[conspire] OT?: Ridiculous licence terms

[Rick Moen]

I was asked some weeks ago to participate in an American Cancer Society 
charity event, Relay for Life (www.relayforlife.org), which involved
relay running at Palo Alto High School (among other places across the
country).  Making a long story short, I ended up not participating
because the waiver they expected everyone to agree to
(https://secure3.convio.net/tacs/site/TRR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10CA/2007861104?pg=waiver&fr_id=20495)
struck me as utterly absurd.

There were about a dozen points that individually stood out as
outrageous, but here's my favourite:

  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Release and Waiver of
  Liability (this "Release"), Participant releases ACS and the Site Owner,
  but no other Releasee, from any liability whatsoever arising from any
  injury, damage, or death to Participant where said injury, damage, or
  death is the result of, or arises from any intentional or criminal
  conduct upon the part of an ACS or Site Owner employee, agent or
  volunteer.

So, if American Cancer Society kills or maims me with criminal intent,
I and my family are then not allowed to even sue?  Well, ACS, I think
on the whole that I'd rather volunteer at Kaiser Permanente.


Marginal topicality:  I've long maintained that one of the key
foundations of open source was when people actually bothered to read
proprietary software EULAs (with honourable exceptions like Borland's 
famous 'just like a book' licence) and said 'Hell no.  We'll come up
with something else, under more equitable terms.'