I agree that the clause is a silly one and that reasonable endeavours or
suchlike is the most a vendor might expect but have many librarians been
sued or is this another joke by Dr. Masters?

Anthony

-----Original Message-----
From: LibLicense-L Discussion Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of LIBLICENSE
Sent: 13 November 2012 19:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: no negotiations question

From: Ken Masters <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:40:52 +0400

Hi All

It's quite easy, actually.  There is no particular action, because it
includes EVERYTHING.

Given that the terms of use will include prevention of allowing outsiders
access, it simply means (for example)  that the client (you) has the
responsibility of ensuring that not a single one of your staff and students
ever shares a user name and password with anyone else, never has their
computers hacked with spyware, stolen, accessed through wifi snoopers, etc.,
that your entire university database of usernames and passwords is
absolutely secure, and that, if any breach occurs that allows an outsider to
access the journal, then you'll find yourself paying a fine or in court.  I
mean, those are surely not unreasonable demands (if you're working for Fort
Knox or the CIA, that is).

When you query that at the time of signing, you'll probably be told not to
worry too much about it, as those are just "fairly standard and legal
clauses" that "everyone signs." The rep will probably even crack a silly
joke about "you know how stuffy the lawyers are."  When the breach occurs,
however, you'll find out just how quickly that defence vapourises, and just
how expert those lawyers actually are.


Regards

Ken

------

Dr. Ken Masters
Asst. Professor: Medical Informatics
Medical Education Unit
College of Medicine & Health Sciences
Sultan Qaboos University
Sultanate of Oman