Your database management software omits data and gives you the wrong information for your story. But it's not until you start receiving angry phone calls that you learn there's a bug in your software. What happens if one of the angry callers turns to the legal system?
Who's to blame? You or the people who supposedly debugged the software?
Reporters who rely too heavily on software are to blame - bug or no bug. But as the legal system evolves to account for our computerized society, there are some strategies you can take to defend yourself, even if the software has a disclaimer on its label.
There is such a thing as computer negligence. If your software really is to blame, you might want to consult a lawyer. But here are some of the basics.
It used to be that computer negligence cases fell specifically under contract law, but today, because of the prevalence of computers in the workplace and their use by people other than the buyer, computer negligence cases have fallen in the realm of tort law.
What's the difference?
"Say you have car insurance," said John Jay Fossett an attorney at Strauss and Troy in Covington, Ky., who has published journal articles concerning computer law. "That's a contract between you and your insurance company. You pay them money and they provide coverage for you."
"If you're in your car and you run into somebody, well that's tort," Fossett said. "You've committed a tort because if you acted negligently and should have been watching where you're going, you've committed a tort against the person you hit."
Fossett said that as computers are used more in society, especially in manufacturing, more computer negligence cases will move toward tort law especially, in cases that involve physical injury.
For example, if a glitch in a computer program causes hot molten steel to be poured on a mill worker instead of where it was supposed to be poured, the worker has recourse under tort law. The worker does not have recourse under contract law because he or she was not one of the members who drew up the original contract.
"If there is an error caused by the computer, and whoever developed the program or machinery was negligent in developing that, they should be held liable for someone who is injured," Fossett said.
Most of the computer negligence cases that have been decided under tort law so far have involved physical injury, not the loss of information, Fossett said. Loss of information would most likely come under contract law.
Even though most cases have fallen under tort law, a case where a reporter has used faulty software would be a breach of contract between the reporter and the creator of the software he or she used.
"Then you'd have to prove how you or your business was damaged because of the loss of information," Fossett said.
If the story causes damages to your organization, say you're sued for libel, you may then have a contract case against the software company. You will still pay damages for your libel case, but you may have recourse against the software company.
Even disclaimers on software packaging can not prevent you from this kind of recourse Fossett said.
"For negligence you need to prove a duty to someone - a breach of that duty. That breach must be the cause of injury, and that injury has to result in damages," Fossett said. "The hardest question to answer is duty," he said. "If some software you've used was not completely debugged and you lose information by using it, part of the case depends on the effort that went into debugging the program. The programmers have a duty to create a product that is relatively safe."
"They put in warranties and disclaimers," he said. "If I had a good case, I'd try to get around those limited disclaimers."
But the disclaimers are carefully written, so recovery would be limited, he added.
Claiming computer negligence is a tricky business. Do not expect that a bug in your software will relieve you from responsibility.