I did it. I bought a Razer Mamba mouse. It’s a AU$200 mouse, AU$140 of which is in the form of its packaging. Besides being beautifully designed, it performs very well, and it’s highly recommended if you have the money.
Being inclined as I am, I decided to read through the legalese that accompanies the mouse, including the EULA for the driver software.
Razer™ IS WILLING TO LICENSE THE ENCLOSED SOFTWARE TO YOU ONLY ON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE TERMS CONTAINED IN THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.
That’s generous. I wonder what kind of license they’re willing to grant.
Razer™ grants you a non-exclusive, revocable license to use one copy of the enclosed software program, licensed and not sold to you, (“Software”) on one computer only with the Razer™ product you have purchased. No other rights are granted. [Emphasis added.]
It’s good to know that I won’t be able to use this mouse with more than one computer, especially given that it comes with on-board memory specifically for the purpose of easily moving it between multiple computers.
Installation on a network server for the sole purpose of your internal distribution of the Software is permitted only if you have purchased an individual Software package or concurrent dedicated license for each networked computer to which the Software is distributed. …
You may not transmit the Software over a network (except as expressly permitted above) or electronically using any means. [Emphasis added.]
So I can’t store it on my home server either. Nice.
It goes without saying that Razer does not, I’m sure, intend to enforce any of this. Indeed enforcement would be difficult for a number of reasons, particularly Razer’s inconsistent advertising. (I would emphasise, however, that there is no fair use concept in Australia.)
One of the goals when drafting a contract is to protect your client’s interests. But the other is to give effect to the bargain struck. It’s incredibly frustrating when lawyers draft licenses such as this and completely ignore the latter.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The EULA covers only the driver software but I don’t think it covers the mouse itself. You can probably use the mouse on another pc but you can only install the driver software on just one pc. The onboard memory is not covered by the EULA since it is not a software.
That’s right. The EULA only covers the driver software, and strictly doesn’t prohibit use of the mouse itself with multiple computers. But, of course, part of the functionality of the mouse is in the drivers (which is why they exist).
(My reference to the on-board memory was only to evidence that Razer envisioned users moving this mouse between computers.)
And there are plenty of ways to attack the EULA (eg, each time you download a copy of the drivers from Razer’s public website you get a new EULA, which perhaps grants a further license). My point is only that the EULA should be drafted properly, reflecting that Razer doesn’t actually intend to prevent you from installing and using the driver software on multiple computers.
Simple really!!
Hardware = Patents
Software = Rights
All they mean to imply is only you can have rights to using it since you bought it, the EULA simply puts it in a defunct manor. They simply don’t want someone who didn’t pay for it benefiting off something that essentially is proprietary hardware/software, from what I could decipher they are simply trying to protect a trade secret and that is what they want you to be aware of. Otherwise you can do whatever with it just don’t lend, lease, sell anything you don’t own the rights for resale.