I agree

Friday, September 5th, 2008 | General

Since I earn a living developing and selling software I had to attach license agreements to all of the applications…

Of course, when you’re conceiving a software license/user agreement you, as a software producer have to take every precaution that you are as protected by the law as “legally” possible. This is much more important when you deliver a free service, the user has pretty much one right: to use your software on your terms…this doesn’t sound really nice but if the user gets a free service you don’t want to risk anything.

So, in knowing what software companies think in general about license agreements I always try to read the whole 25 screens of legal terms in every software I install. If I don’t like something I don’t install the software.

I was installing Google Chrome and reading the user license and there were two things that caught my attention and if I wasn’t dying to see what the browser looks like I wouldn’t have gone through with the installation.

1.Automatic updates:

“The software which you use may automatically download and install updates from time to time from Google. These updates are designed to improve, enhance and further develop the services and may take the form of bug fixes, enhanced functions, new software modules and completely new versions. You agree to receive such updates (and permit Google to deliver these to you) as part of your use of the services.”

2. Some bizarre copyright release from me the user to Google Inc.

“By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services.”

I think that was a paragraph left from other online apps because if I use the browser to say connect to a private app and upload things it I hope Google doesn’t have the perpetual, worldwide blah blah right to do whatever it wants with my private files…

Sysrc’s tech blog

I’m busy - it’s compiling…

I agree

Categories

Archive

Links

Meta

Search