[Am-info] SOFTWARE RESPONSIBILITY AS AN ARGUMENT AGAINST OPEN-SOURCE

[Erick Andrews]

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:49:35 -0500, Fred A. Miller wrote:

>SOFTWARE RESPONSIBILITY AS AN ARGUMENT AGAINST OPEN-SOURCE
>
>      (Source: ITworld.com) During the past year, I consulted with
>organizations attempting to come to terms with whether to use
>open-source software, operating systems and tools. An argument I
>heard against open-source is if a problem occurs, there is no one
>to hold responsible.
>
>http://www.linuxworld.com/go.cgi?id=741462
>

[...]

I have a legal question here that perhaps someone can shed
some light on:  does software fall into the realm "strict liability"?
To ask a different way:  are there any legal precedents that
any software product that has caused harm to a user ever brought 
any compensatory settlement for the user?

You may recall from the 1980s things like hammers, ladders,
industrial machinery, coffee pots, toys, and even hot coffee
liability lawsuits brought awards to plaintiffs for damages.

-- 
Erick Andrews