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."

Comments

Hence why:

[dandart]

They forgot the clause in almost all free software programs, similar to this:

"There is no warranty for the program, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Except when otherwise stated in writing the copyright holders and/or other parties provide the program “as is” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the program is with you. Should the program prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction."

It would be capitalised, but oh, Slashdot.

Re:Yay! finally some accountability for all those

[perryizgr8]

Yes, and every hobbyist now has to worry about being sued when their code breaks.

If you are a hobbyist, you should not sell your software. Leave it for the pros

only this single error in written english pisses me off. i don't care about any other things like coz, 2, 4, its/it's. please please everyone, no apostrophe when writing plurals!

Re:What about OSS

[tkinnun0]

Hi, I'm a hobbyist, I make hammers and saws, except I'm not very good at this hobby, but I give the hammers and saws away for free so when they break and maim people I'm in the clear because I didn't charge them anything?

Re:Yay! finally some accountability for all those

[Z34107]

Windows 7 is Vista; they have the same kernel.

I'm surprised you find Ubuntu with "jerky audio" and "crappy webcam" is better than Vista - all of those work out of the box on Vista laptops. Then again, it seems invoking "m$" is still worth a +1, Insightful around here.

I'm thinking you just shouldn't be allowed near computers considering that you couldn't get Vista or Ubuntu working.