While I would love to see them held accountable, likely not. For one thing, every major software maker would join in the defense or lobbying against legislation, because they all have bugs and don't want to be liable. They take "As is" to a new level of legal art. They do all point that out in EULAs.
The only exception would be Oracle who markets itself as allegedly bullet proof, and is now paying the price (at least PR-wise) with the Orbitz debacle. We can't, in the USA, even properly hold SUV makers liable for their "bugs" and those cost lives. Best Regards, Dan Bartley -----Original Message----- From: Ronish Mehta [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 06:19 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Microsot Liability for vulnerabilities Hi all, As we all know, M$ licences are very expensive (both one-time & recurring cost). We also know that new vulnerabilities are discovered regularly (we may say monthly just to be kind) These vulnerabilities are exploited by viruses and hackers, and these may cause damage to our computer systems, and may involve additional cost to protect ourselves against these threats, we have to apply latest patches, use uptodate antiviruses. In a large organisation deploying patches may be a real headache (I know because I'm in this situation ;) and may involve additional cost I was just wondering if Microsoft does not have a part of responsibility in all this? After all we are paying this company a fortune for OS and applications that contain vulnerabilities/bugs. Should we continue to pay Microsoft for its buggy software packages? Can we sue it for the damages that it can potentially cause to our company (interms of cost, reputation, etc)? Thanks for your views __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Evaluating SSL VPNs' Consider NEOTERIS, chosen as leader by top analysts! The Gartner Group just put Neoteris in the top of its Magic Quadrant, while InStat has confirmed Neoteris as the leader in marketshare. Find out why, and see how you can get plug-n-play secure remote access in about an hour, with no client, server changes, or ongoing maintenance. Visit us at: http://www.neoteris.com/promos/sf-6-9.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
