this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
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No.
Sorry, this may be unpopular, but software license click-through agreements are enforceable.
Source: I'm not a lawyer, but worked in a software contracts office with lawyers, so some of it ruined off. Essentially your legal options are, use the software according to the license agreement, or don't use the software.
A third option would be, I guess, use open source software so you don't deal with that bullshit.
Edit: Part of it is wrapped up in the Uniform Commercial Code, which is a whole bundle of standard laws which is quite complex. Basically you pays your money, and you get a thing, but there are all sports of knobs and levers to handle every contingency. You can nope out of the transaction, but you don't get the thing.
To some extent yes, they’re enforceable - but lots of clauses probably aren’t, such as the clauses preventing you from suing the provider. I believe many of them have never really been tested in court.
Maybe?
Again, I'm not a lawyer, but I've read a lot of EULAs.
However, to challenge that, your have to sue Microsoft, against their team of super-lawyers, the best that Microsoft could buy. And you'd have to do it in the jurisdiction started in the license agreement, which is undoubtedly friendly to Microsoft. And you'd have to have some sort of standing, meaning you have suffered some actual damage from the thing you arguing against, and that you want remedied. So you sue for damages, but it can only be for the amount that you were actually damaged, which is problematic - especially for free Microsoft software. But for paid software, I'm sure there's a return/refund clause which would make you whole.
And you are paying your own lawyer to Microsoft, right? How long do you plan to sue Microsoft? I guarantee they have deeper pockets than you, and can outlast you in court. And remember if you lose the lawsuit, you will probably be countersued for the cost of their lawyers.
Basically the EULAs are written by Microsoft's very expensive lawyers. Other corporations cower in fear of Microsoft's lawyers; I know the ones in my office did. And the rewards you'd get would be a Pyrrhic victory at best. "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
Yeah, for sure, I’m not saying it’s easy - it’s just way more nuanced than both sides of the “EULAs are completely unenforceable”/“EULAs can make you give away your firstborn” make it out - I know for sure you understand that, and I wasn’t trying to say you were wrong - just expanding on your answer. There’s loads of EULA provisions which probably would never stand up in court, but they’re still at least somewhat enforceable to some extent.
Yes, and if you ask a lawyer, they'll say "it depends".
And the thing it usually depends on, is "how much money you got?" 😎
100%, yeah. The law is a little game for the wealthy to play with against eachother and a tool to oppress the rest of us with.