WWTBAM sued over defective question

[Fedya]

Link in Czech
Link in German
The question (at the equivalent of the $250K level, if I understand the article correctly -- I'm sure I've badly paraphrased the question):

Which unit of the Roman Army generally consisted of about 120-150 soldiers?
A. Legion
B. Cohort
C. Manipuli
D. Centuriae

The show wanted manipuli, but the contestant guessed centuriae.  According to this page, the centuriae were of varying size, and various experts on ancient Rome were called as witnesses at the trial.

The contestant, Karel Lupoměský, was awarded the difference between what he won at the time (320K Czech crowns, or about $12K) and the value of the question ($2.5M Czech crowns), plus a further million Czech crowns in damages.  He was asked what he'd do with the money, and answered that he'd take a vacation, "but probably not to Rome".

[Kevin Prather]

Damages? What the hell? Did the guy give himself a hernia or something?

[starcade]

Under the rules, the guy was ruled to have been wronged.  At least in the US, there's both the "Best Answer Rule" and the "Lake Michigan Replay" from the first season.

[Fedya]

Not only that, but if I read the article correctly, the contestant was originally on in December, 2000.  If Czech courts have the power to add usurious interest as a penalty, then 1M crowns on a 2.18M crown judgement over four years isn't that big.  It's less than what credit cards charge.

[Robert Hutchinson]

Not to mention that he lost his chance at the last 2(?) questions.