Free Software and Liability

[illiniwatcher]

Hi, all:

I have a question for you about software and consumers. It's a little complicated, so please bear with me.

I am a freelance software developer who has been writing applications for the T-Mobile Android platform for less than six months. I happen to have written an application that serves as an electronic checkbook register. In functionality, it makes it convenient for G1 phone users to manage a single checking account without having to use pen and paper, or without the need for a pocket calculator. There is no charge for this application - it is free to anyone who cares to download it.

The application has been downloaded by over 32,000 users and is in active use, according to Google's application statistical system, by over 14,000 users. There have been some bugs reported by users but I have worked to correct them.

But today, I received an e-mail from one user who claims that on account of the use of my application, he was charged $300 in NSF fees (which sounds like 10 returned checks). He claims there was a math error with the application but in his initial note to me, he provided no details on the nature of the error. I am attempting to get those details now.

What I'm wondering is, what is my responsibility to this user? Since he received the application free of charge and the intent of the application was to serve as a utility, am I liable for his NSF fees? What if he used the application incorrectly? Suppose, for example, he forgot to enter certain checks or debits for whatever reason - he was distracted, he was lazy, he was disorganized? Or suppose he misentered certain figures, transposing digits, or excluding a decimal point? Does such software usage fall constitute misuse or improper use?

I'm interested in doing the right thing here, which is why I'm writing to your offices; this is all sort of new to me. (I also want to keep a good professional name, of course, since I'm relatively new to this market.) I could hand over a check or money order for the $300, but would that be proper, particularly if, as I suspect, the software was not properly used? What about the software development tools I used, which were provided by Google, also free of charge to developers like me? If there may have been bugs in the software development tools - that are just now coming to light - what's my share in the responsibility?

Also, how can a software developer or provider of software services protect himself/herself from - frankly - incompetent users who might become sue-happy? Are there any reasonable protections that software providers can take aside from an end-user license agreement (or EULA)? I ask this because (sadly) many users that buy software or software services are ill-equipped to understand the nature of software (the process to develop it, and so on) and because of that, have a tendency to point fingers at software developers, in many cases, unjustly. (It's the same kind of contempt that's often reserved for math whizzes and electrical engineers.)

Any information you can provide, and any resources to which you can direct me, would be greatly appreciated.

I am based in Houston, TX.

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Originally Posted by illiniwatcher

Hi, all:

I have a question for you about software and consumers. It's a little complicated, so please bear with me.

I am a freelance software developer who has been writing applications for the T-Mobile Android platform for less than six months. I happen to have written an application that serves as an electronic checkbook register. In functionality, it makes it convenient for G1 phone users to manage a single checking account without having to use pen and paper, or without the need for a pocket calculator. There is no charge for this application - it is free to anyone who cares to download it.

The application has been downloaded by over 32,000 users and is in active use, according to Google's application statistical system, by over 14,000 users. There have been some bugs reported by users but I have worked to correct them.

But today, I received an e-mail from one user who claims that on account of the use of my application, he was charged $300 in NSF fees (which sounds like 10 returned checks). He claims there was a math error with the application but in his initial note to me, he provided no details on the nature of the error. I am attempting to get those details now.

What I'm wondering is, what is my responsibility to this user? Since he received the application free of charge and the intent of the application was to serve as a utility, am I liable for his NSF fees? What if he used the application incorrectly? Suppose, for example, he forgot to enter certain checks or debits for whatever reason - he was distracted, he was lazy, he was disorganized? Or suppose he misentered certain figures, transposing digits, or excluding a decimal point? Does such software usage fall constitute misuse or improper use?

I'm interested in doing the right thing here, which is why I'm writing to your offices; this is all sort of new to me. (I also want to keep a good professional name, of course, since I'm relatively new to this market.) I could hand over a check or money order for the $300, but would that be proper, particularly if, as I suspect, the software was not properly used? What about the software development tools I used, which were provided by Google, also free of charge to developers like me? If there may have been bugs in the software development tools - that are just now coming to light - what's my share in the responsibility?

Also, how can a software developer or provider of software services protect himself/herself from - frankly - incompetent users who might become sue-happy? Are there any reasonable protections that software providers can take aside from an end-user license agreement (or EULA)? I ask this because (sadly) many users that buy software or software services are ill-equipped to understand the nature of software (the process to develop it, and so on) and because of that, have a tendency to point fingers at software developers, in many cases, unjustly. (It's the same kind of contempt that's often reserved for math whizzes and electrical engineers.)

Any information you can provide, and any resources to which you can direct me, would be greatly appreciated.

I am based in Houston, TX.

From a banker's perspective...

You tell that idiot to pound sand and to kiss your grits. Said idiot can't hold you responsible unless you made guarantees that promised 100 percent accurate results.

Does your application work on a blackberry?