Dangerous Campgrounds

wintersun wrote:
The software industry has been doing this for decades. When the operating system crashes and a computer fails and a hospital life support system fails and someone dies you do not get to sue Microsoft. If your Quicken or other tax program calculates your deductions improperly and the IRS comes after you, there is no liability on the part of the software company.

Except that software is something that is highly subject to user configuration and misuse, so I get why they have these clauses. In the case of a hospital life support system, its not Microsoft that built the servers, installed and configured the software and operating system, or got the FDA certification for the device in question. That all lies with the company that made the life support system, like GE or Philips.

Moreover, it may be tough to uphold these kinds of waivers in any situation. There are just too many variables. So a CG has you sign one. You trip on a cracked tile in the shower house, fall and break your knee. Their lawyer tells you that you signed a waver and go pound sand. You sue, and you'll win. Why? Because they were negligent. The trouble is that every case is unique.

camperpaul wrote:

Campfire Time wrote:
So let me ask, you've actually seen these clauses in releases that you have signed? Or are these just suppositions?

Yes, some businesses are doing things like this. And yet, people will sue them anyway...

I have seen this kind of stuff (hold harmless, etc.) on a medical history form at a clinic where I went for a pre-employment physical exam.

I flicked my Bic® ...

So have I. I'm asking specifically about these clauses in CGs, which the OP only partially answered.