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From: sbm@purdue.UUCP (Steven B. Munson)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: Is a Shareware license enforceable?
Message-ID: <1103@arthur.purdue.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Dec-85 16:47:11 EST
Article-I.D.: arthur.1103
Posted: Thu Dec 19 16:47:11 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Dec-85 00:03:40 EST
References: <27@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Purdue University
Lines: 33
Summary: You're mixed up about free trials.

In article <27@decwrl.UUCP>, wasser@viking.DEC (John A. Wasser) writes:
> 
> 		Is a Shareware License Enforceable?
>  
> At lunch today some friends and I were discussing the legality of "Limited 
> License Freely Distributed" software (a.k.a. Shareware or Freeware).  The
> general consensus was that when a piece of software is legally given to a
> member of the public (either on a disk or through a network), time limited
> clauses such as "You may use this software for up to 30 days after receiving
> it but must at that time either send a registration fee or delete all copies"
> have no legal validity.  The thought is that since the software was provided 
> free it has the same status as any unsolicited merchandise given to you 
> freely.  ...
> ...  If the Encyclopedia Britanica people were to send you a copy of
> their encyclopedia for a 30 day free trial, and you have not asked for
> such a trial, you are not obligated to pay for the encyclopedia.

     My understanding of unsolicited merchandise is that I have the right
to mark it "refused" and return it unopened without paying any postage, not
that I can keep it forever without paying for it.  If you get an
Encyclopedia Britannica on a 30 day free trial and don't return it within
30 days, you will get a bill and be expected to pay for it.  Have you ever
received anything on a 30 day free trial and kept it for free?

     I don't know that I like shareware much, and I don't intend this as an
argument that the "shareware statement" is not legally binding.  In the
case of shareware, returning it makes little sense, and it is impossible to
tell whether or not it has been "opened".  However, what you have said
about free trials is clearly false.

					Steve Munson
					sbm@Purdue.EDU
					sbm@Purdue.CSNET