Re: GPLv3 Position Statement

On Fri, 2006-09-29 at 12:15 +0200, Helge Hafting wrote:
- The liability for damages, where the manufacturer of a device might
be responsible in case of damage when he abandoned the prevention. This
applies to medical devices as well as to lasers, machine tools and many
more. Device manufacturers can not necessarily escape such liabilities
as it might be considered grossly negligent to hand out the prevention
key, even if the user signed an exemption from liability.

This seems silly to me. Sure, lasers and medical equipment is
dangerous if used wrong. When such equipment is
controlled by software, then changing that software brings
huge responsibility. But it shouldn't be made impossible.

They can provide the key, with the warning that _using_ it
means you are on your own and take all responsibility.

This might be silly in your opinion, but it is simply the reality,
especially in the US, but also in Europe we have an increasing madness
in liability jurisdiction. Do you believe that any responsible corporate
lawyer will buy your "with a warning" argument when he is aware of
rulings stating the opposite ?

I talked to very reasonable corporate lawyers about this and they
provided enough prove, that I take this serious.

Your argument is logical and should reflect common sense, but reality is
different. If we could rely on common sense, we would not have this
discussion at all.

tglx


-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/

Relevant Pages

  • Re: GPLv3 Position Statement
    ... Helge Hafting wrote: ... Thats quite different to owned hardware. ... lasers and medical equipment is ... means you are on your own and take all responsibility. ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • Re: GPLv3 Position Statement
    ... Thats quite different to owned hardware. ... Device manufacturers can not necessarily escape such liabilities ... lasers and medical equipment is ... means you are on your own and take all responsibility. ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • Re: !@! OTIS BROWN WARNING !@!
    ... nothing more than my personal opinion and experience. ... If you want a medical opinion or advice, ... I take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for my health. ... children in the use of the plus lens for prevention. ...
    (sci.med.vision)