If you’re a glutton for punishment, you may have peered into the fine print on the licensing agreement that accompanies most software packages. The text isn’t for the weak of heart, but if you take the time to decipher it you’ll find a surprising statement at its core?in essence, the company you’re buying from is saying, “Nothing that goes wrong is our fault.” If you suffer problems as a result of a flaw in the program, you’re out of luck and can’t collect damages.You’d be hard-pressed to find another industry that could get away with such a blanket statement (though you can bet that most would like to). Given the potential growth of cyberinsurance, however, can software companies get away with these statements forever, or will they be forced to change?Lance Rose, a New York City lawyer who specializes in cyberlaw, believes that if cyberinsurance goes mainstream, such blame-proofing license agreements could become a thing of the past. He notes that a company could take out cyberinsurance and then suffer losses because of flaws in a software package. The damaged company could collect on its insurance policy, but if the losses were large enough, the insurance company might sue the software maker?and potentially win.“Insurance companies will likely be a lot more aggressive than businesses in pursuing these kinds of claims because that’s the business they’re in,” Rose says. If that started to happen?and if software companies started to lose suits?the clauses would become much less common because they’d be unenforceable, he adds.Jay Hollander, an attorney specializing in computer and Internet law and principal of the New York City-based law firm Hollander and Co., believes that cyberinsurance could lead to changes in such restrictive clauses for big-ticket, customized software sales. But he isn’t sure that would be an improvement. Should today’s licenses become void, software makers might then add clauses requiring their customers to take out cyberinsurance, and that situation would also force the business to get an agreement from the insurance company not to sue the software company if there were ever a problem with the software. He notes that such agreements are common in commercial leases?landlords can make tenants take out property insurance and, at the same time, require that the tenant obtain a waiver saying that the insurance company can’t sue the landlord. If that analogy holds, cyberinsurance could ultimately make software companies less vulnerable?not more. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe