[superfrank]

You're taking a very ethnocentric view towards this. Most European cultures don't have the same legal culture that the US has.

Punitive damages are very rare or non-existent depending on the country and the loser of the case usually has to pay the winning party's legal fees. There just isn't the incentive to sue someone over something silly like what you've mentioned.

[LocalH]

Do you trust big business and the increasingly authoritarian nature of modern politics not to abuse the law as far as they can?

I sure as hell don't.