ASTM click-through agreement

["Dave Fisher" <Dave@library.ucsd.edu>]

Has anyone in Liblicense-land checked the ASTM click-through agreement
recently?  It is so onerous that I've deleted access for the few titles
we've activated until I can get a signed revision in place.  The limits to
downloading/printing/distributing, site description (multiple locations
within the same city are deemed separate sites!), governing law/legal
venue are all at odds with accepted practice for publicly supported
academic institutions.  Much else is not addressed, including breach
terms. There are no provisions for notice of a breach, nor are there
provisions for rectifying them.  Rather, the section titled VERIFICATION
permits ASTM to engage the services of an independent consultant to come
onto the subscriber's property upon 15 days notice and test computer
systems for evidence of unlicenced use of ASTM documents. If any is found,
the subscriber must reimburse ASTM not only for the unlicenced use, but
for the cost of their verification process - read their consultant's fees!  
They are looking for evidence of any article having been downloaded or
printed in more than one copy by a single user, or of an electronic copy
having been electronically mailed or distributed.

These are some of the most egregious terms and restrictions - and
permissions - that I've encountered in my four years of working with
electronic resources. Before I contact ASTM I thought I'd inquire to see
if anyone else has already fought this battle.  If so, I would love to
hear from you if it would save me, and no doubt many others, some time.

I don't know when these terms were revised but if I had my druthers, every
publisher would indicate the date a click-through was originally posted,
and the dates of any subsequent revisions to appear.  Because these are
not stable documents, I try to be mindful to print them when we register,
as evidence as to why we approved access in the first place, but it
doesn't always get done.

David L. (Dave) Fisher                                
Electronic Resources Coordinator 
Univ of California, San Diego Libraries 
dfisher@ucsd.edu
(858) 822-1004