Full Disclosure mailing list archives
Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws?
From: Darren Reed <avalon () caligula anu edu au>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 15:56:57 +1000 (Australia/ACT)
In some mail from Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu, sie said:
There's just one little problem with your logic: Unless the law specifically prohibits disclaimer of liability, there's no= thing illegal about a clause that does so. And in the best "be careful what yo= u wish for, as you may get it", you might want to go back and re-read clause 11 = and 12 of the GPL, Version 2, and ask yourself if *ANY* GPL'ed software would ge= t released if that clause was illegal. If it was in fact illegal to discla= im liability, clause 7 would totally prohibit you from distributing it *AT A= LL*. Then there's the issue of mom-n-pop software shops and small consulting firms - they can't hide behind a "we're giving it away for free" clause i= n the hypothetical law, but they'd be insane to stay in business without softwa= re liability insurance. How many insurance companies are offering *THAT* at rates a 2-5 person consulting firm can afford?
I, for one, would not cry if the law made it impossible to sell or provide GPL'd software to people because it could not be provieded with a disclaimer. Sooner or later the software industry needs to grow up and take responsibility for the crap that it unloads onto the world, pretending it to be a product worth using. GPL software especially. The real problem is nobody thinks they need to pay for software. If you could buy a version of windows for $20000 that had no security holes and was well enough designed that you didn't need a new copy for 10 years or so, no hotfixes or security patches required, would you pay that much money for it? Lets assume, for the sake of the question that the software in question was, in fact, that good. I wonder, would anyone? Personally, I doubt it, outside of Government and business, that is. Darren _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html
Current thread:
- GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? dhtml (Aug 26)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Valdis . Kletnieks (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Fabio Gomes de Souza (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Valdis . Kletnieks (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Ron DuFresne (Aug 28)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Darren Reed (Aug 28)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Alexandre Dulaunoy (Aug 29)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Jeremiah Cornelius (Aug 29)
- Message not available
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Jeremiah Cornelius (Aug 29)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Darren Reed (Aug 30)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Valdis . Kletnieks (Aug 27)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? levinson_k (Aug 27)
- Re: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Goncalo Costa (Aug 27)
- RE: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? Nick FitzGerald (Aug 27)