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Date: 8 Jan 93 00:38:52 GMT
From: eachus@mitre-bedford.arpa  (Robert I. Eachus)
Subject: Re: New Arcadia/IRUS AFLEX-AYACC release
Message-ID: <EACHUS.93Jan7193852@goldfinger.mitre.org>
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

     Two maybe three legal issues here.  (I'm not a lawyer and I don't
play one on TV...  And in any case my knowledge of the law of
merchantability, such as it is, was right at one time in ONE of the
United States.)  First does any warrant of merchantability reside
in any free software product?  Probably not.  (A warrent of
merchantability is that the product is usable for the purpose for
which it is SOLD.)  What if someone charges for disks/tapes of such
software?  The implicit warranty is that the software on the disk is
what it was sold as. (i.e. If I sell you a copy of a piece of free
software written by someone else, the only warranty that I see is that
it is a proper copy of the right software.  But, if I adverise it as
the greatest C compiler since sliced bread, not gcc 3.2.2 then I am
sticking my neck out.--Again, I am not a lawyer.)  What about a
company or organization that sells copies of its own free software?
As long as the price charged is identified as a copying/media fee, the
organization is probably safe.

     Finally what about denials (not limitations) of implicit warrants
of merchantability in disclaimers?  If they were put in by a lawyer,
get a better lawyer, if they weren't written by a lawyer, delete them!
The wording in the alex/ayacc warranty reprinted below, far exceeds
the limits as I learned them, but may be okay for free software since
it says provided not sold. (Such a document could be taken as prima
facie evidence of lack of good faith in many juristictions, thereby
bringing the implied warranty into full force.  Again, I am not...)
The format I learned was:

     This product is sold as a fabbitz for frozbizzing {or
whatever}..., and is warranted free from known defects {except...}.
The manufacturer warrents that this product, if used in accordance
with...will {do what we say it will} and if not the manufacturer
agrees to refund or replace...for a period of...  This warranty takes
precedence over all other warranties express or implied.

     In other words, by providing an explicit warranty of
merchantability, it is possible to supercede (and limit) the implied
warranty.  As long as such a warranty is made in good faith, it will
hold up.  (But don't hide known bugs, and don't deny claims made in
advertisements.)

The Acadia non-warranty:

> THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR
> IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED
> WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


--

					Robert I. Eachus

with Standard_Disclaimer;
use  Standard_Disclaimer;
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