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Stardate 20011203.0603 (On Screen): The so-called "shrinkwrap license" is now a familiar sight to anyone who buys software. A CD will be sealed in an envelope with a tag that says "If you open this you are agreeing to our license. If not, then return it to the store for a refund." (Not that any store will actually honor that and give you a refund.) It's never been clear whether such a contract was actually legally binding, but at least you do have a point where you've been informed of the contract and have a choice to accept it or refuse it.

But now we have the new variant of it: the click-through license. This one's interesting. The Los Angeles Times has the following on the bottom of each of its news articles, in very fine print:

Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times
By visiting this site, you are agreeing to our Terms of Service.

(Link theirs) Now the interesting thing about this is that by the time we're informed about that, it's too late. We've already visited the site and, apparently, are already bound by their contract. In fact, the Terms of Service page begins with the following:

Welcome to Latimes.com! Latimes.com is dedicated to providing visitors to this site with a highly interactive and positive experience, while at the same time protecting our rights and the rights of our users. We have developed these Terms of Service to govern your use of Latimes.com, and we, along with our affiliates, partners and advertisers, provide content and services to you subject to the following conditions. Your use of our site tells us you have read and agreed to these Terms of Service. Please read them carefully. This Terms of Service is a binding contract between you and Tribune Interactive, Inc., regarding your use of Latimes.com. If you do not agree with any of these terms, please exit Latimes.com.

I have great doubts whether it is actually a "binding contract" and I think that their lawyer is a bit too full of himself. Anyway, according to the original page I'm already bound by this contract even before I have a chance to read it. But perhaps it's not too draconian. Oh, no? Well, for one thing, Google is directly violating it:

You may not, for example, republish the Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the Content in any database, compilation, archive or cache. You may not distribute any of the Content to others, whether or not for payment or other consideration, and you may not modify, copy, frame, reproduce, sell, publish, transmit, display or otherwise use any portion of the Content without the written consent of TI.

Given the ban on caches, it also means that AOL is in violation, as well as any other ISP who uses intermediate caching. For that matter, IE's cache here on this computer appears to be in violation. Guess I better get hold of Tribune Interactive and get one of those written permissions. But then, I'm in violation too:

If you operate a Web site and wish to link to Latimes.com, you may link only to the home page, www.latimes.com, and not to any other page or subdomain of Latimes.com.

I do not see how copyright law gives them the ability to forbid linking to pages on their site, but the way-of-the-lawyer is to claim ownership of everything within reach and hope no one challenges you on it.

By placing material on, or communicating with, Latimes.com, including for example communication during registration, communication on any Latimes.com bulletin board or message or chat area, posting any resume or photograph, entering any sweepstakes, etc., you represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content that you provide, that the content is accurate, that it does not violate these Terms of Service, and that it will not cause injury to any person or entity. You grant TI, its affiliates and related entities, including Latimes.com, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, copy, modify, display, archive, store, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works from all information you provide to us, in any form, media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future. Without limiting the generality of the previous sentence, you authorize TI to include the information you provide in a searchable format that may be accessed by users of Latimes.com and other TI Web sites. You also grant TI and its affiliates and related entities the right to use your name and any other information about you that you provide in connection with its use and with the reproduction or distribution of such material, and also grant TI the right to use any material, information, ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communication you send to us for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information. All rights in this paragraph are granted without the need for additional compensation of any sort to you.

Now this is scary. The information you provide to them when you register for anything becomes (non-exclusively) theirs forever. They can take your registration information and use it for anything w