eula
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EULA
(End User License Agreement) The legal agreement between the manufacturer and purchaser of software that stipulates the terms of usage. The EULA is displayed on screen at time of installation...
Dictionary
Definition: EULA
(End User License Agreement) The legal agreement between the manufacturer and purchaser of software that stipulates the terms of usage. The EULA is displayed on screen at time of installation and requires that the user click "Accept" or "I Agree," otherwise the software will not install.
The license generally disclaims all liabilities for what might happen in the user's computer when the software is running. It generally guarantees nothing except that the disk will be replaced if defective, providing the software is distributed on physical media. If this arrangement sounds like a license to make inferior software, one has to consider that it is impossible for even the largest vendor to test a program in every possible configuration users might have in their computers. Some combination of hardware failure and/or software bug can always cause a program to crash and cause the loss of whatever data are in the machine at that time. However, EULAs are very inclusive, and even if the software added 2 + 2 and yielded 5, the disclaimer would generally apply.
Does Anyone Read It?
Large companies read license agreements very carefully for major procurements, but it is a known fact that the average user hardly ever reads the EULA when installing a program, because it is often lengthy and full of legalese. One company put a notice at the end of its EULA offering a thousand dollars to the first claimant, who theoretically would have read through it all. It took four months to pay off, so the story goes.
However, the fact that people do not read the agreement is how some spyware has been legally distributed to users. Some EULAs have explicitly stated that, along with the program the user expects to install, additional software is included that will report the user's surfing habits or perform some other undesirable function. See clickwrap, concurrent use license and per seat license.
Would You Read It?
This EULA came via iTunes to the iPhone. Although very well written and quite readable, the EULA is requesting agreement to 55 screenfuls of text. Most likely, everyone clicked Agree, trusting that Apple is an ethical company that means no harm but takes reasonable measures to protect itself.
THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2010 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved.
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Do you read EULAs?
There's no better time to realize just how many EULAs (End User License Agreements), and just how incomprehensible they are, than when setting up a new PC. But does anyone actually bother reading...
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The EULA ... your views
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It's time to bring the EULA madness to an end!
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Chrome's EULA changes: Feels like Hotel California
Has Google become the new Hotel California? You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave! The folks over at Read Write Web sifted through the End User Licensing Agreement tied to...
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Mozilla admits that Firefox EULA is flawed
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Mozilla: We goofed on the EULA, let's talk
The Mozilla Foundation is making changes to its EULA display for Linux distros. After a bunch of complaints on Monday, Mozilla Foundation chairperson Mitchell Baker has indicated that the project...
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What's the big deal about the Firefox EULA?
A number of people seem to have their knickers in a twist over Mozilla's requirements to display the Firefox EULA when the program is launched the first time in Ubuntu. What's the big deal,...
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Shuttleworth defends Firefox license in Ubuntu
Canonical's CEO Mark Shuttleworth has explained the presence of a Firefox 3.0 end-user license agreement in Intrepid Ibex, following developer complaints.
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Might Ubuntu and Firefox part ways because of the dreaded EULA?
Users of the upcoming Ubuntu "Intrepid Ibex" are in for a surprise - being confronted by a EULA the first time they launch the Firefox web browser. And it's caused a bit of a stir.
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Get A Clue, Google: Your EULA Policies Stink!
It turns out that Google's Chrome, like Google's Apps, started life with the same ridiculous EULA, the one that gives GOOG the right to use any content you send to Chrome (and Apps as well) in any...
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Google's incomplete EULA climbdown
While the world and his dog seem satisfied with the way Google's lawyers hastily red-lined the hated Clause 11.1 of the Chrome EULA, others may not be so pleased. This from the Spanish version:...
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Chrome's new EULA drops wide-ranging claims to user content
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