Monday, September 25. 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Section A · Page 7
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Y2K Act rarely used
Critics say law hurt consumers, shielded business
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Worried that a flood of Y2K cases could cripple the economy, Congress last year passed legislation to limit lawsuits related to the computer problem and save
U. S. businesses billions of dollars in legal costs.
Government investigators now report that companies
invoked it in court just 18 times, which a congressional critic saw as a "fitting postscript" to Y2K alarms that never materialized.
Sen, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who voted against the legislation last year and commissioned the General Accounting Office report, said the study confirmed that the bill was mostly used by big companies to delay relief to consumers.
"This is a lesson for the next time
special interests ask Congress for special legal protections." he said.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, who worked to pass the measure, said that it helped businesses concentrate on solving the Y2K problem.
"The Y2K Act encouraged businesses to be proactive in addressing and remedying their Y2K challenges, rather than defensive and fearful of a predicted flood of lawsuits," he said.
The report by the investigative arm of Congress showed that defendants used the Y2K Act 12 times in federal court and six times in state court. The suits involved class actions by customers, disputes between businesses and disputes against insurers. Compilers said they had no way to tell how many times the law was invoked to keep cases out of court.
In many cases, defendants invoking the Y2K Act eventually settled the cases or had them dismissed. Ten cases were pending when the report was finished last month.
The law allowed defendants to move some state cases to federal court, challenge class action lawsuits and force plaintiffs to use mediation.
The Y2K problem occurred because of the fear that some computer programs, especially older ones, might
SOME EXAMPLES IN THE AS-YET-UNRELEASED GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORT:
A suit against electronics retailers, such as Circuit City and CompUSA, accused the companies of selling computer hardware and software that they knew were not Y2K-compliant. The defendants used the Y2K law's higher standards for notice and jurisdiction to have the case dismissed.
A California plaintiff sued computer maker Packard Bell NEC for selling personal computers susceptible to the Year 2000 bug. The suit said the company refused to repair the malfunctioning date, which required a user to enter the correct date when the computer was turned on. A judge dismissed the case under the Y2K law and the plaintiff appealed, but the case was settled out of court.
Source: The Associated Press
fail when the date changed to 2000. Because the programs were written to recognize only the last two digits of a year to save space, such programs could have read the digits "00" as 1900 instead of 2000.
Man defends lottery actions
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Richard Lee Knowlton says he's not a criminal. If he was, he argues, he could have stolen untold thousands of dollars from his former employer — the Kansas Lottery — without leaving a trace.
"There are ways to do it and I could have done it," he said. "But that's not what happened and that's not what this is about."
Knowlton, 55, is accused of steal
ing $82,332. He faces 268 theft, computer crime and misconduct charges filed by Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall's office.
A hearing in his case, dealing with evidence seized during a search of his home last week, is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Shawnee County District Court.
A preliminary hearing, which will determine whether Knowlton goes to trial, is set for Tuesday. Oct 31.
He was the lottery's information resource manager from 1992 until
his resignation in March. He maintained the lottery's computer system for games involving scratch-off tickets.
He said he converted the 11 tickets as part of a personal — and unauthorized — investigation of suspected holes in the lottery security.
"What I did was wrong, I admit that," he said. "But I didn't think there was anything else I could do. And I never once thought I'd be charged with a crime or be put in jail."
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All KU students are invited to explore opportunities in business:
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- Visit with company representatives
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Sponsored by the Business Career Services Center For a list of companies attending stop by our office or check out our web site. 125 Summerfield Hall http://www.bschool.ukans.edu/bcsc
Call for more information!! (785) 864-5591
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