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Microsoft Will Pay If Its Bugs Damage Your Data
RMX writes "CNet is reporting on
a new Microsoft policy where
they will pay if their software damages your data
. There's a pretty low limit on what they will cover and "it also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages" but at least it's nice that they're specifying exactly to what length they'll go to cover their customers. Is this the "support" from proprietary vendors that corporations like so much?"
Five whole dollars???
Why would anyone migrate away from Microsoft products now?
P.S. On a serious note, doesn't this potentially open them up to being sued for damages? I know they're claiming otherwise in the EULA, but once the door is open...
$5 is nothing, probably doesn't even cover cost of applying for it. so why bother?
advertising scam about "financially backing" their software as opposed to OSS?
tax scam?
stock scam?
come on, it's got to be some sort of scam.
even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility of the damage
This is the part that covers them for deleteing gigs worth of MP3s because the MP3s didn't have Windows Media(WMA) Digital Rights Management(DRM) signatures.
Oops. Our bad.
Have a nice day.
I always understood the standart "if something bad happens to your PC while using our software it will always be your fault and not ours" clauses.
The companies honestly didn't care about you. Go call their support hotline, if they can help you, fine, if not, tough luck.
But Microsoft's 5$ offer kinda gives me the feeling they are mocking us.
"Sorry our tool mis-identifed your tax data as spyware and deleted it. Here are 5 bucks. Enough to drown you in 2 bottles of cheap booze till IRS arrives."
+++ MELON MELON MELON +++ Out of Cheese Error +++ redo from start +++
Multiply $5 by several thousand unsatisfied customers and you get $10,000, which is hardly enough to pain Bill Gates.
Its not like that Knuth is giving out money for finding errors in his book. No one cashes those checks anyway.
Ya, and when it gives a false positve of SpywareXXX for the files that are your accounting software data files for the past year and you delete them because SpywareXXX is bad.
Who is in the wrong, them for the bad identification or you for believing them?
Which I think is fair. However, Microsoft is now admitting responsibility for the bugs and that they can cause damage sufficient to warrant monetary compensation.
This is opposed to their previous stance of claiming that their software has no fitness for any purpose or merchantability. This new policy goes against that previous claim. That's why I think the door may have creaked open for the right lawsuit to succeed in claiming, "No, we suffered a loss that should be compensated by one million dollars, not five." And when Microsoft tries to get it tossed out on the basis of their claims in the EULA, this policy will be shoved in their face.
Just a thought.
I was going to mod you up, but I'm going to agree with you explicitly instead.
Settlement agreements are generally contracts that say "A gives B $X and B promises not to sue A for Y."
So if you accept the contract from Microsoft which says "Microsoft gives Joe $5 and Joe promises not to sue Microsoft for the loss of Joe's data," you can't sue them later for the loss of your data. But if you refuse the $5, you can.
The question is, however, whether the EULA includes a term saying that "If you lose your data, your only remedy is to accept a $5 settlement from Microsoft." And, if it does, would a court rule it unconscionable, meaning that it's so apalling and unfair that they will refuse to enforce that term of the agreement.
But yes, they are definitely apparently admitting some degree of responsibility for lost data, though, and that's step one.
Bullshit. Linux has had atomic and journaled filesystems for ages. No loss of data.
Google groups reference to ext3 corruption (Nov 2004)
Google groups references to changes to the kernel "in the hopes of lessening reports of Reiser corruption" (Dec 2004)
You were saying?
Coming soon - pyrogyra