End-User License Agreements (EULAs) are contracts which are agreed to before or after installation of many commercial software packages. Although the EULAs for shrink-wrapped software can not be read before opening the package they have been upheld as binding contracts in federal court.
Some features of software covered by Microsoft®'s EULA (Windows XP):
- copying is prohibited
- can be used on only one computer with a maximum of 2 processors
- cannot be used as a webserver or fileserver
- requires registration after 30 days
- could stop working if hardware changes are made
- updates can change the EULA if the company so wished
- can be transferred to another user only once; the new user must agree to the license terms
- imposes limitations on reverse engineering
- gives Microsoft rights to collect information about the system and the its use
- gives Microsoft the right to supply this information to other organisations
- gives Microsoft the right to make changes to the computer without having to ask
- warranty for the first 90 days; fixes, updates or patches carry no warranty
For comparison, here are some features of the GPL, the most common license of free and [open source] software:
- freedom to copy, modify and redistribute the software
- precludes one party from preventing another from having these same freedoms
- provides coverage for rights of users to copy, modify and redistribute the software
- no warranty as there is no fee
- can be sold if the user so decides and services for such software can be charged for
- any patents must be licensed for everyone's use or not licensed at all
- modified software must carry no licence fees
- source code must be provided
- if there is a change in license, the general terms of the existing one will be maintained.
(Lists originally published by this article in reference to a study comparing the Windows XP EULA to the GPL.)