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UK Court Finds Company Liable For Software Defects
normsky writes "A software company's stipulation that it couldn't be held accountable for the poor performance of its software was unfair and could not be enforced, the High Court has said. 'Pursuant to the Sale of Goods Act 1979, a term is to be implied into the contract that Entirety would be fit for the purpose for which it was bought, namely that the system would increase revenue and occupancy levels and would allow quicker check-in and check-out, including accurately processing groups and making changes to group reservations while preserving the accuracy of the system. I am satisfied that Entirety was not fit for the purpose for which it was sold,' his Honor Judge Toulmin wrote."
Great news - and am happy this is being done. Maybe if this is held as a precedent, more software will be written sensibly and with fewer stupid bugs and features.
I think it is unforgivable that software companies can provide us any software they want (esp. in enterprise software) and get off without any problems. All this is due to very little attention paid to during the SDLC to thinking of problems and use cases and testing.
Yay good for UK - and hope developers in US also get their feet held to the fire soon!
What part of the word "sale" do you not understand?
How we know is more important than what we know.
In America, the buyer must beware: there's this weird idea that it's OK to con someone, because they should somehow know that the person they're buying from isn't trustworthy, essentially throwing all "perfectly informed and rational consumer" theories out of the water. Western European countries tend to have the different opinion that you don't get to fool someone any time (unless you're a civil servant or banker). Sales of most goods are very much not final - for example, the Distance Selling Regulations stipulate a trial period for many goods bought online. So:
1. Do you feel your software is of good quality?
If YES, go to 2.
If NO, give away or do not distribute.
2. Are you prepared to fix any serious problems with your software found by your customers in the year after you've sold it?
If YES, go to 3.
If NO, give away or do not distribute.
3. Do you want to make money from others on the basis of honest trade?
If YES, go to 4.
If NO, give away or do not distribute.
4. Are you prepared to accept that for a consumer to be properly informed about a complex product, he must have a trial period?
If YES, go to 5.
If NO, give away or do not distribute.
5. Congratulations, you're not a shyster and are the sort of businessman an economy needs.
What laws not contingent on a sale having occurred? Negligence and other torts? Not likely: there is no case law suggesting that, and it is a completely different situation so this case has no bearing on it.
What happened here was:
1) There was a sale of goods, and therefore an implied contract term that the goods were fit for purpose.
2) The exclusion clause relied on the customer having been supplied with documentation before purchase that they never received.
3) As a result of 2), the customer relied on the suppliers descriptions of what the software could do.
In the case of hobbyist software
1) there is no sale of goods and no contract (an open source license is not a contract)
2) There are no conditions on disclaimers of liability
3) There is no salesman making unrealistic promises to the customer.