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Claria
License Agreement Is Fifty Six Pages Long [ Background - Screen Shots - Disclosures] The length of Claria's license agreement, as embodied in certain third-party software such as Kazaa, make the license especially difficult to review and understand. |
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Among the various characteristics of spyware are license agreements and disclosures that are absent, confusing, unintelligible, or otherwise such that users do not provide meaningful consent to software being installed on their PCs. (See details about spyware, including research, litigation, and legislation, on my separate "Spyware": Research, Testing, Legislation, and Suits.)
A representative, if outlying, example of the spyware installation process is the license agreement shown by Claria when users install its software as a part of a bundle with Kazaa. This license requires fifty six on-screen pages to be read in full, primarily because it is exceptionally lengthy, totalling 5,541 words. (In comparison, the US Constitution is only 4,616 words long.)
Update (October 9, 2004): The current version of Claria's license, as shown by the current Grokster installer, is 6,645 words long. See first screen.
Update (November 29, 2004): My "Gator's EULA Gone Bad" analyzes notable substantive terms in Claria's license, and notes certain deficiencies in the formatting and presentation of Claria's license. The current version of Claria's license, as shown by the current Kazaa installer, is 5,936 words long, and (unlike the license shown below) largely lacks bold face or line breaks to distinguish its section headings from body text.
For purposes of critique and analysis, the Claria install process is shown below in full -- with a separate screen shot showing each on-screen display a user would have to review if the user wanted to read the entirety of the Claria license agreement.
The difficulty of reviewing the Claria license in this format may explain why, in a recent survey by PC Pitstop, 74% of Claria users were unaware that Claria software was installed. See survey details. However, unlike the forty five page license agreement for WhenU, Claria's license agreement can be viewed in a separate window suitable for printing.
The screenshots below were made from the free Kazaa installer available from the Kazaa home page, using the latest version avialable as of June 2, 2004 (version 2.6.3). The installer begins with four screens of Kazaa introduction, followed by fifty six screens of Claria license.
Four Screens of Kazaa Introduction
Fifty Six Screens of Claria License
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My interest in spyware originally arose in part from a prior consulting engagement in which I served as an expert to parties adverse to Gator in litigation. See Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Company, LLC, et al. v. the Gator Corporation. More recently, I have served as an expert or consultant to other parties adverse to spyware companies in litigation or contemplated litigation.
This page is my own work - created on my own, without approval by any client, without payment from any client.
Last Updated: December 1, 2004 - Sign
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