Setting Up A Streaming Subscription Site, Part 1
Model your EULA after another company’s to save in Lawyer’s Fees
Editor’s note: Unless you limit where your customers can download the software from (say, just the USA) you will have to recognize that some of the limitations that you’ve placed in the EULA may not apply in the country of the user downloading the soft goods. Some countries offer more protection to consumers than others.
We suggest that you model any EULA you provide on one provided by a major corporation. Corporations have already made their EULA as airtight as possible. Save yourself some legal fees and model your EULA on what they have done.
If you are shipping hard goods, talk to your local shipping company. Use their approved shipping containers and the methods of packing they recommend to ship your products. UPS, for instance, recommends that computers be shipped in two boxes; an outer, and an inner, each with their own layer of insulation. Require insurance (you can include it in the cost of the packaging and shipping). It will make your life a lot easier in the event of a claim.
We’re afraid that you enter the area of product liability if you are selling hard goods. If you even suspect that there is a prospect of danger to the customer with a product you are selling, we strongly suggest that you retain both a good product liability lawyer and investigate what professional testing can be done to mitigate your liability. If you have taken reasonable precautions to inform the customer about the risks of misusing your product and designed it so that it is not dangerous when used as recommended you will be a lot less likely to encounter difficulties in the long run.
As with any retailer-customer relationship, you will be much better off if you don’t charge the customer until you have shipped his or her product. We would definitely recommend that you allow users to download your product more than once (to the same machine) within a fixed period of time. If your product is sizeable (say more than a megabyte or two) it’s best to allow them to download it again in the event of a problem. You want to spend as little of your time as possible handling customer complaints.
When you ship hard goods, make sure to use a major provider (like FedEx or UPS) and provide a tracking number. Both services now provide "starter" kits to retailers to help you integrate your sales cycle with their Web sites.
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