Toshiba claims floppy "bug" unlikely, but posts patch
Published: 02 Nov 1999 12:00 GMT
Despite claiming it hasn't had a single complaint from nearly 15 million notebook users worldwide, Toshiba UK will post a fix for the floppy-disk problem that recently cost the company £1.28bn in settlement costs in a US court.
Toshiba will post a software correction to what it now refers to as a "possible floppy drive bug" on its UK website on 10 November. Users looking for a "preventative patch" can either download it from an area of Toshiba's UK website, or visit a local Toshiba dealer, or phone a Toshiba hotline service on 01932 828828 for a CD or -- ahem -- a floppy.
As ZDNet has already reported, Toshiba on Friday settled a class-action suit that alleged it had knowingly sold computers with a floppy-disk controller that could cause data loss. Toshiba's massive $2.1billion (£1.28bn) settlement for using a potentially flawed floppy-disk controller is already causing ripples, which may yet turn into tidal waves. Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, NEC Packard-Bell and e-Machines have now been hit with suits over allegedly flawed floppy-disk controllers.
Alan Thompson, managing Director of Toshiba Information Systems UK responded to the problems saying: "In the UK -- as with the rest of the world -- we have never had one complaint regarding this issue. It's highly theoretical. We have to acknowledge that the American law is quite different to English law, but even so, we have prepared a solution that will rectify the theoretical hazard."
- Toshiba explains that the American legal system allows for a litigant with a theoretical or hypothetical problem in certain circumstances to be awarded compensation. It also says that under English law, a plaintiff would have had to establish loss before compensation would have been awarded.
Got a Tosh? Are you at all worried by the news of a "theoretical hazard"? Will you be downloading the patch? Tell the Mailroom
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