Xref: utzoo misc.legal:15062 comp.sources.d:4904
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!texbell!uudell!natinst!rpp386!jfh
From: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II)
Newsgroups: misc.legal,comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: shrinkwrap licenses
Message-ID: <18055@rpp386.cactus.org>
Date: 28 Feb 90 19:31:16 GMT
References: <51042@microsoft.UUCP> <25058@ut-emx.UUCP> <27360@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II)
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Lone Star Cafe and BBS Service
Lines: 29

In article <27360@cup.portal.com> Nagle@cup.portal.com (John - Nagle) writes:
>      A precedent from Louisiana is not likely to be indicative of what
>will happen in other states.  Louisiana is different.  The legal system
>there, unlike that of any other state, is based on the Napoleonic Code
>of France.  All other states have legal systems derived from English
>civil law.  

this is false.  many of the precedents for case law in other states are
set in louisiana.  true, louisiana has many very bizarre laws [ like
having to write your parents every two years or you can be disinherited,
or having to ransom them from pirates to avoid the same fate ;-) ], but
most of the legal concepts exist both in napoleanic code and english
common law.

the notions regarding contracts are very similiar between louisiana and
the rest of the country. a license is a contract, and if i were a
practicing attorney i would strongly consider using any precedent set in
louisiana regarding shrinkwrap licenses as part of a case in a common
law state.  provided the principles were similiar in both cases, etc.

of particular interest to me was that some of the earliest precedents
set regarding dram shop laws came from louisiana, which probably has the
highest per capita number of bars of any state, excluding only nevada.
i had always thought bartender liability came from torts and all that
yicky english common law stuff i didn't understand [ having lived in
that god forsaken state for too many years ... ]
-- 
John F. Haugh II                             UUCP: ...!cs.utexas.edu!rpp386!jfh
Ma Bell: (512) 832-8832                           Domain: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org