BBC Commentator Goes After Software Licensing

An anonymous reader writes "Bill Thompson, a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital, criticizes current software licenses (including the GPL) for giving developers 'freedom from responsibility which would be considered wholly unacceptable in almost any other sphere of activity, public or private'." From the article: "A friend of mine is a children's writer. When she writes a non-fiction book she is typically asked to sign a contract that indemnifies the publisher against legal costs resulting from errors of fact in the book. If she was to suggest a school experiment that involved drinking sulphuric acid, because she'd confused it with acetic, then she'd be in big trouble. Yet I can't do anything when a company produces software that exposes my online banking details to any script kiddie with time to spare, because I've agreed a license that removes such liability. "

Comments

Re:malpractice caps do NOT decrease premiums

[multiplexo]

If you buy a tree from Home Depot's garden center, and plant it in your yard... 30 years later it gets to a good size, then it gets infected so that the insides are eaten out, and it falls on you house... Should you be able to sue Home Depot for selling you the tree that has the capability of smashing you house?

Another mod that's needed besides '-1 humorless fuckstick', the '-1 completely specious legal analogy' mod.