In the UK we've got various laws protecting consumers. Also worth remembering that Scots law is somewhat different from the law in England & Wales. The main bit of law is the Sale & Supply of Goods Act 1994 which states that goods must be of reasonable quality, as described and fit for purpose. If you buy second hand, goods have to be as described but that's it. The contract is between you (as the consumer) and the retailer. The manufacturer doesn't get a look in and they can't add terms to the contract after it has been made. If the goods become faulty within 6 months of purchase, it is assumed that they were faulty when they were purchased and it's up to the retailer to prove otherwise. Specifically on guarantees, section 15 of the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 mentions that "The guarantor shall ensure that the guarantee sets out in plain intelligible language [my italics] the contents of the guarantee and the essential particulars necessary for making claims under the guarantee, notably the duration and territorial scope of the guarantee as well as the name and address of the guarantor."
Something else we have is the Distance Selling Regulations which covers mail order stuff. This gives you a cooling off period of 7 days after the goods arrive, during which you can cancel no questions asked. If the supplier wants the goods back, they have to pay the postage. They also have to refund within 30 days.
As far as EULAs go, it's a bit like Heinz putting a note on the inside of a tin of baked beans that says you can't sell the tin to someone else and they aren't responsible if the tin explodes and causes damage. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 covers one part of this and the Consumer Protection Act 1988 covers another bit.
All these rights are protected by law and it's illegal for any contract, EULA, guarantee or whatever to exclude them.
Another bit of protection is offered courtesy of the case of Donoghue v. Stevenson. May Donoghue met a friend at a cafe. Her friend bought some drinks, including a bottle of ginger beer. Mrs Donoghue drank it and found a dead slug at the bottom of the bottle. Naturally enough she fell ill and decided to sue David Stevenson whose company made the ginger beer. Stevenson claimed that she wasn't entitled to anything because it was her friend who bought the drink and not her. The case ended up in the House of Lords (highest court in the UK at the time) and it was decided that Stevenson had a duty of care to the end consumer, even if they didn't pay for it. (Claims in advertising are covered by the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co, another bizarre one).
It'll be interesting to see what the OFT investigation comes up with. There's more to writing an EULA than just crossing out "
One thing these "computer games cause violence" reports don't seem to take into account is that every hour spent playing a computer game is an hour you can't spend being violent in real life.
I have to admit I took up Thai boxing for real after playing around in the gyms in GTA San Andreas, but getting involved with martial arts as a way of keeping fit is quite different from beating someone up in the street.
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In the UK we've got various laws protecting consumers. Also worth remembering that Scots law is somewhat different from the law in England & Wales. The main bit of law is the Sale & Supply of Goods Act 1994 which states that goods must be of reasonable quality, as described and fit for purpose. If you buy second hand, goods have to be as described but that's it. The contract is between you (as the consumer) and the retailer. The manufacturer doesn't get a look in and they can't add terms to the contract after it has been made. If the goods become faulty within 6 months of purchase, it is assumed that they were faulty when they were purchased and it's up to the retailer to prove otherwise. Specifically on guarantees, section 15 of the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 mentions that "The guarantor shall ensure that the guarantee sets out in plain intelligible language [my italics] the contents of the guarantee and the essential particulars necessary for making claims under the guarantee, notably the duration and territorial scope of the guarantee as well as the name and address of the guarantor."
Something else we have is the Distance Selling Regulations which covers mail order stuff. This gives you a cooling off period of 7 days after the goods arrive, during which you can cancel no questions asked. If the supplier wants the goods back, they have to pay the postage. They also have to refund within 30 days.
As far as EULAs go, it's a bit like Heinz putting a note on the inside of a tin of baked beans that says you can't sell the tin to someone else and they aren't responsible if the tin explodes and causes damage. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 covers one part of this and the Consumer Protection Act 1988 covers another bit.
All these rights are protected by law and it's illegal for any contract, EULA, guarantee or whatever to exclude them.
Another bit of protection is offered courtesy of the case of Donoghue v. Stevenson. May Donoghue met a friend at a cafe. Her friend bought some drinks, including a bottle of ginger beer. Mrs Donoghue drank it and found a dead slug at the bottom of the bottle. Naturally enough she fell ill and decided to sue David Stevenson whose company made the ginger beer. Stevenson claimed that she wasn't entitled to anything because it was her friend who bought the drink and not her. The case ended up in the House of Lords (highest court in the UK at the time) and it was decided that Stevenson had a duty of care to the end consumer, even if they didn't pay for it. (Claims in advertising are covered by the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co, another bizarre one).
It'll be interesting to see what the OFT investigation comes up with. There's more to writing an EULA than just crossing out "
One thing these "computer games cause violence" reports don't seem to take into account is that every hour spent playing a computer game is an hour you can't spend being violent in real life.
I have to admit I took up Thai boxing for real after playing around in the gyms in GTA San Andreas, but getting involved with martial arts as a way of keeping fit is quite different from beating someone up in the street.