The Software License Unveiled: How Legislation by License Controls Software Access

(Oxford University Press) The author examines how proliferating but largely unread license terms affect access to software. Licenses for software are subject to intellectual property and commercial law, as well as to the private law of the license, which comes in many forms. Phillips makes the case that most current license models have one important feature in common: They increasingly extend, modify, or displace public law that would otherwise apply. Ultimately, he proposes that a key challenge for lawyers, scholars, policymakers, and the public will be to determine whether “legislation by license” is the best means for controlling software access. Phillips is vice president and general counsel of Promontory Interfinancial Network, a company that provides technology-based services to financial institutions.