Tuesday, November 24, 1998

Lawmaker has plan for Y2K bug

By DOUG WILLIAMSON

Business Editor

State Sen. Troy Fraser would like computer hardware and software companies to fix the Year 2000 Bug for free.

Consumers and businesses would benefit from legislation the senator plans to introduce for the January session of the Texas Legislature, but the computer industry also would reap great rewards, Fraser said.

Fraser kicked off his Y2K campaign in Abilene Monday morning, calling the proposed bill "the most important piece of legislation the Texas Legislature will hear (this session)."

He forecast economic and judicial turmoil "if millions of computers cannot read the date turnover (going from Dec. 31, 1999, to Jan. 1, 2000). If we have a massive Y2K failure that leads to an explosion of lawsuits, our economy could face major disruption from the sheer volume of legal action," he said.

The legislation he is authoring along with state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, and state Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, is three pronged:

- It will promote Y2K compliance and remediation before the problems occur.

- It will establish a Y2K dispute resolution process that is fair and efficient.

- It will help avoid massive litigation and potential economic problems.

The bill calls for the computer industry to repair computers and software to Year 2000 standards for only the cost of shipping and handling. There would be a 10-year statute of limitations, meaning any hardware or software 10 years old or younger would be eligible for the program. The companies would be responsible for contacting owners and upgrading the equipment and software.

In return, the bill would grant a 90-day grace period before legal action could take place. During that time, dispute resolution programs would try to solve the problems before they make it to the courthouse, he said. Damage claims in lawsuits would be limited to actual damages, he said.

"I don't consider this tort reform legislation. It really is a consumer issue. I am very optimistic that this will pass," he said.

In a meeting Friday with computer industry representative, "the response was tremendous." Fraser said the industry sees the expense of making the changes to be much less than the cost of potential litigation.

Fraser met last week with Gov. George W. Bush and Lt. Gov.-elect Rick Perry to outline his proposal and to ask that it be addressed as an emergency issue, giving it a speedy track through the Legislature.

At least one Y2K expert says the plan is good, but far from the solution to the problem.

"This may be a good step toward that particular detail of the Y2K problem," said Abilenian Jimmy R. Morris, author of Year 2000: Personal Protection Guide. "By no means does it touch the entire problem or even a large part of it."

Morris said the immensity of the problem, not just found in traditional PCs and software but also in embedded chips within many of the devices people use daily, is not one that a single solution can found for.

"If we do a whole bunch of little steps like this one, maybe we will be able to mitigate more of the problem," Morris said.

Doug Williamson can be reached at 676-6707 or williamsond@abinews.com.