Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: Read your EULA!

Alan Cross 0 Comments 16 Views

Be honest: When you are faced with a dialogue box that wants you to read the terms and conditions of whatever software or service you’re using, you just click “agree” or “okay” and move on. No one reads these end-user license agreements.

A Manchester company called Purple tried a social experiment. In an offer for free Wi-Fi, they buried a “community service clause” deep in the license agreement. They were prepared to offer a prize to anyone who found it.  By blindly clicking “agree,” users agreed to community service activities such as cleaning porta-potties at music festivals.

Some 22,000 people signed up, and only one person read the whole thing.

Purple won’t hold anyone to the clause in their contract, but they did make their point, didn’t they?

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 42178 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross