Ignoring software security is a common problem, unless one comes under those 0.1 percent users who read End User License Agreement (EULA), also known as software license. Otherwise, you are signing contracts without looking, as the box full of technical mumbo-jumbo you receive and agree to, when you install a program, is a contract.
Software security would not have been such a big issue, if every software security service provided a simple agreement, explaining simple terms of use. Unfortunately, most of them are lengthy texts with legal gibberish, which leave most of us confused. Some terms enclosed within the contract are such, which ordinarily a user would not acknowledge, if he knew what he was agreeing to. For example, in order to provide protection against cracking, lot of software licenses are now giving software companies the right to accumulate information about you computer. After collection, the information is automatically sent to software marketers. Some software licenses, particularly licenses for freeware, have clauses that can make you agree to installation of added software, which you may not want. This results in people blaming the freeware for all the wrong things that have happened. But, the end user is to be equally blamed, as he did not read the legal material provided along with the product. Nonetheless, people still do not read the EULA. While downloading or installing software, we are in a hurry to understand and use the new software. This makes EULA just another thing to drop time on, as it cannot be read in a short amount of time. Hence, not being able to read it at all. The next thing which comes to mind is, when you clicked 'I Agree', what have you really agreed upon? Freeware poses an even bigger problem, as it is not always free. Surely, it is not possible to reverse engineer, redistribute or modify freeware, but, there is also a kind of freeware that is feigned as adware or spyware. Possibilities: One might think that there is little that can be done against a bad EULA or TOS. That is not entirely correct, as there have been cases where terms of services have been changed because of users not being comfortable with some flagrant terms used within the terms and conditions. For example, Facebook changed its TOS to the old one, when people started complaining about the term of use, which said Facebook will keep all rights to the user's content. The main idea behind software license building a legal defense against software piracy has long been omitted. You should be aware that a simple click on the mouse can create a good amount of trouble. Thus, there is only one advice to be given, do go through the EULA properly, as it does not apply only to freeware.
2 Comments
3/28/2015 11:59:36 pm
i have new knowledge for this site, thanks for the article. i love this site 7/28/2015 02:26:21 am
software is urgently needed now, but be careful in using it, thinks this article is very helpful Leave a Reply. |