EULAs

[David Johnson]

On Sunday 02 June 2002 05:51 pm, Lawrence E. Rosen wrote:

> Your opinion is not supported up by any court decisions.  Agreement can
> be manifested in many ways other than by a formal "I agree" uttered on a
> moonless night.

Which was why I stated my opinion as "non-lawyerly". But that does not mean 
that I am completely ignorant of the law.

17 USC 117: "...it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a 
computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or 
adaptation of that computer program provided:  (1)  that such a new copy or 
adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer 
program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner"

This gives me the right to use the software by installing it onto my harddrive 
and subsequently copying it into RAM for the purpose of executing the 
program. I do not have to enter into any licensing agreements into order to 
do so.

Am I the "owner of the copy of a computer program"? I have a bill of sale that 
affirm that I am. This bill of sale was aquired before I even viewed the 
license attached to the software. In fact, I didn't even get to see the 
license until I had excercised my rights and executed the program in on my 
computer.

This whole concept of tying the assent of a contract to the exercise of a 
preexisting right is extremely dangerous.

-- 
David Johnson
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