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Apple Forced To Clean Up Its Fine Print
Barence writes "Apple has been forced to tidy up its online terms and conditions, at the behest of the UK's Office of Fair Trading. The company has redrafted its Ts & Cs so that it now accepts liability for faulty or misdescribed goods sold from its website or the iTunes store. Apple must also ensure that its conditions are 'drafted in plain or intelligible language' and that they 'do not potentially allow changes to be made to products and prices after an agreement is made.'"
do not potentially allow changes to be made to products and prices after an agreement is made.
As I've said numerous times, this is why EULAs are unenforcable in the UK. It does not stop Apple from adding a feature or function in the future and requiring the user to agree to new T&Cs. It also means they cant force an upgrade with new T&Cs without giving the buyer the option of a refund.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
you mean, the iTunes clause:
You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.
??
Those of us who think they know everything annoy those of us who do.
One blog. Two cases. Everything links back to the one blog. I think we've just promoted another molehill up to mountain status.
iTunes lists rap stars as recording artists . Would that fall under the "faulty or misdescribed goods" part?
(There is supposed to be a Sarcmark® here, but my $1.99 check hasn't cleared, yet...)
I've always loved the absurdity of these phrases. Apple disclaims all implied warranties including the implied warranties that their products are what they claim to be and are suitable for the purpose they are advertised for.
In other words, as far as Apple is concerned, if you open your new Macbook Pro box and find a boat anchor instead of a laptop, tough luck.
must also ensure that its conditions are 'drafted in plain or intelligible language'
Surely this is a land without lawyers. Where is this 'United Kingdom' and how soon may we journey to its fair shores?
Cant say about the UK but in AU we have similar laws, bank and telco ad's get pulled all the time. Often they come back with ridiculous amounts of fine print displayed in 3 seconds to comply with advertising standards.
With Apple, they deliberately misrepresent their goods so of course these kinds of things happen, MS don't release an ad that often and always get it checked (if not done by) a local ad agency who will ensure its compliance. Occasionally they do get ad's pulled though, the "get the Facts(R)*+" campaign for example.
* - Facts(R) is a registered trademark of Microsoft(TM) and may not represent any actual facts.
+ - May contain traces of nut egg or seed.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
"In no event shall Microsoft be liable for any damages whatsoever, even in the event of fault (including negligence)."
I always thought that these notices are very odd. I mean, can I put up a sign that says "In no event shall Esben be responsible for any crime he might do" and expect it to have any effect?
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
About half of 369 websites selling electronic goods checked in an EU crackdown were found to have exactly these sorts of problems.
Of course, 99% of those websites weren't run by Apple, so they don't get singled out in the press. Fair do's I guess - 99% of companies don't get every product launch reported by the BBC, either.
The EU "distance selling" regulations (which include the UK) are fairly tight and comparatively recent.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
Is it me or do Apple get in trouble in the UK a lot?
More a case of whenever Apple get in trouble it tends to be over-reported. Ads get pulled all the time. Also, its largely driven by how many "members of the public" complain.
Have they really not bothered to hire any UK lawyers?
The ASA is an independent industry regulator enforcing a "code of conduct" so the law doesn't necessarily come in to it.
However, no, I don't think Apple really understands the way advertising works in the UK: a prestige brand like Apple is supposed to give us 40 seconds of entertainment with a "pack shot" at the end. If you make specific claims about the product, people will check (if a cosmetics firm says "8 out of 10 women in our survey said they felt younger looking" then they better have those stats). Knocking the competitor's product really isn't cricket and is fairly rare. I notice that although Apple initially made UK versions of the "I'm a Mac" ads (with a British comedy duo) that didn't last long.
On the other hand, Apple also think that a British keyboard is an American keyboard with the # key replaced by a £ sign. Twits.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
Well, the asshole truckers that carry small rocks without covering up the load think they're accomplishing something by having a notice:
"Stay back 200 ft -- Not responsible for damaged windshields"
Yet they know damn well that they'll be at fault for such damage. Go fig.
I'm guessing it's just an attempt to deceive people into thinking they don't have rights that they really do ... which should probably be illegal.
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
Of course not, since that claim would be false. Software maker responsibilities are a different matter. Would you hold the Apache Foundation liable for damages if someone hacks your web server due to security holes in their code? No, as they don't claim or promise responsibility any more than Microsoft or anyone else with half a mind do.
That's not "standard practice" in the UK for the sale of goods. We have an entire "sale of goods act" outlining a customer's rights, for example that a contract is final and binding once money has changed hands, that a seller has specific undisclaimable responsibilities with regards to the quality of goods (a kind of super-warranty) and so on. Apple is being held to the same standard as everyone else.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
That sentence is not present anywhere in the Windows EULA.