Should Microsoft be held liable for bugs?

Well, should they?:) What do you guys think?

This is a discussion on the ongoing responsibility of technology, much like 'suing music sharers', it has a questionable influence.

So, should microsoft be held liable, much like Bowen employees are held liable for defective parts in their planes?
Or is government control that much more an invasion into an already invasive technology; where lawsuits would prove an abundant field day much like obesity and McDonald's?

Read the full article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/139286_msftliability12.html

Yes
Who else is to blame?
Not an end user by any means ...

if your a company and you get our security compropmised and loose money of it. microsoft should be liable. true, you decided to use their software. something i hate with microsoft is that alot of their bugs come from naff feateures that no-one ever uses anyway

MS should only be held accountable if you also plan to hold every other company producing software accountable as well. And to be perfectly fair you'd also have to hold each person contributing to a public software project like Linux or Mozilla accountable for bugs in what they contribute as well. This is a path that sounds like massive amounts of money flowing into lawyers pockets and the total shutdown of computer innovation. Those of you who voted yes can't possibly have thought through the consequences.

I'm with Roy Sinclair. Particularly I don't understand why this poll is directed more or less exclusively at Microsoft. There are a lot of companies who should be held liable as well. Think about what would happen if this suggestion became true: Software would be unaffordable for mere mortals, since developing a bug-free software (especially an OS!) takes a long, long time and developers need to be paid (not to mention the legions of lawyers wording the user manual). Open Source would crumble into dust because no one takes the risk anymore. And we would see a whole lot of more lawsuit absurdities. Haven't we got enough of them already?

Originally posted by mordred
Particularly I don't understand why this poll is directed more or less exclusively at Microsoft.

Did you read the article? Because of the recent 'blaster' worm, the question has been raised specifically at Microsoft. Most of us are well aware of other gliches that are commonly found in software -- however, the arguement is if those gliches cause security breaches, is that much more accountable, than say your average bug?

Either way, this platform would put the government in a strong position to monitor and control the computer industry even further -- a stance we well know they have abused quite often. Even though the civilian sector would promote the lawsuits, it is the government that enforces. I don't want that 1984.

Why do you think software makers have End User Agreements that you have to agree to in order to use the software. Typically you will see something along the lines of "[Insert company name] will not be held responsible for damage, etc blah blah blah".

So I got news for ya....if you agree to it....well you know the rest goes.

I don't necessarily agree with that but unfortunately that is how it is. Personally I think the company should be at leaset held responsible to fix the problems. It does amaze me how many major bugs are found in M$ software after it is released. That just seems to indicate they overlook proper software engineering procedures to get the software released faster.