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Don't Like EULAs? Get Your Cat To Agree To Them
An anonymous reader writes "Anne Loucks built a device which, when her cat steps on it, can click the 'I Agree' button of a EULA. Who knows what the lawyers will make of this sort of madness. Can a cat make a legal agreement? Does it need to be of legal age? She lures the cat onto the device, and the cat steps on it of its own free will. Anyway, folks who hate EULAs now have another tool to make the lawyers freak out."
Can a cat make a legal agreement?
A cat is property, not an individual. Animal law has been quite unsuccessful in breaking out of that mold. So, no, a cat can't make a legal agreement anymore than your keyboard and mouse can.
However, the cat here is just a tool for you to accept the agreement. If you set up a device to automatically agree to a license without you fully reading it, you've still manifested an intent to accept the terms, whatever they may be. I don't think a court would have anymore problem with holding you to the contract than if you used machine to automatically stamp a signature on a stack of paper contracts. It wouldn't matter if it worked on a timer, on a RNG, or on the fickle movements of a cat so long as you set it up to happen with certainty that it would eventually happen (because you can't proceed with the installation without it happening).
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
What if someone bypassed the EULA entirely (e.g. hacking the installer so that "I Decline" still continues).
Since you've never agreed to the EULA in the first place, you're not disallowed from hacking it (consumer-unfriendly millennial laws not withstanding).
I just asked my father, who is a lawyer, a few questions about it. Note that he is primarily what I like to refer to as a financial lawyer (bankruptcies, IRS/tax problems, certain real estate things, wills, and a few others), so this is outside of his normal repertoire. Here was his answers (paraphrased):
Q: Do you know what an EULA is?
A: No
Q: You know, those end user license agreements you have to accept when you buy or download certain software?
A: Oh ok yes what about them
Q: If you built a device that would allow a cat to accept an EULA, would you be legally bound by the EULA?
A: Well it depends on the intent. If you specifically built the device and coerced the cat your intent is obvious and you would probably be held to the agreement in court. If the cat was just dancing around on your computer and accepted it though you probably wouldn't be bound.
Q: What if you got a small child to accept the agreement, would they not be bound because of their age?
A: It depends on your jurisdiction and the law of that area, but here in Illinois it probably wouldn't be binding in court and would be tossed out.
Q: Do EULA's violate any sort of doctrine of first sale since they require you to agree to the license after you've bought the product and limit what you've gotten if you don't agree to it?
A: I'm not exactly sure, but its defiantly a good question. They could get around that pretty easily by making you agree to the EULA before you purchase the computer, but I'm not familiar with the law so its just an educated guess.
There you have it.
You can always get drunk...most contracts aren't enforceable if one party is incapacitated.
If you voluntarily incapacitate yourself by getting drunk, you're responsible for any and all contracts you enter into while impaired. See Lucy v. Zehmer, the "heh, sure, I'll sell you my house for $100. I'll even sign a contract. I know you don't have a hundred dollars on you- oh, crap" case.
I put a text file at the root directory, reading more or less :
"By actually completing the install process on this computer, you accept to deliver a bug-free software, that will not nag me every 5 minutes with internet connection requests, not hog the cpu and memory and actually provide me with all the benefits you promised in your marketing brochure. This Eula allows you to install ONE (1) copy of your software and supercedes all preceding agreements that might exist between us. Ignorance of the existence of this Eula cannot be used as an argument not to deliver your promised benefits. If you do not accept those conditions, your software must fail to install. Otherwise, you recognize that you accept all those conditions and must perform as promised"
Now I'm covered... 8)
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
"Encouraging" someone to murder is called conspiracy to murder and it's a different crime from murder.
The other example you give is called manslaughter.
Yes, these are all crimes, but they're all different crimes and are all tried differently!
Click-throughs have little or no legal basis, let alone the ability to hold a conspirator to clicking "OK" accountable.
In the UK, you absolutely cannot enter a contract without it being a fair contract. A fair contract is where both parties have equal opportunity to amend the contract and both have to agree the final terms before jointly signing it. If it's one-sided, "take it or leave it", then it is simply not a contract and has no legal strength.
Does my bum look big in this?