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[EDIT: When I write Consumer Protection Law, I actually meant civil law. Sorry for any confusion.]

Excuse the length of this post, but this really rubbed me the wrong way.

I strongly object to this depiction of German law and Germany. I have no clue how consumer protection law in the USA or abroad is, but Germany's consumer protection law puts the consumer first*. And consumer, that's everybody of us, most of the times.

German consumer protection law does not say "ignore limitations", it says "unilateral, post factum alterations to contracts are null and void". With regards to this issue that means, sellers cannot shove more conditions or limitations on purchasers after the deal. Bringing in more limitations by an EULA only visible after the purchase is such a post-factum alteration.
Even more so because unless you are buying from the manufacturer directly, your business partner will be some retailer. Unless the retailer explicitly details the same limitations in the contract between consumer and retailer, all contractual limits put on a contractual good by the manufacturer are only binding the manufacturer's partner, the retailer. The merits of this approach should be immediatly evident, but I'll spell it out for you: you are bound only to the terms of contract you knew when you agreed to the contract.

OK, software is somewhat more difficult, because you actually don't purchase anything but lease the non-expiring usage rights for a one-time fee. But leasing contracts are still contracts and don't allow the vendor to add limitations to the lease afterwards either. Microsoft learned this quickly and now simply ships its products clearly showing the EULA or a reference to it on a part of the package, that is accessible before the deal. The retailer only has to point to the EULA and its own common trade terms and the consumer knows what's the deal and can make an educated decision.
"We only show you our terms after you agreed to the contract." schemes deliberatly try to keep the purchaser from making an educated decision and are considered fraudulent and "sittenwidrig" (ger, "immoral", "against public policy", "against conventions") in German jurisdiction. Rightfully so, I'd say.




We are not talking about counterfeits here, we are talking about resale. Are you opposed to the idea that people buy from second tier distributors? Or are you just opposed to services by third parties? Under these circumstances I wager that your life is not easy. Or are you limiting yourself to Apple, because, you know, Apple is special.



* And there is a sizeable minority that thinks consumer protection is not good enough yet.

Edited 2009-02-09 11:17 UTC