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by belorn 2740 days ago
Contract law is a large and complex area of legal code, but the key term that get repeated is the "meeting of minds" which is the core disagreement between those that find EULA valid and those that find them invalid. Classical contract law holds that you can not make contract binding if one party has not read it or do not understand if for one reason or an other. This is used as the example when someone talk about switching a contract under the table, using microscopic hidden text, or other contract schemes. By using excessive length, language, complexity, and a position of power (you may not use the property you bought unless you agree to this additional arbitrarily terms) many see it as identical to switching the contract under table.

There is also some additional fun extras in contract law, like the concept of fair terms. This very old idea is that a contract should be a balanced deal. Terms that unfairly give one party undue benefits can then be challenged as invalid.

1 comments

> There is also some additional fun extras in contract law, like the concept of fair terms. This very old idea is that a contract should be a balanced deal. Terms that unfairly give one party undue benefits can then be challenged as invalid.

US and state laws have a concept of "unconscionability" for extreme cases, as well as prohibitions on penalties, as opposed to prior agreements to fix damages based on reasonable estimates, and so on. But "the deal wasn't fair" isn't any general defense against breach of contract claims. Courts generally avoid digging into the business or other advisability of contracts. They err on the side of giving parties the deals they agreed to.

Perhaps you were speaking from the perspective of a different jurisdiction?