> users in general Blaming users is part of the problem. Yes, they vote with their wallet, but their vote is usually made in ignorance and is often mislead by

> users in general Blaming users is part of the problem. Yes, they vote with their wallet, but their vote is usually made in ignorance and is often mislead by companies that are so used to dissembling and exaggerating they call such antisocial behavior "best practice". That said, it is true that this is largely a problem with the economic incentives. Capitalism optimizes for businesses that are financially efficient, so the business that sells the lowest quality product they can get away with is "successful". This becomes even worse in software, where quality is harder to see directly. Even the people that write software can have a hard time evaluating "quality". The solution for this situation is simple, but it's basically taboo to talk about it: liability. If you sell software, you need to be liable for any damage it causes when "used normally". For a decent sketch of how this might look, see Dan Geer's explanation[1]. There may be other ways to implement liability. I suggest that the software industry should find a way to implement this as soon as possible, if they want any say in what "liability" means. Yes, this will raise development costs; spending more for better development practices was the goal. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT-TGvYOBpI#t=1531 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT-TGvYOBpI#t=1531