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Name :   Ron Crane
Organization :   N/A
Post Date :   9/30/2005

Section Comments
Section :  .20.1.8.2.6
Page no. :  
Line no.:  
Comment :  10e.

e. Vol. II, §1.8.2.6(e) is very curious. In full, it reads:

Any and all failures that occurred as a result of a deficiency shall be
classified as purged, and test results shall be evaluated as though the failure or failures had not occurred, if the:

1) Vendor submits a design, manufacturing, or packaging change notice to correct the deficiency, together with test data to verify the adequacy of the change;

2) Examiner of the equipment agrees that the proposed change will
correct the deficiency; and

3) Vendor certifies that the change will be incorporated into all existing
and future production units;

This leaves a lot unsaid, like

(1) whether the fix is code reviewed; (2) that this section apparently empowers the vendor, without any supervision or testing, to introduce the fix into "existing...production units;
(3) what kind of retesting is required;
(4) whether anyone external to this process (like the public) can ever learn about the failure (apparently not).

Again, citizens pay for these systems and uses them to perform the
foundational act of our democratic republic. We have a right to know how these systems perform, and vendors have no right and no good reason to hide that information.