[OT] Warranties

[David Johnson]

On Monday 29 January 2001 03:00 am, Angelo Schneider wrote:

> > I completely agree. In fact, my political views are on the extreme side
> > of Laissez Faire :-) But not disclosing a disclaimer of warranty at time
> > of sale is tantamount to fraud. You can sell as many copies of
> > warranty-less BS Office as you want, and you'll have no problem with me.
> > So long as the customer is made aware of that warranty-less state at the
> > time of sale.
>
> I completly dissagree: what about a medical? He may use any cure?
> Regardless if it is applicable under the circumstances of his patient?

Now we're leaving the realm of Open Source and entering the ever acrimonious 
domain of Political Economy. Setting aside my innate distrust of any 
physician who actually offers a guarantee, let me just bring to your 
attention one possible scenario: Joe Patient is dying of cancer and he 
hears of an experimental cure...

> This sounds silly to me, especialy if you try to hold the rights of the
> seller higher than the rights of that one who feels the need to buy from
> him.

The rights of the the seller and buyer are absolutely equal. The are both 
human beings, and in my world view (which differs from my government's) all 
human beings possess the exact same rights regardless of their economic 
status. A commercial transaction cannot be legal without a voluntary 
agreement by both sides. If one or the other side agrees involuntarily (such 
as through fraud), that is a criminal matter, and nothing to do with 
warrantees.

-- 
David Johnson
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