Software liability laws: a dangerous solution

Posted Sep 9, 2007 21:55 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]

the free market can't fix the problem if consumers don't have a choice.

Yes it can; it does it all the time. In the big picture, the consumers have a choice because if they want something (I mean are willing to pay for it), someone will provide it. The market is huge and dynamic. If there's even a chance consumers would choose something and nobody is offering it, there's profit to be made and someone will offer it. I believe the software industry has considered offering warranteed software and consistently determined that consumers would choose the cheap unwarranteed competition instead.

I do support government regulation to promote competition, including by reducing barriers to entry into a market. Just not anti-competitive regulation that outlaws certain voluntary transactions.