Do you read contracts/terms of service/licenses?

[Twinkie]

I only read them for select instances, like for services (of course I read the x10 TOS ;)). If I am about to make an email account, I am not about to read the whole yahoo TOS. Especially for software, most of the content is the same as all the other software.

I know a couple of people who would, what about you?

[zen-r]

Rarely, unless it's short & sweet.

Sometimes I try to scroll through them to spot any nasty small-print.

But many sites & software don't really want you to read it - that's why they put a massive 1000 line legal-talk document inside a tiny scroll box. They're the ones to be most afraid of.

But what can you do about it - you always want the free service which awaits you just as soon as you tick that box, right??!!

[Kayos]

I sometimes read them for sites I make purchases on. Most of the time I just scroll through and click I agree. Occasionally I'll skim through his to get an general idea of the sites policies.

I did however read X10's TOS. I'm glad I read that too since if I would have broken any of the TOS my account would be terminated!

Now, for other things like medical contracts I read everything before I sign. You really don't know what you could be signing away if you don't.

[Anna]

It depends a lot an what TOS/conract/license it is all about. I usually skim through them briefly to see if anything stands out. At least when it comes to TOS/license. In general they are the same, especially the ones that comes with a forum account. But in most cases they all point to one thing: Use common sense and be nice (TOS) and You may not resell or distribute without written permission (Licenses)

Contracts is usually a bit more variated, so those often need an extra look, especially if they involve money in some way.

[ShadowmasterX]

lol
TOS were made so long and small so no one reads them and when you violate one of them, you get blamed -_-

[loveispoison]

It depends a lot an what TOS/conract/license it is all about. I usually skim through them briefly to see if anything stands out. At least when it comes to TOS/license. In general they are the same, especially the ones that comes with a forum account. But in most cases they all point to one thing: Use common sense and be nice (TOS) and You may not resell or distribute without written permission (Licenses)

Contracts is usually a bit more variated, so those often need an extra look, especially if they involve money in some way.

i agree with you ladyanna same here

[Smith6612]

Considering half of the TOS pages I come across are the length of a short novel, and the same "legal, harm done is not on us and arbitration" paragraphs are located in the same spot, it's pretty obvious to what the TOS is stating. The meat and potatoes to where you typically want to read it is after all of the legal text and nonsense. That's where I typically read. Other than that, if things do stand out (such as ISP capping language which I've discovered propping up in a few pages of some ISPs in the US), then of course I'll read the whole thing.

I've always wondered why besides trying to get the backing of lawyers and money why those mega companies don't bother removing the crap and putting in a simple TOS like x10 has that people will actually read and not just click "Accept."

[Twinkie]

Because all the crap covers their backs from anything they didn't mention specifically by putting implied rules. If there was a new variety of cyber crime, I am pretty sure with X10's short and sweet TOS that it would be legal until they revise it. I might need to double check that, but you get the point.

[Livewire]

For the ones I don't intend to break within minutes of installing, I read them.

The obvious exception being x10's; I read that one TWICE cause I didn't wanna be changing webhosts for what would have been the 5th time in 6 months when I first joined



But yeah, most of the games I play I don't bother with the EULA/ToS/License. Most of them forbid using a no-cd/dvd hack so I don't need the frackin' dvd in the drive. If I have the game legally, I shouldn't need the bloody disc in the bloody drive!

But they make it against the EULA to do, so I do it anyways. I figure if they wanna sue someone who spent $50+ on the game instead of suing the guy who both pirated it AND used the no-cd/dvd hack, let them. I imagine there'd be a ton of bad publicity there.

"EA sues a legally paying customer! Film at 11!"

[sandogg]

I don´t usually, if I feel it is something I can trust or I am not actually going to use constantly.

However I recently saw some tools which will analyse a EULA for you and highlight potentially "interesting" terms.

I have not actually had time to test them but these are the ones I have seen:

EULAlyser - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html

Spyware Guide Licence Analyser (web based) : http://www.spywareguide.com/analyze/analyzer.php