EU wants software makers held liable for code

ara3n

Commissioners Viviane Reding and Meglena Kuneva have proposed that EU consumer protections for physical products be extended to software. The suggested change in the law is part of an EU action agenda put forward by the commissioners after identifying gaps in EU consumer protection rules.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10237212-92.html


And the answer looks like to be unit testing.
http://www.infoq.com/news/2009/07/half- ... -will-help


Is this going to change anything in ERP world?

kapil4dynamics

All i can say i am lucky to get out from Europe on time (after reading this), but i hope American region does not follow the suit else just because of MS lovely bugs we will have to ask insurance companies to come up with some new kinda stuff.

Though article is well written as they have mentioned the counter reasoning of not doing so, which makes more sense than enforcement.

But in next post the kind of testing mentioned i don't think will suit well for Business applications like NAV and AX.

Alex_Chow

I don't think this will affect Microsoft Dynamics that much. Rather, it will hurt more for companies like Oracle and SAP where their ERP implementations frequently fail.

generic

Alex Chow wrote:

I don't think this will affect Microsoft Dynamics that much. Rather, it will hurt more for companies like Oracle and SAP where their ERP implementations frequently fail.

It does effect NAV? If you look at how many bug fixes are being released for NAV. Just 2009 SP1 has over 500 bugs fixed. There is no mention on data that is screwed up by this data. Most of the time it's the client or solution center paying for fixing the data.

AdamRoue

It does not really affect any ERP solution if you interpret the line "Licensing should guarantee consumers the same basic rights as when they purchase a good: the right to get a product that works with fair commercial conditions." as any ERP business would. Essentially every ERP solution by virtue of having a customer base meets "fair commercial conditions" - you would really have to screw up a release to come close to breaking that one!

This is really about digital content - downloading something to find out it does not do what it is advertised to do. The sales process of any ERP software will pass the test here as the client will go through a thorough process of selection (well should do) including demonstrations and proof of content - failing that of course it is caveat emptor.