The Trouble with Gerrold: The Software User Bill Of Rights, Part 2

By David Gerrold

September 14, 2012 — (Page 1 of 3)
Last time around, I was muttering into my Ovaltine about End User License Agreements—how most of them are a cluster-jumble of legalese that essentially translate to, “This absolves the publisher of all responsibility; you’re on your own.”

Up front, I’m going to say that this is a generalization. It does not apply to all software, it does not apply to all companies. It is not an industrywide standard, but it is an industrywide trend. There’s plenty of boilerplate floating around. Even a weekend warrior marketing a niche program can find something. In fact, the easiest way is to copy the EULA of another software. (Hm. Would that be a copyright violation?)

Obviously, any company big enough to afford a lawyer is going to want that lawyer to review its legal position. Obviously, any lawyer who wants to justify his or her billable hours is going to draft documents that favor his or her clients’ interests. Hell, if I were in the software business, that’s the kind of EULA I’d want.

But let’s put that aside for the moment. Forgetting the legalese, how do we perceive our relationship with the software and the publisher? How do we perceive the boundaries of ownership and responsibility? What is the contract we are presuming?

Let’s start with the concept of ownership. A very wise philosopher of my acquaintance once pointed out that ownership is an illusion. The best we can have is control, and what we call ownership is the general agreement that this piece of the universe is yours to control.

Okay, my computer is mine to control. I get to choose what software I install. I get to choose what information it reports. I get to choose who gets access to information about how I use that computer.

If we accept that as a starting place, then no software publisher should have the legal right or authority to install any program that I have not agreed to. Unless that software is an integral part of the program I have purchased, I should have the option of saying, “No, I do not want your toolbar or your search engine. No, you may not change my browser’s home page. No, you may not install your add-ons or helpful utilities or anything else unless I agree.”

Related Search Term(s): EULA

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