full-disclosure - GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws?

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Message-ID: <200308280133.h7S1XTln026121@turing-police.cc.vt.edu>
From: Valdis.Kletnieks at vt.edu (Valdis.Kletnieks@...edu)
Subject: GOOD: A legal fix for software flaws? 

On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 19:19:05 -0300, Fabio Gomes de Souza <fabio@....com.br>  said:
> This is an entire crap. Everyone knows that a contract cannot override 
> the law. If the law tells that the manufacturer of a product should be 
> liable for its product's failures, then the manufacturer will be, 
> regardless of any stupid contract the manufacturer and the consumer 
> sign. I cannot, for example, sign a contract which gives me the right to 
> kill you, because the contract is overriding the law.

There's just one little problem with your logic:

Unless the law specifically prohibits disclaimer of liability, there's nothing
illegal about a clause that does so.  And in the best "be careful what you 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 get
released if that clause was illegal.  If it was in fact illegal to disclaim
liability, clause 7 would totally prohibit you from distributing it *AT ALL*.

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 in the
hypothetical law, but they'd be insane to stay in business without software
liability insurance.   How many insurance companies are offering *THAT*
at rates a 2-5 person consulting firm can afford?

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