End User License Gems

satosphere writes "TG Daily has an article on EULA Gems, priceless statements that companies want you to agree to in their End User License Agreement." From the article: "You agree, if purchasing by credit card or charge card, that you permanently and irrevocably waive any and all right to cause a 'chargeback' ... You agree that, if you institute such a "chargeback", it constitutes a material violation of this license, and damages Company in ways impossible to calculate, and with long-term adverse effects to the Company."

Comments

From MS

[Anonymous Coward]

This is in MOST MS agreements

You may install and use one copy of the software on one device. You may install multiple copies of the software on one device provided that you have a license for each copy.
You may install and use a second copy of the software on a portable device for use by only the primary user of the first copy


It pays to read the ms ones if you have a laptop. This is in Dungeon Siege (I & II), in XP Pro and Home, and Office.

Re:From MS

[LiquidCoooled]

The MS Office Eula9.chm document states the following:

Can I make a second copy for my portable computer?
The End-User License Agreement (EULA) for many Microsoft application software products contains the following sentence: "The primary user of the computer on which the SOFTWARE PRODUCT is installed may make a second copy for his or her exclusive use on a portable computer." If your EULA contains this sentence, then, subject to the conditions mentioned, you may make a second copy of the software. Note that you must be the primary user of the computer on which the software is installed. The primary user is the individual who uses the computer most of the time it is in use. Only that individual is entitled to use the second copy. Furthermore, the software must be installed on the local hard disk of your computer; you are not entitled to make and use a second copy on your portable computer if you run the primary copy of the software from a network server. Finally, only one secondary copy may be made; you may install this copy on more than one portable computer.


There is a Second copy clause in the MS Office and MS Project Eulas, however in the default MS Windows XP Eula, there is No such provision.

(I checked C:\WINDOWS\system32\eula.txt for the term primary/second)

Re:From MS

[LiquidCoooled]

The Eula is taken from the retail version, for additional verification you can look yourself here:

XP Home license
XP Pro Edition

I would assume since product activation kicked in this would be reduced, I still use Office 2000 over here which may explain why mine still says it, I can see issues of needing to call to activate the newer editions "Honest guvner, I'm at home now, its just my office machine got reinstalled 17 times last week, this is totally seperate"

Anyone care to check if newer versions of Office continue this "Use at home" tradition?

Go Blizzard

[MachDelta]

Love this one they added to WoW. Every once in a while there's a huge fuss about Blizz's "Warden" program. Anyways here's the TOS excerpt:


A. WHEN RUNNING, THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT CLIENT MAY MONITOR YOUR COMPUTER'S RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) AND/OR CPU PROCESSES FOR UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS RUNNING CONCURRENTLY WITH WORLD OF WARCRAFT. AN "UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM" AS USED HEREIN SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY "ADDON" OR "MOD," THAT IN BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT'S SOLE DETERMINATION: (i) ENABLES OR FACILITATES CHEATING OF ANY TYPE; (ii) ALLOWS USERS TO MODIFY OR HACK THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT INTERFACE, ENVIRONMENT, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IN ANY WAY NOT EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED BY BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT; OR (iii) INTERCEPTS, "MINES," OR OTHERWISE COLLECTS INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH WORLD OF WARCRAFT. IN THE EVENT THAT WORLD OF WARCRAFT DETECTS AN UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM, BLIZZARD MAY (a) COMMUNICATE INFORMATION BACK TO BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR ACCOUNT NAME, DETAILS ABOUT THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM DETECTED, AND THE TIME AND DATE THE UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY PROGRAM WAS DETECTED; AND/OR (b) EXERCISE ANY OR ALL OF ITS RIGHTS UNDER SECTION 6 OF THIS AGREEMENT, WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO THE USER.


Nice, no? Of course "WE NOW OWN YOUR COMPUTER GG NOOB" would have been shorter and more to the point, but it doesn't sound nearly as eloquent. :)

Well formatted 1 page version

[fuzzy12345]

http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/10/22/rtf_eula/print.h tml

Bypass/change EULAs in Windows

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.geocities.com/external45739/Disagree.zi p

- Enables disabled buttons (like "Next" even if you don't select "I agree")
- Makes EULA edit boxes editable again
- Saves and prints EULAs

Re:Bad EULA's

[CosmeticLobotamy]

You're kidding, and you're funny, but I'll say it nicely so someone else doesn't say it meanly:

The GPL is a license to distribute, and not a license for end users. Whether or not there's a legal distinction is beyond the scope of me.

ProCD v. Zeidenberg

[Landaras]

IANAL. However, I am a law student.

To respond to your post: actually depending on your jurisdiction, it may be a binding contract. One of the keys is that acceptance of an offer to contract may be manifested by conduct. Some courts have recognized that conduct as running the software and/or failing to return it. However, the EULA is still vulnerable to the doctrine of unconscionability, among other reasons for a court refusing to enforce a contract.

Perhaps the seminal case on the subject of EULAs is the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision ProCD v. Zeidenberg , from 1996. I dissect that case (and my strong opposition to it), in this episode of my podcast.

Courts have not been consistent with their treatment of EULAs, so what the law is will vary based upon where a case is brought. At the tail end of the ProCD episode I outline some of the ways we can legally fix the damage caused by EULAs.

- Neil Wehneman

Re:The real question here, is...

[mistakenanonymity]

THIS IS THE USUAL REASON! http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-316.html