"The EC proposes software companies be held liable in the
European Union (EU) for the security and efficacy of their
products.
"David Mitchell, senior vice president of IT Research at Ovum,
thinks this may lead to a situation boosting current open source
vendors' business models, but making it more difficult for
independent developers to thrive.
"The EC proposal is likely to make vendors force customers into
support and maintenance agreements upon each purchase, in order to
help the former fulfill warranty obligations, said Mitchell."
