ComputerWorld: FTC to study software-licensing practices

"The looming state-by-state passage of the controversial UCITA software-licensing law is prompting the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take a hard look at the software industry's bedrock practice of selling software through licenses instead of an outright purchase of the product."

"The FTC plans to hold a two-day forum here next Thursday and Friday on software warranty and licensing practices. Among the issues that will be examined are warranty protections offered in "shrinkwrap" or "clickwrap" licensing agreements, the use of those warranties to limit the liability of vendors' protections and the whole approach of selling software in the form of license, according to the FTC."

"There is a concern that some of the practices that you see in some of the license terms are problematic," said Dan Salsburg, an attorney in the FTC's division of marketing practices, in an interview today. "The purpose of the hearing is to educate us."

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