a gpu coin has been made.

I can see the end of asic mining with this type of decision.


Just think a pc with all parts having a 1 or more year warranty vs an asic miner where a 90 day warranty at best.

this is looking better it uses 350 watts pretty quiet and under warranty for a year or more depends on what part.

[RoadStress]

Didn't expected this! FU Sam Cole!

[toptek]

can they appeal in Sweden or is it worth it.!!!!!

[dogie]

can they appeal in Sweden or is it worth it.!!!!!

The papers say yes but that the risk is too high of just incurring more costs and getting no where. They're considering appealing the awarding of costs though.

[Unacceptable]

And a  new case for a gpu coin has been made.

I can see the end of asic mining with this type of decision.


Just think a pc with all parts having a 1 or more year warranty vs an asic miner where a 90 day warranty at best.

this is looking better it uses 350 watts pretty quiet and under warranty for a year or more depends on what part.

Yep,I get 5 year warranties on my mobo's & HDD's,3 years on vid cards   

And ANYONE at ANYTIME can get this stuff almost ANYWHERE...ASICs not so much,if they want to sell at all & not self mine & raise the diff 

Wow KnC got away with it...BFL got away with it,etc.......... 

[edgar]

Assumed or perhaps misunderstood theyd paid off the entire swedish judiciary over a year ago.

wasnt it the case that the Class action ppl found it almost impossible to find a lawyer?

either way, im not surprised.

greedy cunts usually get their own way.

i wouldnt be surprised to see shitcunt sam cole knighted or the swedish equivalent thereof.



oh, monsieur - with your blatant fraud earned millions, you are really spoiling us!

[QuintLeo]

Makes me happy I never bought anything from KNC.

 Doesn't affect my future plans though, as I never planned to buy any of their "breaks too often, CRAP design" junk anyway.

[edgar]

some salt

http://swedishstartupspace.com/2016/05/27/knc-miner-declares-bankruptcy-chinese-competition-too-tough/

[tmfp]

KNC, Spondoolies....small to medium size fabricators/miners going broke, anyone see a pattern here?
Who would be next in that category I wonder?
No, surely not....

[sidehack]

Well, we've all been waiting for KNC to give up the ghost. Wasn't there talk about their hosting losing money over a year ago, and what have they really accomplished since then?

[RoadStress]

KNC, Spondoolies....small to medium size fabricators/miners going broke, anyone see a pattern here?
Who would be next in that category I wonder?
No, surely not....

Who is left? Bitmain and Bitfury. None of them will fall. Anyone else?(except 21 Inc ofc)

[fanatic26]

BW has a new chip out now as well.

21 Inc doesnt count. You cant mine for profit with them.

[HagssFIN]

So, 4 manufacturers left?
Bitmain, BW, Bitfury and Canaan Creative

[iCEBREAKER]

Despicable.

ASIC manufacturers are shining examples of the old adage "Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Utter human garbage we're dealing with at high levels in Bitcoin ASIC space.

The despicable thing here is Bitcoiners who gamble on ASICs, hoping (or 100% Certain) they will profit in terms of Stateless Internet Money, but then run mewling like starving kittens back under the skirt of the Nanny State when they lose their wagers.

It's pure hypocrisy to praise ASIC manufacturers when they have favorable business conditions, then stab in the back and call them "human garbage" when the price/difficulty/competition stop cooperating.

Your standard of "fair weather friendship" is disgusting.  Most, if not all, ASIC manufactures sell to the public not because dealing with degenerate/litigious gamblers is fun, but because they want to help decentralize hashing power.

Every time you armchair anarchists run sobbing to your lawyers' offices because the mean old ASIC company tricked you, it's another reason for the next company to eschew retail for exclusively industrial/self mining.