On Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:46:50 -0700 (MST), Steve Linux User wrote:
Quoting Bernie:
>> Someone (sorry I forgot who) mentioned the women who got several millions
>> from McDonalds - that case was just a "proof" for many here that the US
>> legal system is completly weird and needs to be changed.
> Yes that was complete stupidity, which I might point out goes to
> that jury rather than the court. The big difference between that
> case and one of negligently released software is the difference
> between an actual physical injury (minor as it was) and a mere
> "inconvenience" of data loss.
It was I who told the story referred to by Bernie.
The suffering of physical pain is often just an "inconvenience".
Sometimes the pain will just go away after a while without even
having to visit a doctor and having to pay his bills. Data loss
is not just an "inconvenience". It costs money to hire people to
attempt to reconstruct or replace the lost data. Also computer
"down-time" results in losses for businesses. If you can prove
monetary damages, and if you can point to an easily identifiable
culprit to hold responsible, then you have a good case. If someone
causes another party to suffer monetary damages, then he is liable
for paying restitution to the damaged party, regardless of whether
the damages were inflicted intentionally, accidentally, or through
some oversight and negligence.
This is a very interesting discussion we have going here, but out
of respect for others, who with good reason feel that it has gone
far off topic, I think it is time to take it off list now. You all
may reply to me privately on this topic if you wish.
Sam Heywood
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