DevShed disclaimer ?

If I post something on DevShed, for example, advice on how to over-clock a processor or a snippet of code on how to remove entries from a database - in either case, am I liable in anyway if any damages occur as a result of my advice?

I can't think why I would, but then my *** is open to legal ramming if this is the case.

nao

no

Thanks Jimmy2k1,

Where does it say that I'm not liable?

nao

Jimmy2k1: Thank you for your insightful post... next time try adding something to explain your point of view.

Whenever I post something that has the potential to cause damamge to ones system or is risky then I post a warning saying they are doing this on their own and that I will not be held liable.

If you told someone over the phone to do something or ran a consulting company and gave advice that caused someone to loose money then you would be liable for the losses if there was no legal disclaimer. How is the forum different. I would say that if they were able to find out who you are they could have grounds for legal charges.

hehehe... I was tempted to say that myself, but then, remembering that's usually easier for people to help other people when you don't piss them off, I decided to go for the, 'Maaaaaaaaaaarvelous idea, do tell me more!' approach.



That's what I mean - I don't remember accepting any kind of disclaimer when I joined DevShed. I think this is quite important, esp., since the Admin's will be adding a Hardware forum.

Here's the EUA for DevShed:



So, does:

...cover us in the sense that it's illegal to cause loss or damage to someone's business/computer equipment etc., ?

If I made a mistake and someone implemented it, I think they could get their solicitor to send a letter to DevShed demanding to know who 'nao' is, for example, and start the ball rolling that way. I'd like to think that the DevShed admin would simply place the letter under the sand in his cat litter box, but I couldn't blame him/her if they took it seriously.

All of this could be avoided with a simple disclaimer.

But, how would you get existing DevShed'ers to agree to a new disclaimer? That sounds like a boring task - but I think it's important enough.

Any comments from the Admins?

I think what we have is sufficient. And I also think its generally understood that posts are the opinion of the poster and not the medium used to post it.

It's also generally understood that McDonald's coffee is too hot for your crotch and their food is incredibly fattening, but that doesn't stop senile old women and hogs with no self-control from suing them (and, in one of those instances, winning).

I don't think it's safe to trust people to draw their own logical conclusions no matter how obvious something is. I do a lot of policy writing at work, and one thing I've learned through experience is that no matter how obvious something is, if it's not explicitly spelled out in writing, someone, somewhere is stupid enough to "interpret" it in their own, mind-numbingly illogical way. The moral of this story: don't trust people to think for themselves.

Just my .02

Heres another .02 - no matter =how= much verbage you have on a site. No matter how =tight= a signed contract is, if people want to sue you, they can and will.

Well, on the off-chance that it could happen, I'd rather be protected by a disclaimer than a logical assumption. Fair enough, we are all resonably intelligent individuals here and I myself understand that any advice given on DevShed is applied at my own risk.

BUT, the difference between coming out of the other side with a court victory or a HUGE compensatory bill, is all in the disclaimer. Given what you said about getting sued either way, surely it's all the more reason to have one, no?

Anybody with a few thousand to trow away can get a solicitor/lawyer and *attempt* to sue DevShed and/or a user/users (god... imagine DevShed AND multiple users getting sued! You'd need big $$$$$$ to do that), but a disclaimer will make it much more difficult for them to succeed. With the current terms & conditions (ie., EUA) no such protection is afforded to the DevShed member, or indeed DevShed.

Ok I think we're done here.