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Subject:Re: Need some disclaimer text From:"Mark L. Levinson" <nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sun, 21 Apr 2002 11:38:39 +0200
At my first job, I had a rubber stamp made that
said "INTERNAL: <employername> neither issues nor
endorses this preliminary draft."
We never saw the contracts that our customers
signed, but we were told that sometimes they
referenced the manual as a description of the
product, meaning that words like "internal" and
"preliminary" and "draft" were very important
in keeping mistakes from turning into legal
issues.
It sounded like a no-lose situation to me, so
I would keep using the stamp for as long as
possible. Sure it said INTERNAL, but none of
the customers was going to send the manual
back saying "I guess I shouldn't have this."
And sure it said "preliminary", but none of
the customers was going to complain "Hey, your
manual says 'preliminary' but it's perfectly
complete and accurate. What's with that?"
To make a long story less long, finally a
manager said to me, "You know, we have a
contractual obligation to provide documentation,
and if our documentation still says 'preliminary',
then the customer can claim that we haven't
fulfilled our obligation because our documentation
isn't done." And that's when I depreliminarized.
Mark L. Levinson
Herzlia, Israel
nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il
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