LWN: A test of shrink-wrap licensing
“All the analyses I’ve seen of the DVD DeCSS hearing have missed a key event: this is the first widely-publicized case where somebody has tried to enforce a “shrink-wrap” license. Corporate lawyers until now have avoided testing such licenses in court because they would risk having a judge declare for all to hear that shrink-wrap licenses aren’t worth the pixels they’re printed on.”
My bet is that the DVD industry bring the suit will do everything in their power to keep the “shrink-wrap” liscense out of the case. If a court invalidated “shrink-wrap” liscenses the commercial software industry would bet screwed.