Don,t get slapped for Freeware

We may love to believe that the software companies offering us freeware are looking for us to benefit from their products. However that is often far from the truth. In most cases, these freeware are often used as bait to lure users to either install malicious spyware or even worse to give away rights to use their personal information posted on these websites. Personal information could include users’ names, phone numbers, home address and photographs, bank details, and credit card information.

Remember the set of terms and conditions that you had to agree to when signing up for a freeware. Simply selecting ‘I agree’ without reading the whole indenture may turn out to be a mistake that you might later regret. We certainly agree that these license agreements are extremely lengthy and riddled with jargon; the average EULA is up to 3000 words, which when printed runs into a total of seven pages.  This is probably one of the reasons why most users choose to avoid them.

The EULA or End-User License Agreement is a menacing legal document that governs the use of the software application you sign up for. The EULA normally is presented to you before you install or subscribe to software.

The biggest advantage of reading the user agreement is that it answers many common questions regarding software usage. For example, when purchasing software, most users do not realize that they do not actually ‘own’ the software. They have only purchased a license to use that software. This means that the software publisher still retains all rights including the copyrights to the software and the accompanying media. Reading the EULA will let you understand whether you can carry out the following after purchasing new software or even when using freeware.

Use the graphics, fonts, and other stock files included with the software in commercial designs.Purchase software under an educational license and then later use it in for commercial purposes.
Install a program on more than one computer.
See the older version of the software after purchasing the newer version.
Distribute works created with the software without paying additional license fees.

Besides this, the spyware and adware that also gets installed with your freeware eat up hard drive space, memory, and most of your other PC resources. Your full-fledged Internet connection is also something you will be deprived of because the spyware uses the Internet to get information to display. In worse cases, it will also send out information from your PC. That means that these extras that you unknowingly called for—because you didn’t read the EULA—are now using all your paid resources for free!

The good news is that you don’t need to get paranoid thinking that all the sites you sign into are conspiring to squeeze you out of all your personal information or dupe you. All you have to do is think before posting your personal information on your site. It simply means that you shouldn’t post something or enter information that you wouldn’t display in your public life. It’s terrific if you can read every word of every End User License Agreement (EULA) and privacy statement before taking a decision. If not, you can always use the EULAlyzer to help you skim those lengthy license contracts.

Where to find ? Do you ever heard of ‘ google ‘  ?

This article is influenced by India’s Most trusted Guide to Gadgets and Technology