Are shrink wrap licenses worth the paper they are printed on?
             1. A brief history of Shrinkwrap license
             2. What constitutes a binding contract?
             The plastic wrap found around the software packet is called the shrinkwrap .Inside the shrink-wrap are user instructions accompanied with a license which proportes to grant the user permission to use the software subject to certain term and conditions in the license. Hence the name shrinkwrap likeness. The user is deemed to have accepted all the terms of the license by breaking and opening the shrink-wrap.
             This paper will attempt to define what constitutes a valid contract. After which it will consider whether shrinkwrap licenses falls within the parameters of the definition. It will also look at the effect of legislation on these licenses
             There are several methods a software producer might use to incorporate a Shrink-wrap license. One is to insert a paper containing the license into the software box. Another is to have the license printed on the back cover of the label of the software box and yet another method is to have the license appear on the screen once the software is loaded into the computer. The later is usually referred to as a "click wrap" license.
             The software producers would then word the shrinkwrap in such a way inviting the user to break the shrinkwrap seal if he agrees to the terms and conditions of the license. Whether this type of agreement is enforceable has been the centre of much debate.
             1. A brief history of Shrinkwrap license.
             A brief look at the origins of the shrinkwrap license is in order if one is to try and understand the rational behind the use of these types of agreements.
             The shrink wrap concept originated in the United state of America in order to avoid the federal copyright law first sale doctrine. Under the first sale doctrine once the copyright holder had sold a copy of the protected work, the owner of the copy coul...