[OT] EULA and legality

[François Chaplais]

There is another point which is is maybe overlooked by people whose official language is English. It seems to me that EULAs suffer from a "vice de forme" in the sense that they are often written in a language that is not an official language of the country where it is supposed to apply. Specifically, most EULAs are solely written in English and rarely translated because (I assume) the vast amount of money it would take
1) to translate the EULA into one official language of the target country/countries
2) to adapt the text to the local jurisdiction (while keeping in mind that international treaties, in particular concerning IP, apply above national law)
Best,
	François
Le 12 sept. 2012 à 16:34, Lynn Fredricks a écrit :

>> The question is whether some particular terms in a contract, 
>> whether entered into by EULA or other means, are enforceable 
>> and lawful in the jurisdiction one lives in.
> 
> You bring up a interesting point here, and one I believe to be a growing
> problem in the future.
> 
> EULAs are granted under the laws of a place designated by the vendor, not
> under the laws of where the user is located. Severability usually is based
> upon changes under that law, not under the laws of wherever the user is
> located.
> 
> In the USA, there are some serious differences in state laws - one big
> example is the treatment of "chance", contests, raffles, etc. Typically how
> that's handled is that the agreement you go into when you participate in the
> contest is that the terms include the following: "Void where prohibited" -
> meaning, if some local law is contrary to the implementation of the contest,
> nobody in that area may participate in the contest.
> 
> Vendors in specific jurisdictions will take into account the law of a
> specific location only (in the US, state, and in some respects, federal
> law).

> If a EULA is invalidated someplace, the vendor can simply terminate
> your rights under the license.

This the point of view from the vendor's jurisdiction. If the end user is in another country, another conclusion may be drawn locally. International (or bilateral) treaties are signed to cure these potential headaches. But there remains to put into place an enforcement institution that is accepted by all parties.
If you want to have an idea of what a mess this can be, look at the World Trade Organization.
The European Union (unfortunately) also gives good examples of how difficult these things are difficult to achieve in practice (take for instance the managing of the euro :( ).

> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Lynn Fredricks
> President
> Paradigma Software
> http://www.paradigmasoft.com
>