Re: Consideration in a Shrinkwrap Contract

Greg Erkins wrote:

> In many cases the money-back-option is only available from the manufacturer
> and not the store. I found this out when I bought Quicken who was giving a
> 60-day money-back guarantee, not through Computerland, where I bought it,
> but through Quicken. In this case however, the store makes their profit so
> Quicken must not expect many back. I on the other hand am face with a
> postage bill.
>
> Greg Erkins

Ah, but UCITA will cure that -- at least for mass market, by requiring Quicken to reimburse
your postage, too.

More significantly and seriously, the UCITA and established shrink-wrap model prescribes that
shopping for terms must be serial or linear, not comparative. If it is true, as commentary written by
some UCITA proponents urge, that the transaction subject matter is a license and not a product
in the usual sense, the effect -- and arguably the aim of UCITA -- is to preclude full comparison of
market alternatives (licenses) prior to making an initial commitment.

In a world of standard products distributed under standard form contracts, adequacy and integrity
of information really is the last vestige of the traditional contract paradigm. It also is a central
assumption of the competitive market paradigm. This is recognized in the many consumer law
statutes and regulations, ranging from truth-in-lending through the Magnuson-Moss Act, that emphasize pre-contract disclosure of material information -- often reflecting a consensus on that as an unobjectionable minimum after Congress or a state legislature was lobbied to reject an initially proposed
regulation of contract terms. Now, it is urged that doing this is itself too onerous, or unnecessary.
[I discuss this further in Comments filed on behalf of NetAction and others in the pending FTC High-Tech Warranty study and forum -- comments posted under name of Audrie Krause, Exec Dir of NetAction, on www.ftc.gov website].

David A. Rice, Professor of Law
Roger Williams University School of Law
Ten Metacom Avenue
Bristol, RI 02809
PH (401) 254-4623
FAX (401) 254-4640
EMail dar[_at_]rwulaw.rwu.edu or drice[_at_]world.std.com Received on Wed Oct 25 2000 - 03:30:00 GMT