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Sony's rootkit: an update
Sony's rootkit: an update
Posted Nov 16, 2005 10:13 UTC (Wed) by nix (subscriber, #2304)In reply to: Sony's rootkit: an update by NAR
Parent article: Sony's rootkit: an update
In the UK at least there is the concept of `implied contracts', which are what you enter into when e.g. you pull something off the store shelves, and what you are violating if you then walk out of the shop without paying for it; you'd also have one with the public transport company. Intent and mutual understanding are very important here: you probably don't enter into an implied contract with Sony allowing Sony to dump rootkits on your computer merely because you bought a CD that they happened to originally produce!
(Disclaimer: IANAL but I've typed up stuff for lawyers on this subject when critically short of money over a decade ago; info may be terribly inaccurate)
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contracts without signing
Posted Nov 18, 2005 0:30 UTC (Fri) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]
In the UK at least there is the concept of `implied contracts', which are what you enter into when e.g. you pull something off the store shelves,
That's not even an implied contract, at least in US terminology. It's an explicit contract. (Technically, it isn't formed when you take the item from the shelf, but when you check out, which is why the price is allowed to change in between). An implied contract would be one defined in law that the two parties didn't actively choose to enter.
There's simply nothing in law that says a signature or piece of paper is required for a contract to be legally binding. The vast majority of contracts don't have that.
There are some laws, called "statutes of frauds" that make contracts of certain kinds unenforceable if not on paper. For example real estate transactions usually require paper, and many loans do. Under the Uniform Commercial Code (which is the law most places in the US), a contract that has elements that will take longer than 3 years to complete must be in writing.