Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Man Finds $1,000 Prize in EULA

Posted by samzenpus on from the read-the-fine-print dept.

bhtooefr writes "When Doug Heckman was installing a PC Pitstop program, he actually read the EULA. In it, he found a clause stating that he could get financial compensation if he e-mailed PC Pitstop. The result: a $1,000 check, and proof that people don't read EULAs (3,000 people before him didn't notice it). The goal of this was to prove that one should read all EULAs, so that one can see if an app is spyware if it is buried in the EULA."

7 of 446 comments (clear)

  1. No Kidding by fembots · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of our developers buried some easter eggs in a web-based game, and nobody has claimed them yet after several months.

    And the kicker is, players do talk about strange "bugs", even ask us to fix them, but none of them actually goes so far as to discover those eggs. Maybe they will now after reading this post :)

    So I gather some of the 3000 users may have read the EULA but dismissed the possibility of real cash prize., just like not everybody entered suparmarket prize draw thinking that they won't be so lucky.

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
  2. Er... by Avyakata · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's not going to make people read EULAs...all that will make people do is say, "wow, I wish I had been that guy, what a break!"

    1. Re:Er... by XorNand · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, but it's brillant marketing. The company only spent $1000. They've already gotten a link from the main page of Slashdot; what more press are they going to see now? The spyware removal business has gotten pretty competitive and now thousands more geeks know about their product. Kudos to the company for a neat, non-evil marketing idea.

      --
      Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
  3. Re:$1,000 for reading all the way through EULAs? by Kenja · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "Too many look like that Gator one - pages and pages of gobbledy-gook and mumbo jumbo which ultimately translate to all your base are belong to us."

    True.

    However a good rule of thumb is that if you cant understand the EULA, dont agree to it. I mean would you sign somthing you didn't understand?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  4. Re:yea let's make society crazy by Ravenscall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think you are missing the point. The point they are making here us that even a cursory overview of the EULA will tell you if an application is spyware or not. Or if you will be rendered legally sterilizeable if you install this software.

    Think of Rumplestiltskin, without the princess even knowing what her end of the deal is.

    --
    You say you want a revolution....
  5. Nice "parable", but no great utility by rkmath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So this is the latest variant of the old fable (big boulder in the middle of the road, everyone walks around it, the chap who finally pushes it aside finds the treasure underneath). But really - nice as the story is, is it going to make any change to how people treat an EULA? I think not.

    People will still not read an EULA because

    (a) They know thay not every EULA has a $1000 check buried in it

    (b) They still won't understand the real point to reading the EULA - which is understanding exactly what the software claims it will do on your computer.

    Unless they get (b), there really is no reason to read an EULA.

  6. I don't want to have to read EULAs! by IvyMike · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The goal of this was to prove that one should read all EULAs

    This is not a goal I want to be moving towards.

    I mean, I can go to home depot and buy a nail gun and a welding torch without having to read, parse, and agree to any complex and lengthy legal agreement. Why should I have to do this to buy and use software?