Maxtor Licensing – You’re Kidding, Right?

I don’t know what font that is, but it’s certainly nothing I’ve seen before or anything I’ve defaulted to. No, I’m afraid this is a little gift from the folks who wrote the software. It looks like they’ve tried their best to make this license unreadable.

A few weeks ago I bought a Maxtor One Touch III external hard drive to back up our myriad computers. Tonight, I decided to install it, so I inserted the enclosed driver/software CD and watched it begiMaxtor Drive EULAn to load.

The attached photo is a true picture of the licensing agreement for Retrospect Express! It’s unreadable like this, so click on the photo for the large, though still unreadable, version.

I don’t know what font that is, but it’s certainly nothing I’ve seen before or anything I’ve defaulted to. No, I’m afraid this is a little gift from the folks who wrote the software. It looks like they’ve tried their best to make this license unreadable.

I was able to highlight and then copy it, and it’s included after the jump. There’s nothing that seems any more evil that any other EULA.

So why is it obscured?


EMC CORPORATION

SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT (THIS “AGREEMENT”) CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED ALONG WITH THIS AGREEMENT (THE “SOFTWARE”). BY CLICKING “I ACCEPT THE TERMS IN THE LICENSE AGREEMENT”, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND TO THE EMC PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH IS INCORPORATED IN THIS AGREEMENT AND CAN BE FOUND AT EMC’S WEBSITE (WWW.EMCDANTZ.COM). IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THE SOFTWARE AND PROMPTLY RETURN THE SOFTWARE IN ITS ORIGINAL PACKAGE TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU OBTAINED THE SOFTWARE FOR A FULL REFUND.

1. License Grant. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, EMC Corporation (“EMC”) hereby grants you a nonexclusive, worldwide, non-transferable (except as permitted under Section 8), perpetual, revocable license, under all of EMC’s Intellectual Property Rights (defined below) in the Software, to: (i) use, perform, and display the Software solely in accordance with the documentation provided to you along with the Software (the “Documentation”) for your internal business purposes and at a single site designated by you; (ii) make as many copies of the Software as permitted by the license code (the “License Code”) provided to you; and (iii) make one (1) copy of the Software solely for backup or archival purposes. Any copy you make under this Section must include the EMC copyright notice. As used herein, “Intellectual Property Rights” means all present and future copyrights, trademark rights, trade secret rights, patent rights, and any other intellectual property rights recognized in any jurisdiction.

2. Restrictions. You acknowledge that the Software and its structure, organization, and source code contain valuable trade secrets of EMC. Accordingly, you agree not to (a) modify, adapt, alter, translate, or create derivative works from the Software; (b) merge the Software with other software; (c) sublicense, lease, rent, loan, or otherwise transfer (except as permitted under Section 8) the Software to any third party; (d) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code for the Software; (e) use the Software in any service bureau or time sharing arrangement; or (f) otherwise use or copy the Software except as expressly permitted under Section 1.

3. Termination. This Agreement is effective until terminated by EMC pursuant to this Section. EMC may terminate this Agreement effective immediately by providing a notice to you if you breach any provision in Sections 1, 2 or 8, or you breach any other material provision of this Agreement and do not cure the breach within twenty (20) days after receiving notice thereof from EMC. Upon termination of this Agreement, you must destroy or return the Software, the Documentation, and the License Code, and all copies thereof.

4. Compliance with Export Law. You will not export or re-export the Software in violation of the U.S. Export Administration regulations or other applicable laws and regulations. You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless EMC from and against all fines, penalties, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses incurred by EMC as a result of any violation of such laws and regulations by you or any of your agents or employees.

5. Warranty Disclaimer. For a period of ninety (90) days after shipment of the Software (the “Media Warranty Period”), EMC warrants that the media on which the Software is provided to you will be free of defects in materials and workmanship. EMC will, at its own expense and as its sole obligation and your exclusive remedy for any breach of this warranty, replace any defective media returned to EMC within the Media Warranty Period. This warranty does not apply to damages resulting from misuse, abuse, or neglect. This warranty will not apply to you if you have downloaded the Software from EMC website. EXCEPT FOR THE EXPRESS WARRANTY STATED IN THIS SECTION, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” EMC DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, REGARDING THE SOFTWARE AND THE DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS.

6. Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT WILL EMC BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR THE DOCUMENTATION EVEN IF EMC KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. EMC’S TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE SOFTWARE, OR THE DOCUMENTATION, WHETHER BASED IN TORT, CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF FEES PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE. THESE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY WILL BE GIVEN FULL EFFECT EVEN IF THE WARRANTY PROVIDED IN SECTION 5 ARE DEEMED INEFFECTIVE.

7. Maintenance and Support. EMC offers for purchase various support and maintenance services for the Software, provided that if the Software is an add-on software (e.g., Exchange Agent, Open File Backup, Disaster Recovery, Proactive Client Backup) which provides additional functionalities to be used with any Retrospect software, then the same support and maintenance service for the Retrospect software must also be purchased. The support and maintenance services (“Support Services”) offered by EMC as of the copyright date of this Agreement are Annual Support, Annual Support and Maintenance, and Extended Annual Support. You may purchase Annual Support and Maintenance at the time you acquire the Software. You may purchase Annual Support or Extended Annual Support at any time. From time to time, EMC may add new Support Services or remove existing Support Services, and EMC may amend the terms and conditions of any Support Services. Up to date information on Support Services offered by EMC, features of each of these Support Services, and the terms and conditions of these Support Services are described on www.emcdantz.com. EMC will provide to you the Support Service for the Software in accordance with the terms and conditions in effect at the time you purchase the Support Service, and for each year that you pay for such Support Service.

8. Assignment. Except as permitted in this Section, you may not assign or transfer any of the rights under this Agreement (including the license to use the Software) to any third party without the prior written consent of EMC. You may transfer the Software, the Documentation, the License Code, and all rights under this Agreement to a third party only if such third party agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Any attempted transfer in violation of the foregoing will be null and void.

9. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to the principles of conflict of laws or the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

10. U.S. Government End Users. The Software is a “commercial item” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. 2.101, consisting of “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212 and 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, all U.S. Government end users acquire the Software with only those rights set forth therein.

11. Notice. All notices required by this Agreement must be in writing and will be effective (a) upon personal delivery, (b) 24 hours after sending by air courier or electronic means, or (c) 72 hours after deposit in the U.S. mail certified mail return receipt requested. All notices to EMC should be sent to the address below or another address designated by EMC:

EMC Corporation

3003 Oak Road, 3rd Floor

Walnut Creek, CA 94597, USA

Attention: Customer Service

Fax No. (925) 948-9099

12. Remedies. You acknowledge that the Software and the Documentation contain valuable trade secrets and proprietary information of EMC. You further acknowledge that any actual or threatened breach of Sections 1 or 2 of this Agreement will constitute immediate, irreparable harm to EMC for which monetary damages would be an inadequate remedy, and that injunctive relief is an appropriate remedy for such breach.

13. General. All waivers must be in writing. A party’s failure to exercise any of its rights under this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver or forfeiture of any such rights nor of any other rights. If any provision of this Agreement is unenforceable or invalid pursuant to any applicable law, such unenforceability or invalidity will not render this Agreement unenforceable or invalid as a whole, and such unenforceable or invalid provision will be changed and interpreted so as to best accomplish the objectives of such provision within the limits of applicable law or applicable court decisions. This Agreement which incorporates all documents referenced herein represents the entire agreement between you and EMC as to the matters set forth herein and integrates all prior discussions and understanding between us. This Agreement may be modified only by a binding written instrument entered into by you and EMC.

2 thoughts on “Maxtor Licensing – You’re Kidding, Right?”

  1. That looks more like a Windows bug screwing up the font in your dialog to me. To blame that on Maxtor is obscene.

  2. Who reads those agreements anyway? It’s not like you are going to click ‘No.’ If you do, you won’t get to use the software. Are you going to use the software? Yes. Even if you break the code to use the software without agreeing to the license, you are breaking the licensing agreement.

    Yeah, the font is jacked, but it is not like you care to read it anyway.

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