I haven't read the complaint or the license agreement myself, but perhaps this is what the NY AG is upset about: http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/03/05/010305opfoster.xml >...supporters have scoffed at the notion that publishers would use >shrink-wrap licenses to prohibit public criticism of their products. >Nonetheless, our friends at Network Associates seem prepared to do just >that with their click-wrap license for VirusScan 5.15. "The customer shall >not disclose the results of any benchmark test to any third party without >Network Associates' prior written approval," reads one part of its EULA, >immediately followed by: "The customer will not publish reviews of the >product without prior consent from Network Associates." Network Associates >declined to comment on why it includes these terms in the VirusScan license... Anyone know if there have been similar lawsuits over this before? It seems to me that if the user knowingly agreed to a no-criticism license, then, heck, it's a contract and there's no reason for the NY AG's office to get involved. If you don't like the contract, buy someone else's virus-scan software. If a sufficient number of users are peeved, Network Associates (or someone else) will offer criticism-allowed licenses, and the market will self-correct. But whether or not the agreement was entered into knowingly is the real question here, I suppose... -Declan --- From: "Richard M. Smith" <rmsat_private> To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declanat_private> Subject: New York Files Suit Vs Network Associates Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 13:16:27 -0500 Message-ID: <02c101c1b003$8f9ff5a0$6601a8c0@rms> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_02C2_01C1AFD9.A6C9EDA0" X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020207/tc/tech_networkassocs_suit_dc_1.html NEW YORK (Reuters) - Network Associates (Nasdaq:NETA - news), owner of anti-virus software maker McAfee.com, was named on Thursday by the New York state attorney general in a lawsuit that seeks to end restrictions the company puts on critical commentary by consumers. In a statement, N.Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said his office had filed a lawsuit that calls on the company to put an end to legal restrictions whereby the company seeks to block consumer free speech rights to comment on its products. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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