RE: Legal requirements on doc (EU/US)

Subject: RE: Legal requirements on doc (EU/US)
From: "Mike Bradley" <mbradley -at- techpubs -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2002 16:08:54 -0800


> What are the legal regulations (European Union directives and
> US laws) on technical documentation in the software industry?
> What happens legally if the manuals are inaccurate or if the
> software does not work the documents say it should?

In the US, software is licensed, not sold. That's what all those license
agreements are about--we buy a license to use, we don't buy the
software. As a result, manufacturers' liability is greatly reduced. They
only warrant that they are giving us a true copy of the software.

Attempts have been made to hold the manufacturers liable for
ill-performing, buggy, junky, crappy software documented by illiterate
Martians, but, to my knowledge, all of them have failed.

There may be an exception to the manufacturers' Teflon coating in the
case of automated machinery. I'm fairly sure that the documentation has
to have Cautions and Warnings in relation to operation of the machinery,
but not to operation of the software. In other words, "Caution:
Resetting the wafer elevator while a cassette is in the chamber may
damage the wafers and elevator," is required, I think, while "Caution:
Clicking File > Save incessantly may hang the program," is not.

= Mike Bradley
Tech Pubs



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Order RoboHelp X3 in December and receive $100 mail in rebate, FREE WebHelp
Merge Module and the new RoboPDF - add powerful PDF output functionality
to RoboHelp X3. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


References:
Legal requirements on doc (EU/US): From: Jocelyn Olivier

Previous by Author: RE: Unionizing?
Next by Author: RE: Unionizing?
Previous by Thread: Legal requirements on doc (EU/US)
Next by Thread: Techwriting UK


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads