Are We Approaching the Age of Software Liability?

The European Commission has been discussing whether software developers, and companies providing digital services, should be liable if things go wrong for consumers.

The articles Is Software Liability Part of the [Security] Solution? and EC Wants Software Makers Held Liable for Code discuss the concept of extending the current physical product liability laws the software and digital services. There is certainly a strong consumer protection ethos in the EU which doesn't necessarily exist in other parts of the world. Will we be seeing software product recalls and consumer software litigation sometime soon?

Will this affect online web applications aimed at the consumer market? If this idea becomes reality, then it would probably apply to all types of software regardless of whether it's only accessed on a desktop or over the internet. So web sites would be affected.

Of course, liability for software already exists. Many contracts place requirements on software and software service providers, but this is mainly within the commercial sector. The issue of low-cost, or free, software and services, or software that has been developed as a community project would have to be considered in any legislation. I'm sure we've all heard about cake stalls being banned due to lack of insurance. Let's hope reasonableness prevails and we don't kill off our creative industries.

Have you discussed this with your MEP? Have your say in the European elections on Thursday!