Fishing License

[alan]

On Thu, 11 May 2006, Robin Laing wrote:

> The point is how many people actually read and understand the EULA.  I wonder 
> how many people realize the rights that they hand to MS when they click on 
> the agree or install their latest version of XP.

In one of my past job incarnations it was part of my job to track software 
licences and EULAs.

For at least one software package, the EULA changed with every shipment. 
(Not every version.  They were all the same version.)  What was considered 
"legal" depended on which disk you got in the mail, not what version you 
were running.  (And these were issues of number of users on a lan and 
usage issues.)  And it was not a small company doing it either.

> This is an interesting question as this was posted just a few days ago.
>  http://linuxadvocate.org/articles.php?p=1
>
> You cannot even boot a new computer without agreeing to the EULA.  The 
> service tech may do it in advance and you, as a user may never see it.  It 
> has happened to me.

Since the EULA in most cases is "just bits", they can change it on you at 
any time.

It is not a contract if one side can change the terms on a whim.

-- 
"Waiter! This lambchop tastes like an old sock!" - Sheri Lewis