is not easy to find the date parameters in the millions of lines of code. According to a March, 1998 survey by Rubin Systems, Inc. of 128 Information Technology (IT) directors and managers in major companies (the majority of which expect to spend more than $100 million on their Y2K projects), about 78% of the 128 companies surveyed reported that their rate of missing milestones in implementing their Y2K remediation plans is increasing and 37% of the companies surveyed have already encountered a Y2K-related systems failure. Gartner Group, Inc. has estimated (with a probability of 0.7) that approximately 50% of the companies with this software problem may not become Year 2000 compliant in time and will have all or part of their computer systems shut down (or start producing incorrect data) on or after January 1, 2000. The Gartner Group estimate appears to conform with a survey conducted by Arthur Andersen in July of 1997, which predicts, based on an extrapolation of current data, that only 50% of companies will be fully compliant by the year 2000.
             As a result, any programming that is not corrected properly by the year 2000 will stop functioning. This will have far reaching consequences as vital state and local services are interrupted, and individuals will be hurt either physically or financially. A major concern at the state government level is that government agencies will be hit by lawsuits from citizens seeking damages.
             California Assemblymember Brooks Firestone (R-Los Olivos) introduced legislation to curtail the damages available in lawsuits against businesses. The measure, AB 1710, limits the damages available in Y2K litigation to the costs resulting from bodily injury, if any, and to the amount necessary to repair or replace the failed computer system or program. In other words, the measure would prohibit punitive damage awards or awards based on "emotional distress."
             "This legislation is necessary to focus ...