Software Customer Bill of Rights
Software Customer Bill of Rights
Posted Sep 4, 2003 4:07 UTC (Thu) by LinuxLobbyist (guest, #6541)Parent article: Software Customer Bill of Rights
However, one wonders if this might make open source developers liable in some way if their software is "embedded" in a product.
Hmm, I don't quite see the same problem that the author sees here. "When software is embedded in a product, the law governing the product should govern the software" means to me that the vendor of the device is responsible for the functioning of the device in total.
The device vendor chose the software and very likely customized it to suite his device. Even if he didn't modify it, he is responsible for the proper operation of the device irrepective of the software which is running inside of it. The entire device should be warranted by the device vendor.
If you read the "no warranty" paragraph in the preamble of the GPL (at least), it is primarily in the context of: If you receive this software and it is modified from the original, I, the original author cannot warrant this software; talk to the guy who modified it.
Well, not quite that, but my reading of the at least the GPL (particularly the part about 'you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee' ... and I would presume without a fee, if you so choose) and this supposedly dangerous clause in Cem Kaner's Software Customer Bill of Rights leaves open the possibility of the author not providing a warranty, but the vendor providing a warranty.
Perhaps the clause does need some clarification, but I can't see where Cem is indicating that the author of the software should be the one who is responsible. It is the vendor of the hardware (car, in the given example) who is being held responsible.