Terms and conditions statements are ridiculous. This is known. But to illustrate just how ridiculous the notion that we actually read these things is, Choice employed someone to actually try.
It took eight hours and fifty-nine minutes. That poor, poor man. At first I felt like I’d be able to read it quicker, but then the fatigue would set in, not to mention the eye strain… Judging by the changes of clothes and locations, it looks like they may have tackled it in pieces.
You can literally watch all of it on the Choice Youtube channel.
In most cases, these statements are silly and you can’t sign away your rights as a purchasing Australian who has a right to a product that works. But modern international DMCA laws, if interpreted in the most pessimistic way, mean we commit several criminal offences every day.
Choice is picking on Kindle a bit, and I’m sure that many other companies would have even longer Ts & Cs. But to be fair, digital rights management in the e-book industry is some of the worst I’ve ever seen. I’ve bought books completely legitimately before and couldn’t bring them onto my Kindle without basically pirating them first. So I don’t really feel sorry for it.
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