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Shrinkwrapped Books
NortWind writes "I just saw this in the InfoWorld paper, in the "The Gripe Line" by Ed Foster. It describes how a "...book arrived wrapped in plastic with a shrinkwrap license on the front". Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse..." I wrote an essay about this a year or two ago.
Why can't the government just look at what is going on and change things? And when I say change things, I don't mean adding new laws - REPEAL OLD ONES, AND STOP MAKING NEW ONES!!
EULA books. EULA software. Companies being forced to sell PCs with Operating Systems. Giving private enterprises the rights to hack individuals that they suspect are pirating songs.
STOP THE INSANITY!!! STOP IT!!!
Some Sun Java books, notably, the Java Language Specification, are even worse -- the license isn't in the shrinkwrap, it's printed in small print on an early page. I bet most people haven't even noticed it -- at least you notice a shrinkwrap license for a microsecond before it gets tossed.
There is nothing in Copyright Law that would lend any ability for a publisher of a book to enforce this. Heck, clickthru licences for software are only made legally enforceable by UCITA in the USA, and that's been passed in, what, 1 or 2 states so far?
So far, the only thing that keeps people obeying the terms of EULAs is that publishers generally have more and better lawyers than the users of their content. The fear of getting dragged to court is what forces any compliance.
Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
The license was nontransferable and would "terminate immediately if the Licensee or his or her employer ceased to be an Omnicare customer." And although the Omnicare "Guidelines are intended only to provide guidance as to which pharmaceutical products Omnicare believes to be most effective" the "licensee" was nonetheless prohibited from disclosing any of the information in the book to third parties.
Wouldn't the Doctor's patients be considered "Third Parties" in this scenario?
"A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
GeneralEmergency
The really insideous part of this is that, in order to protect strictly financial interests, copyright barrons like Disney and Microsoft and the politicians they (let's be honest) bribe with large campaign contributions have pushed us to a place where information and knowledge can be proprietary and restricted in a way that hasn't been feasible since the invention of the printing press.
To protect profits from Britney's new crappy CD, these companies have harkened in a world where information can be (at least in theory) totally controlled. Naturally, the fact that this is completely hostile to the basic presumptions of democracy is completely peripheral -- next we'll have printing of bills restricted, politicians suing to keep the gaffes in their public releases supressed under the auspices of the DMCA and an even more uninformed public.
Hopefully, this sort of thing will spur some sort of public outrage at it progresses, pushing the pendulum back the other way -- it'll happen eventually. The question is how far things will have to go before Joe and Jane Sixpack start to give a shit.
In the mean time, might I suggest a contribution to the ACLU or EFF? Remember that the RIAA, MPAA and other four-letter-orgs-'o-evil have to spend to overcome common sense, where those of us on the "right" side don't, so your $25 contribution means a lot.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
I have long been interested in Omnicare products and had hoped this book would have assisted me in becoming a customer, however, since the licensing terms forbid me from reading it (not being a current Omnicare customer) I am returning the book to you unopened . . .
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
You don't even need to trash it. You can keep it for free, and the company can't bill you legally. Postal regulations.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
All bad precedents begin with justifiable measures." - Julius Ceasar
"player 4 hit player 1 with 0 stroms"
Mark the book "Refused - return to sender", and put it back in the mail box. The USPS will return the book to the sender and charge them for doing so, thus costing the sender more money. Plus, they now have all these books to get rid of.
www.eFax.com are spammers
It's not an article about a publisher being stupid and wasting paper; it's about the glacial creeping of an intellectual property mindset that is slowly eroding our rights.
In society, things change slowly. Early in any major change, there are harbingers; this is one. Years ago we would never have given serious thought to shrink-wrap agreements in software, since they did not hold any real legal weight; now, because of UCITA, they do have legal backing in some states.
Just because it seems ridiculous now doesn't mean it will remain ridiculous. Obvously, *some*one is taking it seriously enough to attempt it. Our only hope it to nip this in the bud, and maybe roll back UCITA at the same time.
Otherwise, we will only take it seriously after it is too late.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
While Omnicare claims their guidelines aren't based on drug prices, their marketing (which is to nursing homes, not patients) emphasises cost reduction.
It's thus more like a manual for a proprietary service than a published book. I'd worry more about the service than the book.
they have to sign a licensing agreement
I have no problem with you refusing to sell the clothing without a signature. That's how they sell houses, and I've seen house deeds with even stranger provisions.
The problem with this book, and the entire software industry, is that they sell or give you a product before you have agreed to any license or contract. Furthmore, they are claiming contractual agreement where none exists.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
If you can keep it for free due to postal regulations, I wonder if that could be interpreted to mean that the copyright on the content has also been transferred to you. Even if you received it by request, the copyright doesn't transfer to you. However, I believe anything received unsolicited in the mail can be treated as a no-strings-attached gift and be disposed of any way you want.
I think an apple is a bad example, because unlike a book, you can 'use' an apple only one time. Once it is consumed, you can't resell it to someone else. (At least not very easily.)
A book can be resold and 'consumed' again, thus bringing up 'questions' about the rules of reselling.
I'd just trash it and forget it. It's illegal to send unsolicited items and then try to collect for it - just because they slap a boilerplate on something that arrives unsolicited in your mail you can still just treat it like any bulk business mail, crapcan it.
The law in the USA goes even further (unless the last fifteen years of anti-consumer legislation has repealed it, I admit I don't keep current on all the latest consumer news): if someone sends you an item in the mail unsolicited it belongs to you.[1] Not only can they not tack on restrictions a la this EULA nonsense, they can't even demand you return it.
It is yours, to keep, to shitcan, to donate to a public library (if it is a book), in short, to do with whatever you want.
[1]There are obvious exceptions, such as when it is addressed to someone else and mailed to your address by accident. But, in cases where it is addressed to "Current Occupant", your name, or no name at all, and your address, the item in question is a non-refundable gift to you, with no legal obligation attached whatsoever.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
If that's their best argument, then they don't have a leg to stand on: 17 USC 117(a)(1).
Even if that law weren't there, I agree with you that it would be ridiculous if incidental copying needed to use your own copy would violate the law. That would probably be enough to get any EULA tossed out, assuming you could find a judge who still believes in the original intent of copyright.
Won't anyone think of the children?!?!
That's the only thing that seems to work these days.