The disclaimers below were taken from articles on the Web or in print about the Year 2000 compliance issue. It has become clear that liability for compliance failure is an area of grave concern for most organizations, and lawyers are already writing tomes about what to expect. Topics are legion. For example, vendor contracts need to be reviewed for compliance clauses, even though some states are already considering laws that place Y2K problems on a par with "acts of God," in an attempt to avoid a lawsuit crisis. Support contracts should also be reviewed for appropriate warranties and obligations. If your department uses software owned by a third party, copyright infringement issues could surface if attempts to reprogram code are executed without permission. Insurance policies could be problematic where explicit coverage for Y2K problems is not included. Watch for newer policies which exclude Y2K liabilities. Employment policies may be gravely affected as peak demand for a scant supply of programmers creates the need for newer, more flexible employment terms in order to lure prospective, or keep current, employees.
This is just a small sampling of legal repercussions that could be associated with the Year 2000 rollover. While most departments may not have to consider all of them, they should be aware of them. At the very least, departments may wish to become familiar with clauses to be added to purchasing contracts.
PLEASE NOTE:
THE WARRANTY CLAUSE FOUND IN THE PRINTED VERSION OF FYeI HAS BEEN REPLACED BY CURRENT NYS PREFERRED WARRANTY LANGUAGE. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE WARRANTY LANGUAGE IN THE PRINTED VERSION OF THE NEWSLETTER, INSTEAD, PLEASE USE LANGUAGE FOUND AT THE NYS Year 2000 Contract Language Guidelines SITE.
Click here to return to "IN THIS ISSUE".