[Am-info] Broad-based group forms to fight proposed UCITA

[Eric Lee Green]

On Sat, 08 Jan 2000, Steve Cohen wrote:
> An alliance of businesses, trade coalitions, and other organizations
> mobilized on Friday to fight the Uniform
> Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), a proposed law that the
> group says will give software
> vendors many powerful -- and alarming -- licensing rights.
> 
> The coalition -- dubbed "For a Competitive Information and Technology
> Economy," or 4CITE, announced
> its formation in Virginia, the first state to take up UCITA.
> 
> http://www.infoworld.com/articles/ec/xml/00/01/07/000107ecucita.xml

This fight is important, because UCITA would give monopolistic companies such
as Microsoft yet another tool to use to abuse their customers. I've already
noted how many of Microsoft's abusive business practices are based upon
imposing abusive contract clauses onto their vendors and customers, who have no
real alternative at the moment due to the huge investment in Windows desktop
software will not run on any other operating system. I shudder at the thought
that Microsoft could impose yet more abusive clauses into their contracts under
the UCITA regime, with the full support of the law. 

This is yet another example of businesses buying special treatment under the
law at the expense of consumers. If I buy a CD, I can later sell it to the used
CD store if it turns out I don't like it. That's because when I walk into
Wal-Mart and buy a CD, I have engaged in a retail purchase -- I walked into a
store, laid down my money, walked out, and I own that CD media. I can sell it
to somebody else if I wish, and that somebody else has full right to play the
CD. But for some reason, software vendors want to be special.  They want to take
centuries of common law regarding what constitutes a retail purchase and
overturn it for their own purposes. 

"Shrink wrap" licenses fail the "smell test" ("if it smells like a retail
purchase, it is a retail purchase"), since there is no negotiation involved at
the time of the transaction.  But I doubt that will stop UCITA from becoming
law in states like Virgina and California, states that have many computer
companies ready and willing to rent legislators to get their pet law passed. 

-- 
Eric Lee Green   e_l_green@hotmail.com
  http://members.tripod.com/e_l_green/