Linked by John O'Sullivan on Tue 7th Oct 2003 18:42 UTC
Microsoft has a little liability problem called Windows. Many are no doubt aware of a would-be class-action lawsuit launched last week in California. The suit targets Microsoft over security problems. The plaintiff is a woman who had her identity stolen. Details are
here. (NYTimes, free registration required)
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I am not sure how to view this case. I do come from a time before law suits. I have often felt that too many sue for too little reason. But then again...
Microsoft offers closed software – they in effect say only Microsoft can fix this. Then if they know of a flaw or weakness in the security and do not fix it quickly they are in fact responsible for no other reason than they have barred everyone else from fixing it. This would be like GM or Ford making a car and refusing to sell the parts or service manuals so that others could fix problems. Then add in an unwillingness to make the repairs themselves. Ah, now you see the problems with closed code. So Microsoft has pulled this down on their own head. They have take full 100% responsibility for how MS products work. With 100% responsibility comes 100% liability. With Open source everyone can access the code and everyone in theory can fix it. But even more important is that no one is 100% responsible for the code or its structure. This greatly reduces the probability that someone will be liable enough for code to make suing worth while. It may well be this liability problem that brings about the end of closed proprietary software.