When was the last time you read the terms of agreement before clicking the “Accept” button after downloading a new app? Before I started this podcast, if you’re like me, that would be never. I would venture to guess that no one, not even the most detail oriented go-by-the-book person has ever completely read the terms of agreement along with all the links and attachments when giving access to a new app.
That’s what “That’s in my EULA??” is about. This is the host of, “You’re Kidding Me… That’s in my EULA??”, Mark Miller. Each week I’ll be joined by my lawyer friend Joel MacMull, to go deep and explore the far reaches of the end user license agreements and terms of service agreements on major apps such as TikTok, YouTube, credit reporting agencies, and the new GPT engines.
Joel’s been a lawyer for twenty years. He’s got firsthand experience in some of these issues. We’ll reference court cases and legislation, including the possible changes to Section 230, known as the Communications and Decency Act. That’s the act that protects social media platforms from being sued by what’s being presented on their platforms.
Here’s the way this show’s gonna work. We’re going to choose a EULA or a general category of EULAs each week. Joel and I will research the EULA of the week and then talk about what we’ve found.
I’m coming from the perspective of a consumer. I bring up the most egregious things I can find in the terms of agreement. While Joel focuses on the legal aspect, of what is defensible, of what is unenforceable, and what just doesn’t make sense in these agreements.
Joel G. MacMull
Joel G. MacMull is a Partner and Chair of the Firm’s Intellectual Property & Brand Management and Commercial and Corporate Litigation Practice Groups. Joel’s practice focuses on high-stakes complex commercial litigation and intellectual property disputes, including copyright and trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, false advertising, “cybersquatting,” rights of publicity, as well as general contract and business tort disputes. Joel has tried and argued cases in state and federal courts, as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Joel also has significant appellate experience. He was intimately involved in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Matal v. Tam (formerly Lee v. Tam), in which the Supreme Court by a unanimous vote of 8-to-0 (Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the consideration or decision of the case) affirmed the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruling in late 2015. The High Court held that § 2(a) of the federal trademark statute violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment because the government discriminates based on viewpoint and targets offensive expression with an intent to discourage its use.
Joel has also briefed and argued multiple cases before the Second Circuit, and the New York Appellate Division.
Mark Miller
Mark Miller is the Executive Producer of Sourced Podcast Productions.
Mark co-founded All Day DevOps, the world’s largest DevOps conference, and was the Founder of DevSecOps Days. He continues to participate in the DevOps/DevSecOps and cybersecurity communities by building DevSecOps tracks at security conferences such as RSA Conference in San Francisco and Singapore.
Mark has published 9 books including “Epic Failure in DevSecOps” and “Modern Cybersecurity: Tales from the Near-Distant Future”. For seven years, he was the host and Executive Producer of the OWASP Podcast Series (500,000+ listens), and is currently the Executive Editor of the LinkedIn DevOps Group (170,000+ members).