More Positive Rulings on EULAs
Posted by cmdln on August 5th, 2007
Jennifer Granick, at Wired, discusses two important rulings this week. One of them was the same one, Douglas v. Talk America, that I discussed in my post about requiring notification of changes to terms of service.
The other is perhaps a bit more broad. In Gatton v. T-Mobile, the ruling seems predicated on the inherent inequity in EULAs, that unlike a normal contract, the potential customer has limited choice and even more limited recourse for addressing complaints. Still, the ruling just struck down a couple of provisions, requiring arbitration for questions of fees and forbidding class actions suits, so is fairly narrow in scope. Most court rulings are.
The cause for optimism comes, I guess, from the fact that two rulings against EULAs came in such a short time. In the absence of legislative reform, perhaps this signals an increased willingness of the courts to enhance consumer protections, even if it is by one ruling at a time.