Stardate 20010720.1349 (On Screen): I'm not a lawyer, and I don't know the details of contract law, but I do know that the general principle is that if you actually do what you say you'll do then you're OK. So if AOL has a page that people visited and promises them a chance to win $10,000 if they answer a question and then permit a random number to tossed in the air, and if they participate then the two have entered into a contract. If it comes back and tells the contestant that they did win, it seems to me that refusal to pay would be a violation of that contract and thus be actionable. It may be true that AOL screwed up their program so that a lot more people won than should have, but that's their problem and doesn't change the situation. Having a human confirm on the phone that money had been won only makes it worse. If Coca Cola doesn't want to pay, then it's AOL's nickel (or ten million dollars) for screwing up. But you
do not welch on a bet. (What you do is to test your software before releasing it.)
(discuss)
