On 12/27/05, Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com> wrote:
Look at it another way... If the software is open source, then, there is no requirement for the author to maintain it as any end user has all the tools necessary to develop and deploy a fix. In the case of closed software, liability may be the only tool society has to protect itself from the negligence of the author(s). What is the liability situation for, say, a Model T car if it runs over someone? Can Ford still be held liable if he accident turns out to be caused by a known design flaw in the car? (I don't know the answer, but, I suspect that it would be the same for "old" software).
But can't something similar be said for closed source? You know there's a vulnerability, stop using it... (I'm aware that this is much harder in practice) <snip dead horse />
In general, if the gross act of stupidity was reasonably foreseeable, the manufacturer has a "duty to care" to make some attempt to mitigate or prevent the customer from taking such action. That's why toasters all come with warnings about unplugging them before you stick a fork in them. That's why every piece of electronic equipment says "No user serviceable parts inside" and "Warning risk of electric shock".
So what if Microsoft put a warning label on all copies of Windows that said something to the tune of "Not intended for use without firewall and anti-virus software installed" ? :) Isn't the consumer at least partially responsible for reasonable precautions?
They feel for the carpenter and the only option they have to help him is to take money from the corporation.
I'm all for compassion, but sometimes it's a bit much.. :)
Owen
I guess, in a nutshell, I'm trying to understand the liability issue... It seems, based on the arguments, that it generally applies to "stuff" that was received due to some monetary transaction. And that the developer/manufacturer/etc is given a chance to repair the problem, provided that problem does not exist due to gross negligence on the part of the developer/manufacturer/etc ... Does that about sum it up? [From your other mail]
SPAM does a lot of actual harm. There are relatively high costs associated with SPAM. Machine time, network bandwidth, and, labor.
*nod* I agree.. My point here was that SPAM, when compared to something like a virus, is *generally* less harmful. Granted, SPAM is more of a constant problem rather than a single virus that may attack for a few days before mitigation is possible. I spend a great deal of time tweaking my mail servers to prevent spam.. :) -- Jason 'XenoPhage' Frisvold XenoPhage0@gmail.com