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Counter Agreement

March 7th, 2007

ReasonableAgreement.org

Everywhere we go we are confronted, usually in very small text, by quasi-legal agreements. When you install software you must click on an “I agree” button before completing the installation, when you sign a credit card slip at many major retailers you are also signing a legal agreement with the store. Everywhere you turn you are asked to give up your consumer rights.

ReasonableAgreement.org has come up with a counter-agreement (an anti-EULA) for consumers to fight back with.

Frankly, it’s all bullshit. The way the system should work is, you buy something, you own it. The law of the land governs your interactions with the seller. What’s the point of having a consumer-protection law if all it takes to get around it is to announce that you’ve agreed to waive your rights by buying something? If consumer protection laws don’t protect people who buy stuff, whom do they protect?

Here is the text of the anti-EULA:

READ CAREFULLY. By [accepting this material|accepting this payment|accepting this business-card|viewing this t-shirt|reading this sticker] you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies (”BOGUS AGREEMENTS”) that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

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