Nobody reads the small print any more
Well, most people never did read the small print. What’s been surprising over the last couple of days is that even the people who write the small print don’t read it.
Apple’s version of its Safari browser for Windows came with this original wording:
This license allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time.
Released for Windows, only usable on a Mac. Yeah, right. They’ve now changed it, since some kind soul pointed out to them that they were making it illegal for Windows users to use their Windows product. Doh!
But has Adobe also been failing to read its own fine print? The new (and still in beta) Photoshop Express is supposed to offer you a photo-sharing and editing service for your photos. At the date and time of this posting, however, the terms of use (Section 8: Use of Your Content) state:
Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed.
ArsTechnica thinks this is a mistake like the Apple one, and that Adobe haven’t read their own fine print. Let’s hope they’re right, and that like Apple’s mistake, this will be corrected soon. Since, however, it’s buried fairly deep in the Adobe site, I can’t help but wonder rather cynically whether Adobe were just hoping no-one would read it.
March 30th, 2008 at 1:24 am
As a former graphics software product manager, I can confirm that scrutinizing the EULA is one of the last things “to do” on the list for release and rarely gets the attention it deserves. It was usually an ultra-paranoid user who ended up bringing issues to my attention through some beta forum, then I dreaded the back and forth with the legal team to get the changes approved. I sympathize with the Apple and Adobe teams for these gaffs, though my experiences with the latter would tend to confirm your cynicism.