Software licences steal your freedom

US CIVIL rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has warned that software houses are taking liberties with their end user licence agreements.

According to the EFF, many agreements contain terms that damage consumer interests, including invitations for vendors to snoop on users' computers, prohibitions on publicly criticising the product in question, and bans on customising or repairing devices.

Author of a white paper on the subject, Annalee Newitz, said that few realise that simply visiting a website or downloading a software update may constitute 'agreeing' to allowing third parties to monitor your communications or allows a vendor to dictate what you can or cannot do with the product you've bought.

"Clicking the 'I Agree' button may mean clicking away your privacy, freedom of speech, or other rights," she said.

Click-through agreements have become ubiquitous in the technology industry. While they are supposed to bind consumers to strict terms dictated by vendors, consumers don't negotiate them, don't sign them, and in many cases can't even read them until after they've bought the product, taken it home, and opened up the package.

You can read the white paper here. µ