Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!att-ih!chinet!bigtex!james
From: james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Commercial liability for distributing a virus
Message-ID: <1442@bigtex.uucp>
Date: 3 Apr 88 20:39:07 GMT
References: <500@xios.XIOS.UUCP> <1535@bucsb.UUCP> <4240@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: james@bigtex.UUCP (James Van Artsdalen)
Distribution: na
Organization: F.B.N. Software, Austin TX
Lines: 11

IN article <4240@cup.portal.com>, Robert_Bruce_Ferrell@cup.portal.com wrote:
> No doubt in my mind that a software distributor would be liable... it's
> against federal law to deliberatly destroy data not your own.

You would also bear civil liability under Product Liability law.  It would
identical to Product Tampering cases, where the burden of proof is on
the manufacturer (one of those guilty-until-proven-innocent things).  The
distributors and stores selling the product also have liability.
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen    ...!uunet!utastro!bigtex!james     "Live Free or Die"
Home: 512-346-2444 Work: 328-0282; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746