Some of the biggest names in the software industry
including Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec and Apple have come under
scrutiny for unfair licensing terms and conditions.
The National Consumer Council will refer 17 software company in
total to the Office of Fair Trading, due to what it described as
"an imbalance between the rights of the consumer and the rights of
the [licence] holder."
NCC senior policy advisor, Carl Belgrove, said, "Consumers
cannot have a clue what they are signing up to when some terms and
conditions run to 10 or more pages."
The
Whose licence is it anyway study conducted by the NCC found a
widespread lack of clear, upfront and easily accessible information
written in plain English.
The study found that Symantec Norton 360 gave Symantec the right
to suspend its service for misuse of the software or suspected
failure to comply with the agreement. According to the NCC, a user
could face a court case to clear their name before being able to
use the software again.
The NCC is asking software companies to address the concerns of
consumers. It is also asking for the European Commission to put
digital contracts and licence agreements into consumer law.