There’s an old saying that you’re not just having sex with a particular person, but with all the people that person has had sex with. (We’re speaking from a public health standpoint, only, though one could make similar arguments in other arenas).
The same, it turns out, is true in the world of software installation, where you’re not only clicking to accept the EULA (End User License Agreement) of the software you’re installing, but of all the software that they’ve okay to also install, and so on, and so on. Hilarity (of a sort) can ensue.
3D Desktop’s Flying Icons screensaver is initially presented to the user as shareware available for a 15-day free trial. Only by scrolling down in the little text window to the end of the EULA does the user find a hint that there’s another component to the deal. If you install the software, you’re also agreeing to the terms of something called Blazefind. The only way to find out what that means is to follow a link to Blazefind’s EULA.
When Edelman followed that link, the Blazefind license turned out to be the EULA for “Windows ControlAd” software from CDT. Of course, in order “to give surfers a rich Internet experience,” CDT was going to install programs from 180Solutions and others. And by agreeing to the CDT EULA, one in turn is also agreeing to the license terms and privacy policies for 180search Assistant, Internet Optimizer, TopRebates.com, and Target Saver. (The Blazefind license and the mix of programs it says it will download have changed slightly since Edelman conducted his research, perhaps due in part to 180Solutions’ takeover of CDT.) So, with just one click, one “contractually” agrees to not only the 3D Desktop license but six different EULAs and the installation of a whole bunch of spyware. Or adware, if you think there’s a difference.
It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that Edelman found that those four weren’t the only programs that were loaded on his computer in the process. But that’s covered too, since the CDT EULA grants the company permission “to install new applications, at any time, in its sole discretion with or without your knowledge and/or interaction.” And, just to add to our growing list of outrageous terms, Edelman pointed out this little gem in the arbitration section: “You also agree to pay CDT $300 per hour to attend arbitration including transport time.”
In other words, click OK to a shareware screensaver’s cryptic little license, and you have given away control of your computer and your privacy. It’s your fault you didn’t spend hours and hours typing in URL after URL to read thousands and thousands of obfuscating words to decipher who and what you’re really dealing with. And if you were to try to get some redress, well, you have to pay them more for their time then you could possibly win.
Ain’t that swell?
One can argue that such terms couldn’t possibly hold up in court — but that hasn’t kept the companies making them from fighting that. After all, they argue, you consented to these terms by pressing that one little “I agree” button. Be it on your head …