[OT] EULA and legality

[Richmond]

On 09/11/2012 11:40 PM, François Chaplais wrote:
> Le 11 sept. 2012 à 21:47, Peter Alcibiades a écrit :
>
>> I also believe that its impossible to enforce post sale restrictions on use
>> in the EU.  You cannot sell someone a chisel, and then when he opens it,
>> have him discover the enforceable condition that if he uses it with a
>> mallet, it must be with one you make.  Again, easy to prove me wrong, just
>> cite a case.
>>
>> Yes, one solution is don't sell your chisels separately.  That is probably
>> the only way to do it.  In Europe.
>>
> Almost anywhere, if you use a baseball bat to squash somebody's head, you are bound to trouble. Even if it is not told so in the user's manual. It called the law.
> BTW, the same applies even if the bat is not your own.
> If the law says that electronically accepting a EULA is binding, that's the way it is.
>
> In France there is a general legal principle that states that nobody is supposed to ignore the law (understanding it is another matter unfortunately). For this reasons, all laws, decrees, etc are published in a free newspaper that anybody can consult in any city hall; you can also subscribe to to it for a zero fee. The same texts are now available online (at least the recent ones). I do not know if this is true for other countries, but it makes sense, anyway.
>
>

Yes; generally one should obey the law, or, if one disagrees with the 
law and chooses to break it
be prepared to take the legal consequences.

The question that I first raised involves all of these things; legality 
versus morality and more.

The fundamental question that nobody has answered properly is whether a 
EULA is legally
binding.

Some people on the Use-List feel that it is immoral to disobey a EULA, 
some do not (I for one),
while some feel it is illegal. Quite a few seem quite unable to 
distinguish between legality and morality.

You have, also made an interesting distinction between laws and decrees 
- the former, as far
as I understand, being contractual, and the second being imposed. Now, 
EULAs might be seen
as decretal to those living outwith the legal jurisdiction inwith they 
were drawn up, and as such,
being non-contractual are not binding.