[Gllug] Star office

[William Palfreman]

On Thu, 29 Nov 2001, David Damerell wrote:

> On Wednesday, 28 Nov 2001, William Palfreman wrote:
> >On 28 Nov 2001, Nix wrote:
> >>On Mon, 26 Nov 2001, David Damerell moaned:
> >>>As far as anyone knows, in the EU, this isn't even a legal insanity;
> >>>it's a fiction existing only in the minds of software companies.
> >>And in .au, it is enshrined in the reasoning behind the passing of
> >>certain laws. Wonderful.
> >Sorry, but what are you both talking about?  What is it about the Star
> >Office/Open offices licences that is fictional?
> 
> "Shrink wrap" licenses that impose restrictions on your use of
> software are fictional in the EU. The only way in which you can agree
> to such a license is by entering into a contract - which you don't
> normally do when buying boxed software, and in any case when buying
> software at a shop you could only enter into a contract with the
> shop, not with the software producer, since a contract demands an
> exchange of value (and your exchange of money for media has been with
> the shop.)
> 
> Hence, you are normally only bound by the provisions of copyright law,
> which deal normally with copying and redistribution.
> 
> This does not affect most free software licenses, since they deal
> only with modification and redistribution - activities which you
> normally could not do at all without permission from the copyright
> holder.

Thanks.  I agree.  A contract is not a contract unless it is freely and
knowledgeably entered into.  You can't know what you are getting by
simply opening a shrink wrapping but they claim in their EULA that you
have to accept the contract before opening it or installing it.  You
can't enter the contract knowledgeable, so there is no valid contract.  
The remaining copyright law is more liberal.  After all, qmail is just
copyright.  It's not ideal, but it doesn't screw you (as much). 

-Bill.

-- 
W. Palfreman. 		http://www.palfreman.com/william/
Tel: 0771 355 0354	PGP ftp://ftp.palfreman.com/pub/wfpkey.asc
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