Commercial Law Commons^™

The License Is The Product: Comments On The Promise Of Article 2b For Software And Information Licensing, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

Article 2B promises to draw together contract principles for software and information licensing that, at present, are spread among various bodies of law.

This Article argues that Article 2B must affirm industry standard licensing practices in order to prove beneficial. For example, Article 2B's affirmation of industry standard mass market licensing is important for both publishers and end users. Article 2B must also provide the flexibility to accommodate new distribution and licensing models that will arise as electronic commerce matures. Any other approach would fundamentally disrupt the software and information industries.

Moreover, this Article urges the drafters of Article 2B …

The Implied Warranty Of Merchantability In Software Contracts: A Warranty No One Dares To Give And How To Change That, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

A disclaimer of ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITING THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, greets virtually everyone who prepares to use a computer software product. Software publishers disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability because they do not know what they might be promising if they give it. Though the disclaimer is routine, software publishers have little interest in needlessly eroding confidence in the quality of their products by conspicuously disclaiming a warranty with which their products may well comply. Disclaimers feed suspicion, voiced by industry critics, that software publishers care little about software quality or standing behind their products. Nonetheless, …