Software liability law could divide open source

"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."

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