Re: manifest assent

[Ann Okerson <aokerson@pantheon.yale.edu>]

Kimberly:  The discussion you hoped for is not materializing.  I wonder if
it could be because many readers would be helped by examples of manifest
assent-type licenses?  Can you elaborate by pointing us to a few examples
of what you mean?  Some consciousness-raising on this point is important.

Not being particularly familiar with such creatures myself, I'd stick to
the caution that I give for "click" licenses and other supposedly
non-negotiable ones:  Think about your situation.  If you are sitting at
home in your fuzzy slippers trolling through the internet and you graze
through such e-wares and you don't read the license or don't comply with
it, the likelihood that the sheriff will knock on your door and serve you
with a subpoena is probably nil.  However, if you are an employee of an
institution that represents a potential customer for the e-goods, then the
situation could be quite different.  I personally think that no
institution can afford to glide by such licenses and take no action. In
fact, it would be irresponsible.

By the way, UCITA would validate/legalize such licenses as Kimberly
describes, a reason to pay attention to such licenses -- and to fight
adoption of UCITA.  Unless you live in Maryland or Virginia or any other
state where UCITA may have been enacted.  In that case you might want
to fight to get it off the books.

Ann Okerson
Yale University
____________________________

On Fri, 16 Jun 2000, Kimberly Parker wrote:

> I have a couple of questions for the group about "licenses of manifest
> assent" -- that is, those resources that have a "terms and conditions"
> statement that says in effect "if you use these resources, you are to abide
> by these terms and conditions" (or you are agreeing to abide by, or
> something like that).  These are not "click-through licenses" in that
> there's nothing that says you have to hit a button to signify agreement --
> they simply exist on the site -- sometimes in very buried locations.
> 
> Having defined what I'm talking about, here are my questions.  First about
> initiating or activating the resources that are affected by these manifest
> assent licenses.  Second about ongoing treatment.
> 
> (1) What practices do you have for activating a resource with a license of
> manifest assent?
> 
> 	I've talked to librarians who ignore them completely, and don't
> make any effort to read, negotiate, or keep track of them.
> 	I've talked to librarians who review them, and only attempt to
> negotiate and get a replacement signable agreement if the manifest assent
> license has problem language.
> 	I've talked to librarians who won't activate any resource with a
> license of manifest assent and ALWAYS attempt to negotiate to replace them
> with a signable license even if the language is fine.  (You'll see why
> with my next question.)
> 
> (2) This is mostly to those people who fall into the middle of the above
> range of approaches.  Obviously the first extreme has chosen to ignore
> them, and the final extreme has solved the problem before it can happen.
> 
> 	If you've read manifest assent licenses and find the language
> acceptable, are you doing anything to keep regular tabs on the terms and
> conditions to make sure they don't change to something you WOULDN'T find
> acceptable?
> 
> I really want to start discussion on a few things, here.
> 
> DO we need to put a lot of effort into licenses of manifest assent, or can
> we safely ignore them?  (I say this, realizing the recent thread on
> signing anything and not worrying about it.)  If we waffle in the middle
> of ignoring them, what if anything can we do to minimize the work involved
> in dealing with these creatures?
> 
> Any insights would be lovely.  Even a lively discussion with no resolution
> would be fun.
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Kimberly Parker
> Electronic Publishing and Collections Librarian
> Yale University Library
> 130 Wall Street              Voice (203) 432-0067
> P.O. Box 208240              Fax (203) 432-7231
> New Haven, CT  06520-8240    mailto:kimberly.parker@yale.edu
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>