A while back I wrote a bit about “The Complete New Yorker” and some copyright issues. Well, apparently that’s not all that’s wrong with what should’ve be a landmark volume.
Boing Boing links to some solutions to the DVDs’ confusing “crippleware” that, among other things…
…requires you to waive your privacy rights to allow “the collection of your viewing information during your use of the Software and/or Content. Viewing information may include, without limitation, the time spent viewing specific pages, the order in which pages are viewed, the time of day pages are accessed, IP address and user ID. This viewing information may be linked to personally identifiable information, such as name or address and shared with third parties.”
And that’s not all.
The same terms-of-service grant you the right to make a backup copy for personal use, but the anti-copying technology prevents you from doing this…
The user-agreement says that if you don’t like this, you can return the set, but of course, every retailer has a policy of not accepting returns of opened software, and that includes the New Yorker. Naturally, you can’t read the agreement until you open the software and put the disc in your computer. Nice one.
Yeesh! What the hell is going on over at the ol’ monocle?!
Please note – I do not in any way suggest you disable their protections, but it’s nice to know you can.
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