Closed Bug 417724 Opened 16 years ago Closed 16 years ago

"This might void your warranty!" is very bad text from a legal perspective

Categories

(Firefox :: General, defect)

defect
Not set
major

Tracking

()

VERIFIED WONTFIX

People

(Reporter: mkaply, Unassigned)

References

Details

I know someone was trying to be funny with about:config, but the text:

"This might void your warranty!"

Implies that Firefox has a warranty.

This contradicts the license that the user agreed to when they installed it.

This text should be changed to something a little more professional that is approved by your lawyer.

And I am being serious here.

If you'd like to understand the implications of warranty on your open source code, please read:

Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law  by Lawrence Rosen
No.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 16 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
A little more, in case people think I'm just being overly sensitive, which is a potentially fair accusation:

Our license (see: about:license) clearly states (section 7, all caps, even) that the software is offered without a warranty. Saying that something might void a non-existent warranty does not imply that such a warranty exists.

I'm WONTFIXING this because it is not "very bad text from a legal perspective". If we think that the text should be changed (again!) to be clearer, or because we come up with a better alternative, that's a separate issue.
Version: 2.0 Branch → Trunk
The bikeshed is staying green.
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
See also bug 446704, "This might void your warranty!" is not appreciated by corporate customers.
See Also: → 446704
You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.