A call for judicial activism: Rapid technological developments and slow legal developments

In most regards, the recent judgment in Gammasonics Institute for Medical Research Pty Ltd v Comrad Medical Systems Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 267 (‘the Gammasonics case’) is rather uninteresting. In fact, taken at face value, the only interesting aspect of the case is that it contains a discussion of one significant legal question: that is, under what circumstances can software be classed as ‘goods’? That is no doubt an important question, not least as such a classification may determine whether a buyer of software is entitled to rely on the terms implied under the various state Sale of Goods Acts.