
Reading all the small print on the Internet for a week - cjg
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/15/i-read-all-the-small-print-on-the-internet
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Kristine1975
I'll happily agree to sign away my first-born. First because you can't sign
away what you don't have, and second because such a clause would be void where
I live (Germany). Yay customer protection laws!

~~~
pluma
What's even better: EULAs in Germany are mostly useless because they can't
contain any clauses that could be considered "surprising". Basically, if the
EULA contradicts most users' expectations, it doesn't hold up in court.

A recent example for this was WhatsApp getting into trouble after banning
users who used unofficial clients. The courts ruled that a ban was not
something users would expect because other comparable services have no such
clause and that while WhatsApp was allowed to detect and block the use of
third-party apps, they couldn't punish the users themselves.

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at-fates-hands
Me and friend (he was a contract attorney) started a company that read and
published the fine print of various products (many of it was software and
smartphone contracts and EULA's) and tried to warn consumers what they were
signing off on.

We didn't get far because after a year, it was clear nobody cared what was in
the EULA's they were signing even if it meant giving up your personal
information. They were more concerned with the ability to use a new piece of
hardware or software they thought was cool without thinking about the
ramifications of giving out so much personal information to do so.

It was eye opening to say the least.

~~~
noxToken
I believe that the average person cannot see themselves getting into any legal
trouble for the EULA that they've agreed to. Lawsuits and trials are something
that happens between corporations, among business people, and with criminals.
It is not common to hear of the average person in trouble for violating an
EULA for something that was thought to be permissible.

Although I don't agree with blindly accepting terms, the current precedent is
that if you upload something somewhere, buy something, etc., you'll retain
access to it as long as you are in accordance with the law. The company will
notify you in the event that they are shutting down or if you'll need to take
action to retain access/ownership. There are exception to this rule (does Mt.
Gox qualify?), but common sense generally applies to EULAs. Should companies
start cashing in on the public's willful ignorance, then people will start to
panic.

~~~
6stringmerc
So one day, I decided to make my own Terms and Conditions of Doing Business
with Me, simply as a 'goof' kind of exercise.

What gave me the idea was the very common phrasing of "XXXXX reserves the
right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time and without notice."

The idea was to list some expectations for 'Customer Service' and
'Notification' like correspondence, fees for missed deadlines, etc. Basically
like a parody of most EULAs or T&Cs that get signed so frequently. Some were
pretty ridiculous (i.e. "If you want to collect a late fee you have to do so
in person, by appointment only, and accept cash") while others were more
functional and somewhat practical (i.e. "Any sale of personal information
undisclosed that results in additional spam/solicitations is an abuse of this
relationship and subject to a fine of $XXX").

I've got a copy or two stashed away somewhere, and while I have no doubt it'd
be viewed with a very negative eye in a court of law, well, it reminds me of
the childish saying "Anything you can do I can do better."

~~~
BostonEnginerd
It would be great if you published this. I'd love to start using something
like this with the Comcasts of the world.

~~~
6stringmerc
Ha you think so?! I just got myself set up on Medium and I plan on putting
some essays up there. I might just have to put it up for grins.

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amelius
This reminded me of Richard Dreyfuss' dramatic readings of the iTunes EULA:
[1]

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0lqUlHEko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu0lqUlHEko)

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Asbostos
My product has an EULA less than 200 words so I feel I'm not being too awful.
About half of it is just there because of the requirements of the licences of
all the libraries it uses. No reverse engineering - really? I don't care but
Intel does and I'm using their library. Can't freely distribute? I don't care
but the LGPL and MIT licences do so I have to put it in my EULA.

~~~
hellbanner
Is it distribution for the whole product -- could you say no reverse
engineering & distribution for these parts?

~~~
Asbostos
Yep, but that turns out to take more words than a blanket restriction.

