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Contracts Keyed to Dawson
Specht v. Netscape Commc’ns Corp.
Citation:
306 F.3d 17.ProfessorMelissa A. Hale
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Plaintiffs installed two internet software programs from Netscape: “Communicator” and “SmartDownload.” While the Communicator download webpage contained a clickwrap agreement, the SmartDownload webpage did not. On the SmartDownload webpage, users were invited to click the “Download” button and users needed to scroll down the webpage before being presented with a link to the software license agreement and a request to “Please review and agree…” The license terms contained a binding arbitration clause. Following use of the product, plaintiffs alleged that Netscape used SmartDownload to eavesdrop on its users and obtained private information and brought suit against Netscape in federal court.
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