EULA – End User License Agreements, “I Agree”

April 12, 2010 porkchop No comments

EULA (End User License Agreements), everyone has clicked the “I Agree button” when installing software, the question is who reads all that fine print and who cares about it, I have to admit I don’t. The bad thing about User License Agreements referred to EULA as now on in this post, is that spyware companies, any companies are using it as a contract, when you click I Agree button, it is just like signing a paper in real life, you are agreeing to the terms in the agreement to use the software. Of course EULA’s are needed in programs since they, protect the company of the program from any liability from damages, such as data loss, and copyright terms and much more. Remember not all EULA’s are bad and they protect the developers of the program and company from liability.

Usual security company monitoring agreement

These type of agreements are seen in almost every single security product we have today. The question is, can we trust this?

EULA – User licence Agreement definition, also known as a EULA – End User Licence Agreement – “is a legal contract between a software application author or publisher and the user of that application. The EULA, often referred to as the “software license,” is similar to a rental agreement; the user agrees to pay for the privilege of using the software, and promises the software author or publisher to comply with all restrictions stated in the EULA. The user is asked to indicate they that “accept” the terms of the EULA by opening the shrink wrap on the application package, breaking the seal on the CD case, sending a card back to the software publisher, installing the application, executing a downloadable file, or by simply using the application. The user can refuse to enter into the agreement by returning the software product for a refund or clicking “I do not accept” when prompted to accept the EULA during an install.” - http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid182_gci341294,00.html

As you can see from the definition of an ULA (EULA) you can see that it has power, if a spyware company puts out a EULA stating that it will collect your information from you’re browsing somewhere in its long paragraph and you do not read all of the EULA, and click on I Agree, you have agreed to that company for doing exactly what it states in its Licence agreement and if you didn’t read it, like mostly everyone and also to note ULA’s are written by usually lawyers, who talk in lawyer talk and are sometimes difficult to understand and can be interpreted one statement 2+ ways.

A lot of free software, such as Internet toolbars, have EULA’s that permit them from spying on what you browse, you might be thinking that, this toolbar gets me to my email quickly, or it includes a virus scanner, but it, is actually tracking each website you visit, and it was all in the EULA you agreed to when you installed the program, that is why the spyware scanner will not even pick it up as spyware, since it has a disclaimer telling you, we are going to do this, where as spyware is something that you do not know about hiding on your computer which you did not consent to.

ULA’s are everywhere, from right when you sign up to the Internet, you sign an agreement to various terms, they are difficult to avoid, every software contains one, and even in real life, credit cards, insurance are just a few examples, of course in real life they are contract agreements, but EULA’s work the same on the Internet, you cannot sign a piece of paper on the Internet, but by your actions of clicking a button, it is the only way of confirming an agreement. The scary part of all these EULA’s is that even the most trusted companies are using them in a way that you do not really know whets going on, for example you’re operating system has a licence agreement, which you need to get your computer working, as well as security companies are wanting you to agree, additionally, to submit data to help them in fighting viruses, which is a bit questionable, they never needed this in the past and as Windows is getting more secure, the need for additional security is becoming less.

So the question is what can I do, always read the EULA of each software you install, just as you read a contract before signing it, even if the company is known and you paid for the software, always read it, just like you would read anything from a known company in real life when signing a contract, it only takes a few minutes and it lets you know what exactly that software is trying to do, and as always run you’re spyware and virus scans frequently. Many companies know that people do not read the EULA when software is being installed.