“Computer Viruses and Civil Liability: A Conceptual Framework.” That's the title of a recent 57-page article in the Fall 2004 issue of the American Bar Association's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Law Journal, pp. 123-179. (The article is also online at http://www.law.unsw.edu.au/staff/devilliersm/docs/VIRUS-II.pdf.)
The article starts with the following abstract:
Three of the major topics are: Operation and Structure of Computer Viruses, Virus Infection as Negligence Cause of Action, and Litigation Complications.
In his discussion of the negligence cause of action, Meiring de Villliers applies the traditional tort analysis of duty, breach, cause in fact, and proximate cause . Moreover, virtually all (if not all) of his case citations are to traditional non-computer common law cases. However, he includes a detailed technical analysis of viruses and their propagation and prevention and applies the common law cases and principles to the current computer problems.
He concludes with the following, part of which is similar to the abstract: