Could WIPO have a few cohorts in the US legislature? Is a screwy DNS any different from any other corporate software policy? kerry =========== http://www.goingware.com/y2k Protect Your Right to Sue Over Y2K > You are probably aware of the Year 2000 Problem, in which a simple > but widespread software bug is threatening to disrupt computers > around the world. > > You may not be aware that the Congress of the United States is > working on laws to deprive you of your right to sue those companies > who brought this problem on us and have refused to fix it. I want > to tell you what you can do to protect your rights and stop this > attempt at shielding irresponsible businesses from cleaning up the > messes they made. > [...] > -- Write or call your representatives and ask them to oppose: > > H.R.775 - Year 2000 Readiness and Responsibility Act > S.461 - Year 2000 Fairness and Responsibility Act > H.R.192 - Year 2000 Consumer Protection Plan Act of 1999 > > Tell them also to oppose any new bills that may restrict anyone's > right to sue for computer failures as a result of poor quality program. > You can email them too, but please understand they're more likely to > pay attention to a letter. Take the time to write one! > [...] > I don't expect I'll sue anyone over Y2K. But I am a programmer, and I take > a great deal of pride in my work. I know that if a problem is found in > software that I write, and that problem could cause someone real trouble, > it is my responsibility to fix those problems. > > While the problem is an old one, it has been largely ignored by the > businesses responsible for fixing it until recently. For example, > when I was an engineer at Apple Computer in 1994, I raised the > issue on an internal discussion forum, asking what Apple was > doing to ensure its financial and inventory systems were "Y2K > compliant", and also that the banks and brokerages that handled > the companies money and the employees retirement accounts were compliant. > > The only response I got was that "all those Y2K people are a bunch of nuts". > > Even this year, a friend of mine who programs machine controllers > said "all my code has the Year 2000 Bug. I'm not going to be working > there next year." > > Just because a big business was too lazy or shortsighted to correct its > faults doesn't mean it should be allowed to escape its responsibility. > [...] ============
