EULA, stands for End User Licensing Agreement. It’s the fine print that a lot of people skip over when they go to install a program. You’ve probably done it yourself, clicked ‘I Agree’ without reading over the licensing agreement. This is fine for well known products but with freeware and trialware that you download from the internet, you need to be careful. Within the license agreement can be a little clause which states that you agree to the install a bundled component that tracks your web surfing habits, pops up annoying advertisements, or other such nefarious little additions. You can use notable spyware prevention programs such as Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy but sometimes the best thing is to read the fine print before you go to install. Unfortunately, some of the language used is intentionally confusing and can make it frustrating to try and comprehend. This is where programs like the one I introduce below can help you out.

EULAlyzer by Javacool Software (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html) helps search though the EULA for common terms and words that can be found in these programs that require your attention. It’s a mere 2.46 MB, installed, and if you like to download and try programs, it’s well worth it. Let’s take a look at the program in action:

Eulalyzer Home

Running the program for the first time, you will be presented with the screen above. You’ll want to check for updates first before proceeding any further.

Analyzing EULA

Click the ‘Analyze’ option in the left column. You be presented with the screen above. I’ve gone ahead and clicked the ‘+’ sign and dragged it over to license agreement I had open during an install for Daemon Tools. Click on the ‘Analyze’ button.

EULA Post Analysis

Upon completion, you receive a result of the analysis. It shows the texts for which the program install has been flagged, the ‘Interest Level’, and a ‘Goto’ link. The ‘Goto’ link, after being clicked, will allow you to view the context that the flagged text is used within the license agreement. Note that during the analysis of the EULA for Daemon Tools, there was no note of any bundled software installing itself without notice to the user.If you don’t wan to be bothered installing a program, you can also run an online EULA analyzer from the link below:

http://www.spywareguide.com/analyze/index.php

So the next time you go to install that program you just downloaded, consider running the EULA through EULAlyzer to see what it turns up.