Do you know who EULA is? That’s capital
E-U-L-A, pronounced You-lah. She’s not a Hollywood starlet, but you would have
seen her on dozens of screens. In fact, you’ve seen her on your very own
screen, your computer, if you looked carefully.
You won’t see EULA unless you own a computing device, so perhaps you’ve
seen her on your Tablet PC, Kindle or Nook, or on your mobile phone? I know
you’ve seen her in all of them, whichever ones you have, even though you may have
gotten only a fleeting glimpse of her. However, most people don’t look
carefully, or at all, at EULA. But I
guarantee EULA is present in every one of those devices. In fact, those devices
won’t even run if you don’t at least pay lip service to EULA. She has a mind of
her own, and although she looks similar every time she appears to you, yet she
can also be very different. In fact,
there are thousands of EULAs. Have you guessed who EULA is yet?
You may have guessed by now that
EULA is not an actual person. You may be asking yourself “What do all those different computing or electronic devices have in
common?” Yes, they all have a computer chip, but that’s not EULA, even though
she may be on some chips. She appears every time you download an “App,” that
is, an application, on any kind of device. And it doesn’t matter what the app
is, whether it’s as complex as Microsoft Office, or as simple as Angry Birds or
Amazing Alex – the most popular $.99 games on the Internet right now. Let me
give you the biggest hint: EULA is a
document that you accepted from the product app manufacturer - and you probably
don’t even remember doing it.
OK, enough suspense about EULA. It stands
for “End User License Agreement.” It
may not sound so ominous, but in reality, it’s a legal document in which you have
only one right. Only by clicking “I
Accept” or “OK”, do you get the right to actually use the software you’ve paid
for! For almost all applications, if you
don’t click “I Accept,” they simply don’t want your business! This shouldn’t be
a surprise, because you should know by now that software companies have been
hard asses for a very long time. They
think that their software is so valuable, that you will do anything to get it,
even give up your consumer protection rights.
And every time you click “I Accept” online, or buy a software package
and load it, that’s exactly what you do! You give away all your rights, and, you
give the company unlimited rights over you, and what’s on your hard drive.
Hence, you get “Automatic updates” at the most inopportune times.
Even if you want to download free
software, you must “accept” the company’s EULA, or, no download. In our modern
world full of so many electronic devices, you and I, and 900 million other
folks with computers, are simply “end
users.” That’s a euphemism for
“consumer,” which contains the word “con,” and not by mistake. “Con,” as in confidence
trick, that is. Con as in “mark,” or “sucker.” And we all know “There’s a
sucker born every minute.” This truism was first coined in 1885, some say, by
the great P.T. Barnum. If you can imagine the circus, with all its carnies, hoaxes,
and bizarre attractions, you get the picture. Because for some reason, when we are
attracted to something, no matter how vacuous or stupid it is, we feel
compelled to own it.
We consume software applications at
an astonishing rate. Remember the Dot-Com Bubble from 1995 - 2000? That’s when
our “app”etite really took off. And now, every government agency, magazine and
company has a website, where, in a few seconds, you can easily find their
unique application program, and download it via the Internet. You can Google any type of product you like, for
example games, security programs, business applications, and thousands of other
products from A to Z. If you’re like me, you may download a new app every week
to do one thing or another. However, unlike me, you may never read the End User License Agreement attached to
that software program.I read every single one, yet, I’ve still gotten burned
with unwanted monthly charges for products I didn’t know I bought. I had to pay
e-Cig.com $69.95 for electronic cigarettes
which didn’t help me stop smoking. Too late, I had to scour the fine print in
the EULA to find a way out of it. It’s like the many free trial offers that are
never really free! My wife Janet
really isn’t happy when
I sign up for these “bargains” without her knowing! And there’s no such thing
as “driving a hard bargain” with these software companies.
The most important part of the EULA
is two words: “License Agreement.”
You see, you are not actually buying aproduct, like Microsoft Office or Angry
Birds. You are actually only “licensing” the right to use the software from the
manufacturer, who retains all ownership rights to the software. They even have the
right to cancel your use of it, for no reason at all. Also, the EULA states
that the manufacturer has no obligation to you to “fix” any problems with the
software. It’s usually sold “as is,” and you know what that means - problems.
However, reputable firms with a Tech Support or Customer Care Center may help
you! But guess what? The EULA will probably state that there’s a charge for
fixing the real difficult problems. The EULA, for example, will also tell you
if there’s a 15% “restocking fee” to return the product, if you don’t want it,
like I had to do for my worthless electronic cigarettes. The EULA will also tell
you that the company has no liability to you, the government or anyone else for
their product, but that you will be prosecuted by the full extent of the law,
if you make an unauthorized copy. And it goes on and on.
Bottom line, the End User License Agreement is a one-way proposition – take it or
leave it. Either click “I Accept” and move to the checkout screen, or don’t
click it and be refused the sale. But, on every screen which has the little
check box for “I Accept,” there’s also a tiny blue link that you should click
first, to actually read their License Agreement from start to finish! Speaking
from experience as a Contracting Manager in my past career, I would strongly
recommend you get in the habit of clicking that link, and at least perusing the
EULA. You might just save yourself $69.95 a month!
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