[NTLK] OT/OT License/End User License Agreements - Unfair?

[Ryan]

Hi:

I did see that discussion. I'm imterested as much in Apple's license  
agreement.

Thank you,


Ryan J. Vetter
The Vetter Group
www.thevettergroup.com
1 800 985 6391
-----------------------
Sent from Mobile

On 2010-03-09, at 12:17 PM, Ryan <newtontalk at me.com> wrote:

> Hi:
>
> I thought this might be a useful discussion point, and even related  
> to the Newton if anyone is versed on Newton software EULA (End User  
> License Agreements).
>
> I just downloaded and installed the Dragon Dictation App from the  
> App Store for the iPhone. It's supposed to be one of the best apps  
> on the App Store. What it does is allows you to speak to your iPhone  
> and your speech will be converted to text. You can then copy and  
> paste that text into your Mail program, Notes, Safari, etc. It gets  
> rave reviews. But I would caution anyone to read the EULA. First,  
> the agreement states that if you click except, that Nuance will  
> download all of your contacts and store them on their servers. The  
> reason they do this is to improve the accuracy of the speech  
> recognition when you speak your contacts. They say they will not use  
> the contacts in any way other than for speech recognition purposes:  
> they won't contact these people.  But they don't give you a choice  
> before you click "Accept" to the EULA.  As soon as you do that, your  
> contacts will be downloaded to their servers, unless, perhaps, you  
> turn off your network connectivity and go into the settings and
> turn this feature off before it can connect and download your  
> contacts.  I have not tried this so I don't know if it is a way to  
> circumvent Nuance from downloading your contacts on first launch.
>
> Just below this clause, was another clause. It said that they  
> collect and store all of your speech data. They then use the speech  
> data to help improve their programs and services, and they may even  
> share it with third parties under confidential agreements. That  
> means that all of your speech communications is being filtered and  
> stored by Nuance: everything. They go on to say that that  
> information is protected, but will be released to authorities under  
> court order and the like. Like most people, I wouldn't accept those  
> terms, so I quit from the agreement screen and deleted the  
> application.
>
> Now I just see this news story below. Apple's iPhone software  
> developer agreement has been published. From what the article  
> states, this is the first time that the agreement has been  
> published. The only way this was possible, was from a Freedom of  
> Information Act request to NASA who actually themselves developed an  
> iPhone application. So Apple had no way of stopping a regular  
> citizen from using the Freedom of Information Act request to obtain  
> a copy of their iPhone software developer agreement. Like most  
> agreements, it's pretty one-sided: it favours the contracting  
> authority. In this case, it's Apple. In the case of Nuance, their  
> agreement is simply unrealistic and unfair since it collects very  
> sensitive, private data without giving the user a choice. In the  
> case of Apple's iPhone software developer agreement, their seems to  
> be a lot of things in there that would simply be unenforceable, yet  
> they try to write them in anyway.  Some of those things are  
> themselves patently unfair and
> unrealistic, particularly the clause about Apple being able to  
> reject an App, where that App would not be allowed to be circulated  
> anywhere else after the rejection.  That is incredibly controlling  
> and closed off.  Or the ban on public statements about the developer  
> agreement.  Apple, how secretive can you possibly get?  Also, that  
> Apple will not be held liable for more than $50 in damages should  
> they commit themselves to an error or omission that would cause  
> damages to the developer or end-user.  This latter clause has Steve  
> written all over it.
>
> I'd be interested to get some of your comments on developer licenses  
> and EULAs, specifically Nuance's Dragon Dictation iPhone App  
> agreement, and Apple's iPhone software development agreement.
>
> So here is Ryan criticizing Apple... for once...
>
> http://www.9to5mac.com/eff-iphone-sdk-342902643
>
> Thank you,
>
> Ryan
>
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