Could Authors Be Liable For Ebooks?

A prototype e-reader by HP.

The recent bankruptcy of Borders has opened a scary question: Can authors be held liable to consumers if an e-bookstore dies? It's really not clear what liabilities authors who self-publish are actually setting themselves up for, later on.

I guess with the amount of money some ebook authors are raking in right now (Joe Konrath is looking at somewhere north of $500,000 in sales for 2011) nobody's really going to be worried about this. But it is something to think about for the future.