Why don’t people read EULAs?
Before this study proceeds, let us at first try to analyze why it is that people do not read the license agreement. What could possibly be the reasons for people omitting the terms and conditions and EULAs?
1. One of the biggest reasons is perhaps the fact that these agreements are written in ‘Legalese’ not the Anglo Saxon English that we are accustomed to. The jargon loaded, complex sentences make it even harder for people to comprehend what is written.
2. Another reason is the length of the documents. Take into case, Adobe Reader, which happens to be the most popularly used PDF software. Its End User License Agreement is 16 pages long and over 10,000 words. That’s way longer than my project. And way boring too.
3. Most people do not know what a License Agreement is. They consider it the “useless window with the I Agree button”.
Another reason is the fact that whether you ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with the terms is rather irrelevant. If you want to use the software you have to ‘agree’ with the license agreement. Why spend so much time reading thousands of words when you don’t have a choice about it?
Aim of the 'Simple EULA Project':
As a part of this "Simple EULA Project" we have converted five EULAs into simple and plain english so that people can easily read the often legal jargon embedded clauses and conditions and be better aware of what role EULAs play as a part of their "virtual life". The Simple EULA Project came into being as the consequence of a college research project on software license agreements. The original idea of making available online converted EULAs was conceived by Mr. Prasannanshu, our 'Law and Language' professor. We have, as a part of this project, attempted to condense and simplify the clauses of various license agreements while retaining their original meaning. Hope you find this of help.
Current Status:
As of now, this site hosts twenty end user license agreements, of the following softwares:
However, the Simple EULA Project is an ever expanding project which will be updated regularly and we will also try to meet the requests that the visitors ask us of (if any).
Before this study proceeds, let us at first try to analyze why it is that people do not read the license agreement. What could possibly be the reasons for people omitting the terms and conditions and EULAs?
1. One of the biggest reasons is perhaps the fact that these agreements are written in ‘Legalese’ not the Anglo Saxon English that we are accustomed to. The jargon loaded, complex sentences make it even harder for people to comprehend what is written.
2. Another reason is the length of the documents. Take into case, Adobe Reader, which happens to be the most popularly used PDF software. Its End User License Agreement is 16 pages long and over 10,000 words. That’s way longer than my project. And way boring too.
3. Most people do not know what a License Agreement is. They consider it the “useless window with the I Agree button”.
Another reason is the fact that whether you ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with the terms is rather irrelevant. If you want to use the software you have to ‘agree’ with the license agreement. Why spend so much time reading thousands of words when you don’t have a choice about it?
Aim of the 'Simple EULA Project':
As a part of this "Simple EULA Project" we have converted five EULAs into simple and plain english so that people can easily read the often legal jargon embedded clauses and conditions and be better aware of what role EULAs play as a part of their "virtual life". The Simple EULA Project came into being as the consequence of a college research project on software license agreements. The original idea of making available online converted EULAs was conceived by Mr. Prasannanshu, our 'Law and Language' professor. We have, as a part of this project, attempted to condense and simplify the clauses of various license agreements while retaining their original meaning. Hope you find this of help.
Current Status:
As of now, this site hosts twenty end user license agreements, of the following softwares:
- 2K Games
- Activision Games
- Bethesda Softworks
- Capcom Co.
- Criterion Games
- Electronic Arts, Inc.
- Firaxis Games
- Infinity Ward Systems
- KOEI
- Konami Inc.
- LINE
- Mozilla Foundation
- Nintendo Corp.
- Oracle Corp.
- Relic Entertainment
- SEGA
- Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
- Symantec Systems
- THQ Inc.
- Viber
However, the Simple EULA Project is an ever expanding project which will be updated regularly and we will also try to meet the requests that the visitors ask us of (if any).