October 24, 2003

Shrinkwrap Agreements on Tools

From Boing-Boing, via a bunch of other places (including Ed's Gripelog), news of an End User License Agreement ("Shrinkwrap Agreement") being applied to a woodworking tool. Such controversial agreements, commonly used in the software industry, are often used to take away traditional consumer rights without the consumer even realizing it. They're called "shrinkwrap" because the terms of the agreement include the fact that by breaking the shrinkwrap, you're agreeing to the agreement. (Often, they're also part of software install processes--those "Yes, I Agree" buttons you click without reading the contract offered.)

In the TemplateMaster case, purchasers are prevented from letting anyone aside from the purchaser use the tool.

"...the purpose of the TemplateMaster is to clone itself. Therefore we are verifying your honesty that only you will use the tool and you will not be passing it around to others to use for free. It is exactly the same as the 'shrink wrap' agreement that comes with almost all computer software. Please help us fight 'tool piracy'." [full agreement at Stots online]
Note that the agreement articulates "honesty" in a very bizarre and interesting way:
  • "the purpose of the TemplateMaster is to clone itself" I don't know much about the TemplateMaster, but this would appear to be, at the very least, only a partial truth. Why would anyone buy a tool that had as its primary function the ability to clone itself? What good is that? Entertainment? Watch this, Frank! It's going to duplicate again!"
  • "we are verifying your honesty" Actually, what we're really doing is binding you to a legal contract, because we don't trust you to just apply your honest, best judgment.
  • "you will not be passing it to others to use for free" So now I'm not allowed to let others use something when I'm not using it. Imagine the consequences of this applied on a larger scale--I can't loan people print books. I can't offer someone a place at my dinner table for a meal, because the table manufacturer only allows me and my family to be seated. I can't give someone a ride in my car or, worse yet, loan them my car. I'm not allowed to teach students how to design pages for Internet Explorer because not every student in my class has licensed the right to that knowledge.... These seem a little far-fetched, but that's because the TemplateMaster case is far-fetched.
  • "help us fight 'tool piracy'" ! .... I'm not sure what else to say about that term, but "!". Since when is using one tool to make another considered "piracy"? Only since Stots had the bright idea to hook its wagon to the music/movie/software piracy horse.

The way things used to work was that people used tools to make, among other things, new tools. It's not like they grew new tools on trees. So when my wife and I hired a local carpenter last year to build a porch on our house, he started by building a whole range of jigs and frames and sawhorses to use in the construction. And what did he use to build them? Tools, including other jigs and frames and sawhorses.

Now I'm worried that I'm going to be sued as the construction equivalent of his ISP or something. Posted by johndan at October 24, 2003 11:31 AM | TrackBack