5 ms·

It’s fairly trivial to write a law that makes those illegal.

• eru 10mo ago
  The question is whether you want to interfere in the freedom of contract for this. Almost all software everywhere comes with a 'no liability' clause. And arguable, open source couldn't exist without it. The exceptions where liability is wanted negotiate that specifically.
  • otterley 10mo ago
    There is precedent, for example, lemon laws related to automobiles. Unfortunately, governments have ceased to care for consumers like they once did.
    • eru 10mo ago
      Consumers can care for themselves, if we let them.
      • otterley 10mo ago
        Respectfully, I think you have too much faith in the ability and general desire of individuals to protect themselves. Consider how successful scams and security breaches are. Consider, too, the unequal bargaining power between vendors and individual consumers (have you ever tried to negotiate a form contract with a megacorporation?). We protect people because they have failed. These regulations tend to follow actual injuries; they are rarely promulgated in anticipation of them.
        • eru 10mo ago
          > Consider, too, the unequal bargaining power between vendors and individual consumers (have you ever tried to negotiate a form contract with a megacorporation?). You don't negotiate the contents of your burger with McDonald's. If you don't like it, you go to Burger King or have a Döner Kebab. There's plenty of tacit negotiations here. > We protect people because they have failed. These regulations tend to follow actual injuries; they are rarely promulgated in anticipation of them. Homeopathic medicine tend to follow actual health problems, too. That doesn't mean they are a good idea.
          • otterley 10mo ago
            > You don't negotiate the contents of your burger with McDonald's. If you don't like it, you go to Burger King or have a Döner Kebab. Not every industry is a competitive one with practically unlimited choices. Natural monopolies or industries with high barriers to entry tend to have the most leverage over their customers. Most people have only a single electricity provider, and there are only two major mobile OS vendors worth speaking of. > Homeopathic medicine tend to follow actual health problems, too. That doesn't mean they are a good idea. Some work; some don’t. The key is figuring out which solutions are effective and which aren’t. Nobody is proposing keeping fixes around whose costs aren’t worth the benefits to society.
  • SkiFire13 10mo ago
    > And arguable, open source couldn't exist without it. Couldn't you just include selling a product or a licence for it as a requirement?
    • eru 10mo ago
      The GPL is a license.
      • NekkoDroid 10mo ago
        selling a product or license Generally most GPL'd software isn't sold (terms and conditions may apply).
        • eru 10mo ago
          IBM used to sell you the computer, and the software was free. The industry could resurrect that practice as a loophole.
          • NekkoDroid 10mo ago
            If you sell the computer with the software preinstalled it would still fall under the selling a product part. So if you'd want to actually have a loophole you'd at best be selling the product without any software, and we both know how well that would go with the masses.
            • eru 10mo ago
              > [...] and we both know how well that would go with the masses. Pretty well, actually, as long as you can download the software for free.
• o11c 10mo ago
  "No liability" already mostly only applies to defective products, not harmful ones. The only industry with a broad "no liability for torts" is gun manufacturing.