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On Sunday 27 October 2002 07:50, Cameron Nikitiuk wrote:
> What would the legal ramifications for CLUG if they participate in an
> activity like this? Let say for example CLUG builds some firewalls, they
> get sold to companies and then someone comes along and hacks through them
> and causes a lot of damage. That company would then come after CRS who may
> in turn come back after CLUG because "they built the firewalls, we didn't!"
the idea of liability for techonlogy is an interesting myth. it is based in
absolutely no truth at all. read the EULAs that come with closed source
software or the licenses that come with Free software. you will always find a
limitation of liability clause. here's the GPL's:
NO WARRANTY
11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
yep, that's right. there's nobody to hang when your software breaks unless you
have a seperate agreement with them (e.g. a support contract that carries a
service level agreement). this is the same with companies like MS, Oracle,
etc.
this is why the "but who will we sue if we use Open Source and it fails"
argument that we hear now and again from those against using Free software in
business is so laughable. all software comes "without warranty"; it's up to
your service contractor.
> And I was curious...if they are selling these systems to a company, would
> CLUG be entitled to any portion of that? Not as in selling services, but
> potentially as a honorarium for helping out. It could be a potential
> fundraiser for CLUG...or a way that we can generate a partnership...or
> advertising...or maybe sharing a booth some where.
this was also suggested to me by a few others, and could be an interesting
method of raising funds.
- --
Aaron J. Seigo
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler"
- Albert Einstein
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