 Analysing software license agreements
Friday, 21 July 2006
Do you know of anyone who actually reads the license agreement when they install a piece of software?
Me either.
We typically just click on that “accept” button without reading the license first. Lines and lines of legalise, where we understand all the words but the sentences don’t make much sense. According to the folks at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, when we do that, we’re inadvertently promising to:
- Not criticise the product in front of other people.
- Allow the software manufacturer, or one or more of their affiliates, to monitor our computer usage.
- Never uninstall the software.
- Allow the software manufacturer to alter the software license agreement at any time without notifying us.
- Not sue the software manufacturer if their software blows up our computer or our house.
Enter EULAlyzer from Javacool Software. EULAlyzer is a license agreement analysis tool which provides a detailed listing of potentially “interesting” words and phrases. It enables you to determine whether that software you’re about to install transmits information about you or whether you’re likely to be flooded with annoying popups, unwelcome spam or any other dodgy behaviour.
When installing software, never just click past the license agreement. Pop it into EULAlyzer, and EULAlyze it!
You can even use it to analyse website privacy policies.
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