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Trusted Mediation

With these sorts of requirements for improvement of informed consent in End User License Agreements, there needs to be an organisation similar to that of the Creative Commons that develops, maintains, and lobbies for the use of the above system. In particular, the organisation should be non-partisan, resulting in a legally supported and industry backed mediation group that is trusted by both users and industry to be working in the interest of all stakeholders.

Such an organisation would instil confidence in the users of software, in line with Weckert's (2005) discussion of solutions to the problems with the establishment of online trust. In this, Weckert notes the use of certificatory third party endorsements by way of ``seals'' in which a company must satisfy certain requirements before they can display the seal [Weckert, 2005]. However, unlike the TRUSTe attempt, there would be no requirement for membership or licensing fees, thus eliminating the potential to favour one set of stakeholders over another. The lack of accountability to anyone but the organisation would only serve to strengthen the trust placed in the organisation by all stakeholders, since it would act as a mediation between groups with different sets of moral values. Also, since the license is incorporated into the installation procedure of the software, there would be little room to doubt the authenticity of the license, since it would have to read and perform the same way as the sample licenses or likely be held unconscionable if brought to legal action since outright deception would be taking place.

Thus setting up a trusted mediation organisation that is non-profit and concerned with all stakeholders is the best way to develop, maintain, and lobby for these improvements to End User License Agreement policies.


next up previous contents
Next: Theory in Practice: An Up: Recommendations for Practical Reform Previous: Standard Agreements   Contents
Catherine Flick 2010-02-03