Re: *ping*

[anderson johnston <ajohns5@alumni.umbc.edu>]

On Sat, 1 Jan 2000, Seanna Watson wrote:

> In message "Re: *ping*", 
> "Lee Ann Goldstein" <leeann@rand.org> writes:
> 
> >
> >--Your message was: (from Mike Knell)
> >> 
> >> What the lack of major Y2K problems worldwide means, of course, is that 
> >> the lower-wattage sections of society are now asking why we wasted all
> >> this money on this non-existent Y2K bug, only to have nothing happen
> >
> 
> Heard tonight on the CBC (Canada) news that some high-profile US
> lawyers (!) were suggesting that since nothing happened, perhaps it
> was all hype.  I think people are having difficulty distinguishing
> between the survival preparedness (for which you end up with a
> basement full of bottled water and canned food which you need to
> unload), and the software preparedness (for which you end up with
> computers full of fixed software).
> 

Most of the work that's been done in the name of Y2K, IMHO, has not really
been technically driven.  We've been doing "due diligence" here, i.e.,
designing, documenting and performing tests of things that we know
perfectly well are going to work - or at least won't create serious
problems if they don't.  The effort is being driven in large part *BY*
lawyers. 

A lawyer's job is to protect his employer from legal "exposure".  Envision
a generic bad thing happening.  It really doesn't matter what.  Someone
files suit against you claming that the bad thing was due to your
negligence in preparing for Y2K.  The claim is insane but you - the lawyer
- are left trying to prove a negative.  Can you convice a jury?  Maybe. 
Better to avoid the whole thing.  Have documentation on hand showing that
you took "reasonable" precautions for Y2K.  Several state legislatures
have been passing bills to limit liability if such "due diligence" is
performed.

By the way, it's unseasonably warm and pleasant in Baltimore now.  An
absence of Apocalypses has been noted.  Has anyone heard from Robert
Lavelle, millenialist spammer extraordinary (YOU HAVE 3 MONTHS TO LIVE!,
YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY! and so forth)? 

What are these guys going to do when they realize that the rent was due by
Jan. 1 after all? 

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