by Dave Moore, 11/22/2020
“We’re now going to agree to the agreement we’re not going to read.”
I can’t count how many times I’ve said that to a client while installing software on their computer. It usually evokes a chuckle or two until the reality sets it that we, as adults, really should know better.
Back in the 1980s and early 90s I watched many episodes of the first widely popular American “judge” TV show, The People’s Court. In a courtroom setting limited to handling small claims cases, folks would bring their legal complaints before the always firm-but-fair Judge Joseph Wapner. One of Judge Wapners’ wise admonitions heard by many a despondent litigant has stayed with me through the years: “If you’re going to agree to something, get it in writing.”
I’m not sure what Judge Wapner’s take would be on the sorry relationship that currently exists between technology users, manufacturers and Internet websites, such as the contracts that are made between us (the tech users) and them (Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, Twitter, Zoom, and the list goes on).
“Contract?” you say? Yes, contract — you know, that box full of legal mumbo-jumbo that pops up when you use or install a program for the first time, commonly known as the End User License Agreement (EULA), or simply the UA (Users Agreement).
Ever read the screen that pops up the first time you turn on a brand-new smart phone? Of course, not; are you kidding? You just want to hurry up and get to those cool apps (and their crazy contracts).
Unless you agree to the terms of the EULA, you can’t install or use the software or device. Nobody can claim that the contract isn’t in writing (if words on a screen constitute writing), because there it is, staring you in the face. The problem is that very few technology users ever bother to read what they are agreeing to, either out of pure laziness or because they have been brainwashed into thinking that they are incapable of understanding such “complicated” legalese.
Most people think when they give up their hard-earned scratch in exchange for an oversized cardboard box, a cheesy, hard-to-understand manual and a download, that they actually own whatever they paid for. Au contraire, mon frere, for as Microsoft, and every other tech company in the world clearly state in their EULAs, “The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software.” If you do not agree to the terms of the license contract, then you are required to return the software or device.
I’ll admit that I have clicked “I Agree” to my share of unread EULAs. Years ago, though, I was glad that I read one particular EULA before clicking, as I was about to agree to part with more money than I had initially been led to believe.
I often buy computer software and hardware for my customers, for which I am later reimbursed. I was about to make an online software purchase of an Internet filtering program using my personal credit card. This program is subscription-based, meaning that you must pay for a new subscription each year in order to continue receiving updates for the program.
I was all set to click “I Agree,” until I decided to read the EULA. There, tucked away in clauses 13 and 14, I found the following: “Upon expiration of the Initial Term [the subscription] and any successive terms, this License shall automatically renew for a term equal in duration to the Initial Term. [The software company] will automatically charge your account for the applicable license fee at the then-current license fee rate, using the credit card information that you previously provided.” That’s all the notice I got.
“Whoa, back up,” I thought. “I don’t want my credit card being billed a year from now for a program that someone else will be using.” At that point, I cancelled the purchase and decided to let the customer use their own credit card to buy the program, and to warn them about the renewal clause. Some EULA clauses are even crazier, and we’ll examine those next week.
Dave Moore has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd., he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.org