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Where UCITA Came From

Posted by michael on from the the-BSA-and-you dept.

alkali writes "The New Republic has a short essay by Brendan Koerner which explains some of the legal history behind UCITA. If you've never heard of Mortenson v. Timberline before, you need to read this." Pretty good review of the the concept of liability for defective software.

3 of 7 comments (clear)

  1. Slashdot Weirdness by llywrch · · Score: 2

    I saw this article mentioned in the ``YRO" box, but not in the general list of articles. Even then, it only took me a minute or two to track it down.

    And there's already two off-topic or stupid posts here.

    Interesting article, though.

    ]not sure if I'm logged in here at the Twilight Zone or not[

    Geoff

    --
    I think I see a trend here. Maybe for them it really would be easier to muzzle the entire internet than to produce p
  2. Interesting tidbit by bph · · Score: 2

    What I found the most interesting was the author's hypothetical claim that if a piece of software for a set of brakes fails, the software writer is not liable for the death of the passengers.

    This raises an interesting question. If a car manufacturer puts out a buggy car, they are required, by law, to issue recalls and fix the automobiles. If the car has a potentially hazardous problem because of a software only glitch, could the manufacturer simply say, "I am sorry, I am not issuing the recall, read your licensing agreement for the brakes"?

    Of course, the first automaker to try that would suffer a PR nightmare. I don't think congress or the US court system would let them not issue a recall. So, god help them if they subcontract the software. They will be left holding the bag with the authors of the code saying, "too bad for you guys our code sucks."

    Open source anti-lock brakes anyone?

  3. Brendan Koerner has an interesting history... by Prolog-X · · Score: 2
    There's a short blurb on New America about Mr. Koerner:
    Brendan Koerner was previously a Senior Editor at U.S. News & World Report, where he wrote more than 100 feature articles including six cover stories, since 1996 on subjects ranging from higher education to urban renewal to religion to business and technology. His stories have included "A Lust for Profits," a cover-story, study of the Internet pornography industry, and "Can Hackers be Stopped," a special report on information security.

    As a Markle Fellow at the New America Foundation, Mr. Koerner will use the lens of the digital underground to examine some of the most critical issues affecting the future of information technology and the new economy--including the commercialization of the Internet; the struggle over copyright and patent law and the preservation of the information commons; the ethics of free speech on the Internet; and the increasing concerns over cyber-security. In his writing, Mr. Koerner will seek to meld traditional reportage with well-informed commentary that will be solutions oriented. In particular, his work will seek to suggest workable compromises and creative policy alternatives that might allow the wired establishment and its hacker critics to develop a less adversarial relationship.

    His e-mail address and picture are also available at the URL above.