End User License Agreements (EULAs) as Fast As Possible
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2016-05-06
·
1,112 words · ~5 min read
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unless the last game you picked up was a copy of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
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lawyer jargon or legal ease is probably the last thing on your mind when you're
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excitedly ripping open the box of a new piece of software but Curb Your
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Enthusiasm friends because nearly every piece of software these days is going to
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come with the infamous enduser license
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agreement or Ula we've all clicked agree
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to these things without reading all 50 pages or even sometimes a single
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sentence so why the heck are they included when we all know that hardly
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anyone reads them what is the point well fundamentally a Ula is just a type of
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contract which have been around since time immemorial but unlike most
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agreements that involve some kind of two-way negotiation ulas are pretty much
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just a list of stuff you're not allowed to do and while the first ulas which
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started popping up in the 1980s were intended to mostly stop unauthorized
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copying since then they've grown to be completely wieldly like a a 34 layer
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nacho dip or something to get to the salsa you're going to end up with cheese
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on your fingers every time well hold on a second line is I don't agree to their
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terms I just want to use the software I paid for it's mine well not exactly when
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you buy a copy of a piece of software you are not actually paying for the
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software you're only paying for a license to use it since the publisher
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wants to retain the rights to actually do stuff to theod code so what can't you
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do then most ulas will forbid you from tinkering with or reverse engineering
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the software since the Publishers don't want people adding enhancements and
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features for free that they could make money off of later software developers
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also obviously don't want to get sued so you'll see a disclaimer of warranty
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which means that you agree that if the software messes something up with your
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computer or Worse you're limited to
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whatever the publisher will give you which is usually phone and webs support
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or best case scenario refund and some ulas even say stuff like that you can't
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criticize the software publicly if you don't like it that's BS Linus why do
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they get to make all the rules anyway do I get any Say in any of this sort of at
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least in the US there are numerous precedents for Ula Clauses ending up
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being unenforcable if they're really unfair to the consumer and generally
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speaking there also needs to be some sort of ascent from the customer for the
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Ula to actually count for example one American Court case involving Netscape
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held that sticking terms of service in an inconspicuous location at the bottom
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of a page didn't give a user enough chance to agree but being forced to look
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at a Ula before clicking next or removing the plastic wrap from a
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software box if you're still into that kind of thing with the conditions on the
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outside have both been found to constitute acceptance by the user but
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regardless the publisher can't terminate your license if the Ula is grossly
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unfair or unconscionable in legal e the
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problem though is that's a very subjective standard and puts the user in
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the crummy position where they'll either have to go to court to get a ruling
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before using the software as they intend or just go ahead and do it and hope for
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a favorable decision after the fact not something that I typically advise so
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where does this leave us all then well for most people in a state of really not
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worrying about it too much as long as you're not trying to use someone else's
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software for authorized commercial gain or repurposing iTunes as a terrorist
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weapon or something all they can usually do is terminate your accounter
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subscription but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea to search that
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mountain of text for any fishy Clauses and don't be afraid to exercise your
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rights as a consumer if things look unreasonable before you find out that
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you've signed away the rights to your vital organs speaking of vital organs
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fresh books it's designed for freelance workers or small businesses where the
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owner has vital organs so the human ones
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that is to say and what it is is an online tool that makes invoicing getting
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paid and tracking expenses and your time
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sheet easier so little details about cash flow are in one place so you always
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know where you stand and it shows a full history of each invoice allowing you to
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check if your client has viewed the invoice and allow the client to pay
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through fresh books by credit card which of course makes those little details
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like uh you know hey have you paid yet hey no sorry I didn't get it in the M oh
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um actually yeah you did I saw that you looked at it so uh yeah you better go
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ahead and pay that because let's face it guys whether you're a whether you're a
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plumber or uh you know some kind of other you know freelance contractor or
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Tradesman whatever the case may be you want to spend your time doing that and
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making money not sitting around you know typing things into one of those
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calculators with the spool of paper in the top that's the old way so head over
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to freshbooks.com Techquickie and don't forget to enter
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Techquickie in the how did You Hear About Us section we got that Linked In
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the video description try it out today it's free as a trial then it costs money
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but it's good so it's okay so that's pretty much it guys thanks for watching
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like the video if you liked it dislike it if you thought it suck leave a comment if you have suggestions for
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you're looking for something else to watch right now we've got a great video
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and I almost hurt myself so check it out now or later