Linked by Nescio on Mon 9th Mar 2009 08:05 UTC
Numerous irrelevant issues and feelings about them are ventilated in comments on the case. However, there are only two important issues. One is what the law is, the other is what we think the law should be.
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RE[3]: The right question
by lurch_mojoff on Mon 9th Mar 2009 12:55
in reply to "RE[2]: The right question"
Member since:2007-05-12
No, thus it is not a valid contract until I actually install and read the EULA, if even ten.
The EULA is not a contract, per se. It is a document describing the terms under which you are given the license you've purchased. The license always comes with these terms (well unless a court deems some of them illegal). In most jurisdictions (for example, as it seems according to Thom, in the Netherlands) the licenser needs to make the terms generally available and doesn't have to get your agreement prior to purchase. If the law where you live differs then you may have a point. In most places it doesn't though.
RE[4]: The right question
by Soulbender on Mon 9th Mar 2009 13:27
in reply to "RE[3]: The right question"
Member since:2005-08-18
RE[4]: The right question
by Soulbender on Mon 9th Mar 2009 13:27
in reply to "RE[3]: The right question"
Member since:2005-08-18
It is a document describing the terms under which you are given the license you've purchased.
I haven't purcased a license. Does it say on the box that I do? Does the clerk inform me of this? Does the box say that where I can find the contract terms?
Not counting the Dutch, who are apparently morons, most countries has limitations on how much a company can deceive the customer.
In most places it doesn't though.
I'd argue that in most places it does, especially when it comes to post-sale limitations. In no other industry can a company impose restrictions on what you can do with a product after you've purchased it. Sure, they can void your warranty but that's all.
T
RE[4]: The right question
by alcibiades on Mon 9th Mar 2009 14:33
in reply to "RE[3]: The right question"
Member since:2005-10-12
The EULA is not a contract, per se. It is a document describing the terms under which you are given the license you've purchased.
This is evidently not true in the US, and it is probably not true in other Anglo Saxon jurisdictions. In the case of Softman, the defendant had bought a copy of Adobe software. He then broke up the package and resold it one bit at a time. There was no claim that he had violated copyright by duplicating it unlawfully. He had simply bought a CD with packages A and B on it, then sold package A to one person and package B to another, which was explicitly forbidden in the EULA.
Adobe sued on the grounds that the EULA forbade such behaviour. The EULA was said to be binding for exactly the reasons given above, that the copies were transferred as licenses not sales of copies, so the EULA simply recorded the conditions of license. The court ruled against Adobe on the grounds that Softman had only bought a copy of the software, but not installed it. Not having installed it, Softman had not entered into the contract whose terms are given in the EULA, and was thus not bound by it. He had however bought his copy, and thus had the right to resell it as a bundle or in detail.
There was no breach of the EULA because Softman had not clicked through and entered into that contract.
So in the US the situation is interestingly different from what Thom describes for Holland. There is no doubt that until you click through, you have not entered into the EULA contract and are not bound by it. This is why Softman won.
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Member since:
2005-08-18
Am I, the customer, being clearly informed about the EULA and it's contents before purchasing? No, thus it is not a valid contract until I actually install and read the EULA, if even ten.