bedelman
Premium
join:2004-06-20
Cambridge, MA
| Finding time, and finding problems
Howdy folks. Glad to see this is of interest.
AEKDB, for better or for worse (perhaps worse!) I choose to spend a fair amount of discretionary ("free") time testing this kind of software, and recording what I find. I think I'm not alone in considering these installation practices important, and I actually do enjoy technical research and writing.
Fegul, I'm not a professor, just a grad student.
And on substance: I agree that the extreme length of many EULAs is cause for concern. But there's more to talk about than just length. Here are six other problematic characteristics that I observed in writing the piece and flipping through the screenshots:
1) Defective EULA content (e.g. missing links, broken links) (problems seen with Kazaa's Altnet and Claria, Morpheus's DirectRevenue)
2) Defective EULA formatting (e.g. missing section headings, or paragraph otherwise run together) (Kazaa's Claria, iMesh)
3) Misleading EULA presentation (e.g. putting multiple EULAS in one long box, without warning) (eDonkey, Kazaa's Altnet / MySearch)
4) Failure to show EULA, merely linking to EULA (Kazaa's main EULA and Altnet EULA)
5) Exceptionally dubious EULA presentation (e.g. tall narrow box w/ 3 words per line) (eDonkey)
6) Objectionable substantive terms (e.g. restrictions on how users can remove software [Kazaa's Claria, Morpheus's DirectRevenue], failure to describe software's purposes in even the most general terms [eDonkey's New.net], etc.)
So there's lots to think about, even beyond the very serious problem of extreme length. |
|
GemSnake
Premium
join:2000-10-19
3rd layer
clubs:  | Kudos, buddy! We appreciate your discretionary time  What are you majoring in?
--
"In a fight between you and the world, bet on the world." - Franz Kafka |
|
Indymike
join:2004-12-06
Indianapolis, IN
 ·Covad Communications
| reply to bedelman
Ben,
I for one would like to thank you for the time and effort that you have put into all of this. I'm amazed at what it takes to understand, let alone read, just ONE of these EULA's that some judge somewhere said "that's all that's needed".
By the time i get home after cleaning up PC's infected with most of this software, the last thing i want to do is play with it somemore!
Good job! I hope you can continue to keep doing it. Somewhere, sometime, somehow, all of this work is going to pay off for all of us (internet users) and I just want to say thank you! |
|
Andrew J
Premium
join:2001-11-09
Lancaster, PA
clubs:
 ·Comcast
 ·Vonage
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to bedelman
Thanks Ben. I wouldn't read them since I wouldn't believe what they say.
"My testing uncovered no bundled software installed without at least some disclosure......"
I'm really shocked by that finding.
--
Best Team. |
|
David
No,there is another.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs: | reply to bedelman
Nice research.. |
|
Wills
join:2001-01-03
Port Charlotte, FL
| reply to Andrew J
said by Andrew J  :I'm really shocked by that finding. Sometimes the best place to hide something is in plain view...
Maybe 1 person out of 100 actually reads or digests these things.
--
I have a shaved head, a goatee, and tatoos. Don't you realize the rules don't apply to me. |
|
