--- Forwarded Message from Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 17:28:35 -0400
>From: Judy Shoaf <[log in to unmask]>
>User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; WinNT4.0; en-US; rv:1.3) Gecko/20030312
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
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>Subject: Quitting Chinese Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health
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Ed Dente cites the following CD license clause:

 > "Licensee shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend Princeton, its
 > trustees, officers, employees, students, and agents against any and all
 > claims, suits, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, fees and expenses
 > (including reasonable attorneys' fees) resulting out of the exercise of
 > this License. (following emphasis mine): THIS INDEMNIFICATION SHALL
 > INCLUDE, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, ANY AND ALL CLAIMS FOR WHICH EITHER
 > PARTY IS ALLEGED OR TO HAVE BEEN WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY NEGLIGENT."

This is fascinating! There is a note which McGraw-Hill asks to have
posted with the audio files for its language textbooks, and which I
suppose is included on their own copies of their Material:
___________________________________________
McGraw-Hill makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of
any information contained in the McGraw-Hill Material, including any
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no
event shall McGraw-Hill have any liability to any party for special,
incidental, tort, or consequential damages arising out of or in
connection with the McGraw-Hill  Material, even if McGraw-Hill has been
advised of the possibility of such damage.
___________________________________________

I think the point is that you can't sue the company if you don't learn
Spanish from their Spanish textbook. They do not warranty the fitness of
the textbook for the particular purpose of learning the subject. That's
all I can think of.

Who would sue Princeton as a result of getting access to their Chinese
course? Presumably a student who flunked Chinese. And they might have a
case, if they got a defective CD or one that wouldn't play properly--or
was supposed to be available online but wasn't at the crucial moment,
which would be the Licensee's negligence.

Perhaps there have been such suits...? Or perhaps the lawyers have
thought there might be? I can see a distant possibility for such a suit
if the student was provided with a defective or badly engineered
electronic textbook (I went to study for the final and found I could no
longer access the first five chapters...).

Judy Shoaf