[DMCA-Activists] EFF Consumer Advisory on EULAs

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: EFF: EFF Warns Consumers about the Dangers of EULAs
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:01:42 -0800
From: EFF Press <address@hidden>
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
To: address@hidden

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 17, 2005

Contact:

Annalee Newitz
   Policy Analyst
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   address@hidden
   +1 415 436-9333 x131

EFF Warns Consumers about the Dangers of EULAs

New White Paper Outlines How Click-Through Agreements Erode
Privacy, Fundamental Liberties

San Francisco - Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
released a white paper warning consumers about how they can be
harmed by end user license agreements (EULAs) for consumer
electronics and online services. Many EULAs contain terms that
damage consumer interests, including invitations for vendors to
snoop on users' computers, prohibitions on publicly criticizing
the product in question, and bans on customizing or even
repairing purchased devices.

"Overbroad EULAs are one of the greatest threats to consumer
rights in the high tech industry," said Annalee Newitz, EFF
policy analyst and author of the white paper. "Few people realize
that simply visiting a website or downloading a software update
may constitute 'agreeing' to a EULA that permits third parties to
monitor your communications or allows a vendor to dictate what
you can or cannot do with the product you've bought. Clicking the
'I Agree' button may mean clicking away your privacy, freedom of
speech, or other rights."

EULAs, often called "click-through agreements," have become
ubiquitous in the technology industry. While they are supposed to
bind consumers to strict terms dictated by vendors, consumers
don't negotiate them, don't sign them, and in many cases can't
even read them until after they've bought the product, taken it
home, and opened up the package.

EFF's white paper, "Dangerous Terms – A User's Guide to EULAs,"
comes at a key juncture in the case of Davidson (commonly known
as Blizzard) v. Internet Gateway, a lawsuit that tests whether
EULAs can override public protections under federal copyright law
such as the fair use doctrine. Tomorrow, lawyers for Blizzard
will file an appeal brief arguing that three open source
programmers violated Blizzard Entertainment's EULA by creating
bnetd, a free game server whose creation was a fair use under
copyright law. EFF is co-counsel to the defendants in the case,
which is currently on appeal in the Eighth Circuit.

EFF is also in the process of devising legal strategies to
challenge EULAs. This white paper is intended to educate the
public, but also to serve as a call to arms for consumers who
want to fight  unfair terms in EULAs. EFF invites people who have
been harmed by EULA terms, or who have been threatened with
lawsuits for violating terms in EULAs, to contact EFF with their
stories.

"Dangerous Terms – A User's Guide to EULAs"
http://eff.org/wp/eula.php

Consumers harmed by EULAs can contact EFF at:
address@hidden

More on the Blizzard case:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Emulation/Blizzard_v_bnetd/

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_02.php#002412

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world.
Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry
and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF
is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most
linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/

     -end-

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