The EULA cuts both ways

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 10:53:19 +0100

Commenting about my post on individuals having their own EULA Eric Norman says:

Fascinating idea. I have a cynical comment, though. It's not a prediction; it's just a comment. For lots of businesses, it probably won't work unless you, as well as the license, speak a language the business understands. That means you have to be willing to say, "I'm sorry; I won't purchase your product".

I absolutely agree that the business has to understand (and accept) the terms of the license and that this could be one of those thorny problems. This was one of the reasons why I was keen to explore the use of Creative Commons licenses since these are already (to some extent) legitimized and well known.

Whether we use CC licenses or not (probably not if Bob Wyman is right) the problem is not insoluable. Businesses can come together over a solution if they see a benefit. We just have to be persuasive about that benefit.

I'd like to re-emphasize that the key point behind the EULA idea is to give control back to the individual. If I decide to put such a restrictive license of my data that no business is prepared to agree to it is my choice and the consequences are my choice also.

For the most part though I don't think we will reach extremes. Which brings us back to the benefits, about which more later...

Curiouser and Curiouser! on information-sharing

The EULA cuts both ways