How it’s Possible to Get Rich While Installing Software

You know those big long pages of texts that you scroll past as quickly as possible so you can hit “agree” and move on to the good stuff? Well it turns out that most people have no idea what they’re agreeing to, and some people missed out on a boat load of cash for skimming one.

They’re called EULAs, or End-User License Agreements. It’s basically a way for software developers to cover their bases, and to keep their legal teams happy. For most people it’s a wall of text meant to be scrolled past as fast your scroll wheel allows, so you can click on the accept button and get cracking on photoshop or itunes, or whatever software you’ve just installed.  

Although most developers don’t reasonably expect that all, or any, of their end-users will read the EULA, one of them decided to put it to the test. PC Pitstop put an offer for monetary compensation in their EULA, should anyone read it and follow the included instructions to claim the money. It was probably put in there as a joke to prove that nobody ever read the EULA. Enter Doug Heckman.

In 2005 Heckman read PC Pitstop’s EULA, found the offer for monetary compensation, sent an email to the provided email address, and referred to the clause, and actually received $1000. Of course it’s unlikely that your next EULA will contain a cash prize, but it never hurts to give it a look.

In recent years EULAs have come under fire for secretly curtailing consumer rights. The developers can’t reasonably expect every end-user to read through and understand everything they have to agree to in the bloated documents. In fact, they count on users skimming or skipping, which allows them to restrict the rights of the users of their software, and remove liability except within a narrow field of use. Luckily there are programs that can help you find troubling language in your next EULA, such as “without notice” or other red-flag phrases.

But if we’ve learned anything from Doug Heckman, it’s that it can’t hurt to give a little look to your next end-user license agreement.