Why Software Isn't Liable
Almost everyone with a device (computer, phone, tablet) connected to the Internet worries about security or performance impact. Anti-virus packages can only help so much: they are engaged in an endless evolutionary war with the viruses: each side evolves, adapts and improvises, but neither ever wins the war for good. Jane Chong asked the question as to why software companies are not held liable for the quality of what they sell. Why were there vulnerabilities that could be exploited? Shouldn’t it be the company’s responsibility to test it thoroughly? In exasperation, she writes: “Dazzled by what software makes possible—the highs—we have embedded into our lives a technological medium capable of bringing society to its knees, but from which we demand virtually no quality assurance.” She denounces the software industry’s response that bad things happen because users often “fail to implement adequate security”. I don’t know if Chong understands the first thing about software, b...