According the Entertainment Consumers organization president Hal Halpin, whether you’re not in the habit of read those End User Licensing Agreements that come with your games; you should be.

Halpin has stated that while EULAs are essential, he believes that game publishers have exploited EULAs to the point where they are often detrimental to customers.

EULAs are a real and tangible problem… Quite simply, they’re out of control… these contracts have become so unwieldy that they regularly infringe on consumer rights. Many would likely be unenforceable in a court of law. Others, consumers would be shocked to find out what all of that fine print actually meant.

The reason for the EULAs existence is sound. Certainly no fair person would expect the creator or seller to lose all of their rights in a sale. But neither should a consumer…

I propose that we anatomy [a] working group to address that problem… It needs to be an open and

inclusive process… There’s no reason to think that we couldn’t standardize the EULA and create one contract that all developers, publishers, retailers and consumers know, understand and respect. The implications would be broad and the downside negligible…

Actually read through the EULA for programs is a tedious, instance consuming hassle. However, simply hitting “I accept” can land you in an awkward position in the future should you ever have a legal dispute with the publisher.

via GamePolitics

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