Negligence and UCC Article 2B (Score 1)

Firstly: I do have a law degree, but I am not a practicing attorney. Take this for what it's worth. :) With regard to the original question of OS vendor liability for damage caused by viruses, I think it's highly unlikely that such a claim could ever be sustained. In the law of negligence, one of the elements that must be proved is causation, which consists of 2 prongs. There must be both actual (or physical) causation and proximate (or legal) causation. Actual causation is pretty straightforward. Proximate causation, however, is an altogether different thing. It means that the action being claimed as negligence must not be so far removed from the actual damage that no one could reasonably be expected to forsee it. It all hinges on the degree forseeability. One of the things that people are NOT legally expected to forsee is a malicious and intentional act by someone else. Example: there is a huge gasoline spill, and a guy standing on a street corner throws a cigarette on it and causes an explosion. If it was an accident, the tanker company is still on the hook, because they should have forseen somebody smoking on the corner who didn't know the gas was there. But if it was intentional and the guy just wanted to see some fireworks, they're off the hook because the act was a superceding cause (i.e., it is more proximate than the tanker's negligence). It is well established that people are not bound to anticipate the criminal acts of others. So...... unless you can say with a straight face that people are accidentally writing viruses, their criminal act is a superceding cause that breaks the chain of causation from the vendor. With regard to the broader question of product liability for software in general, there is a proposed addition to the Uniform Commercial Code currently in the drafting stages that would address a lot of the questions raised here. Proposed Article 2B deals almost exclusively with software issues, including warranties. I think it's only a matter of time before Article 2B it is ratified and adopted in all 50 states, so everybody might do well to look over it and lobby your legislators accordingly. You can read the latest draft at http://www.law.uh.edu/ucc2b/080198/080198.html Pay particular attention to part 4.