The SFLC's paper proposes a new solution to the software liability nightmare confronting the medical device field: requiring manufacturers of IMDs to make source code auditable. Research indicates that software transparency would make the devices less vulnerable to malicious hackers and security breaches and the public less vulnerable to negligence by the corporations that sell them.

As a non-profit legal services organization for Free and Open Source (FOSS) software developers, part of the SFLC's mission is to promote the use of open, auditable source code in all computerized technology. Though the paper focuses specifically on the security and privacy risks of implantable medical devices, they are a microcosm of the wider software liability issues discussed in the paper. The argument for public access to source code of IMDs advanced in the paper can, and should be, extended to all the software people interact with everyday. The well-documented recent incidents of software malfunctions in voting booths, cars, commercial airlines, and financial markets are just the beginning of a problem that can only be solved through software transparency.

SOURCE Software Freedom Law Center