Position Ambiguity [was] Re: [aprssig] findu.com....

[Neil Johnson]

Even Garmin and most other GPS manufacturers put a disclaimer similar to
the following in a BIG RED BOX at the beginning of their users' manuals:

WARNING:
Failure to avoid the following potentially hazardous situations could
result in an accident or collision resulting in death or serious injury.

When navigating, carefully compare information displayed on the eTrex to
all available navigation sources including information from visual
sightings and maps. For safety always resolve any discrepancies or
questions before continuing navigation.

Using the electronic chart in the eTrex only to facilitate, not to
replace the use of authorized government charts. Official government
charts and notices to mariners contain all information needed to
navigate safely.

I'm not a lawyer, but in my opinion it boils down to: "The only data you
should trust is the government's. If you trust our data and get screwed,
then you can't sue us".

-Neil


Curt, WE7U wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Jun 2006, James Washer wrote:
> 
> 
>>My favorite for this situation
>>
>>"In the event of a discrepency between the map and the terrain, go with the terrain"
> 
> 
> I really like that one, and hadn't heard it before.
> 
> Hey, for anyone who's still following this thread, here's a relevant
> part from Xastir's license, the GPL:
> 
> 
>                     "NO WARRANTY
> 
>   11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO
> WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
> EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR
> OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
> KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
> THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
> PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND
> PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE
> DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR
> CORRECTION.
> 
>   12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
> WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY
> AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU
> FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
> CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE
> PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
> RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A
> FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF
> SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
> SUCH DAMAGES."
> 
> 
> Of course this doesn't mean we won't strive to do the best we can.
> We may have to think about displaying some warning dialog when the
> on-line Tigermap server is used for instance, otherwise the user may
> be unaware of the map limitations.  The important thing here is not
> limiting liability for the developers (although without that there'd
> be little to no development), but whether the software + maps could
> get used in some manner that causes loss of life or property.
> 
> For local map files used with Xastir, we assume they would have
> navigated through warnings on the download sites and/or read the
> documentation for each map set.  We have no way of knowing what type
> of data users are loading into Xastir, or where they got it from.
> 
> --
> Curt, WE7U.   APRS Client Comparisons: http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
> "Lotto:    A tax on people who are bad at math." -- unknown
> "Windows:  Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates." -- WE7U
> "The world DOES revolve around me:  I picked the coordinate system!"
> 
> _______________________________________________
> aprssig mailing list
> aprssig at lists.tapr.org
> https://lists.tapr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aprssig
> 
> 
> 
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