소프트웨어계약과 라이센스약관의 유효성

Software Contract and the Validity of its Licence Agreement

The authorities of the United States are inclined to hold at leat shrink-wrap and click-wrap licenses enforceable. This has effect to the other part of the world. Most countries are likely to accept the terms provided by the form of shrink-wrap or click-wrap. This has also apparent influence on today s digital world. While ProCD and Gateway 2000 seem closely related and addressed contractual issues within the scope of software licenses and hardware warranties. Wallace addressed the GPL and antitrust concerns. Crucially, the progress of open source software would have been greatly hindered without the viable use of click-wrap agreements, a close derivative of the ProCD shrink-wrap license. In short, were it not for ProCD, and the re-affirmation, Wallace may not have required the attention of the court: open source s immovative licensing model would have been too difficult to administer without click-wrap licensing. If open source developers could not efficiently, through the use of a click-wrap license, require future improvements to be shared and integrated with the software, the open source model would not be effective. There likely would not exist the community contributions that have, in many cases, allowed open source software to evolve into a viable alternative to commercial software. Indeed, the themes of law and economics run through ProCD, Gateway 2000, and Wallace. Shrink-wrap and click-wrap licenses reduce transaction costs and make markets more efficient. The Gateway 2000 warranty also reduces transaction costs and leads to market efficiency. Finally, the GPL enables open source software to compete head on with commercial software, with the rivalry working to the benefit of consumers.