There are some -- indeed, there may be many -- software publishers who are willing to offer their customers fair terms. But why should they? How likely is it to bring them more business?
At least one software developer's experience says that it's not all that likely. "About a year ago, I decided to change the EULA and my licensing policies for my products," says Michael Baker, owner of Code-It Software, a maker of audio editing and other multimedia tools. "My goal was to offer the fairest EULA out there short of open source. I did it for several reasons. First, because I thought it was the right thing to do. I've been following your views for several years and I've joined AFFECT. And, I thought by doing it right, it ought to help my business."
Baker's EULA is indeed more than fair, and his policies eschew all the nasties like DRM and spyware, but so far the evidence is that not many customers care. "I ran a survey where I gave a software application free to any visitor that responded," Baker says. "One of the questions was 'Does the EULA, or the fact that the registered software requires no unlock key codes, DRM or intrusive registration policies -- affect your purchase?' The result of over 1,000 views was that 96 percent said NO! It was unbelievable to me. It seems to me that the average bear is so used to product activation schemes that it makes no difference except to the very informed. You've got to know that most users will get 'burned' sooner or later - but it seems it is just accepted. I am keeping my policies because I still think it is the right thing to do, but I know that I am probably throwing away dollars by doing so."
There are many things to like about Baker's EULA, including its endorsement of fair use rights for educational and library purposes, pledges to not knowingly release software with back doors or known bugs that could result in damage to data (the Code-it website even has a page of known bugs), and a warranty that the code does not infringe on intellectual property rights of third parties. Overall, I think it can serve very well as a fine template for a model fair license agreement. And, in that regard, I hope those of you who are interested will come look it over in detail and share your thoughts with us online in the EULA Reviews section of the GripeLog.
But what's the point of looking at model EULAs if, as Baker has found, they don't result in more sales for those software publishers that use them? Well, perhaps there's a cart we have to set before the horse here. It's no shock to discover that most of the visitors to Baker's site couldn't care less about what his terms say. The product itself is what matters most, of course, and then the price. Besides, we've all been trained to think of software terms as something we don't get to see until after we buy and that we can just assume are going to be totally one-sided in favor of the publisher. Of course 96 percent would say they don't care.
Baker's in a crowded field -- anyone in the market for an inexpensive or even a free audio editor tool can find a host of programs from which to choose. And I'm not in a position to tell you whether the Code-It tools are better or worse than anyone else's. But I can tell you, or you can see for yourself, that his tools don't come with spyware/adware sneakwrap buried deep in the EULA. Some others do. As I've said many times, you don't actually know what price you're paying for a product until you know what the terms really are.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way you could readily tell which software programs follow some minimum standards of fair dealing? That's the point of looking at all these license agreements in all this detail: we need to set those standards. And then the next step will be to make it easier for customers to identify the companies that meet or exceed those standards. I'm not entirely sure how that will work, although I've heard some very good ideas from readers that we'll be discussing soon. I do know this though: Code-It Software isn't the only software company that is more than willing to give customers an even break. Help me find more of them, and help me find a way to reward them for doing so.
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