united-states contract-law liability eula
USA: Does a user who has falsely stated that he/she has read an EULA or similiar agreement risk liability solely for the false statement?
<p>Many software products and Internet services require that users agree to an EULA or terms of service agreement before the product or service can be used. The user is often required to state that he/she has <strong>read</strong> and <strong>agrees</strong> to the terms. However, many users don't even read the terms and blindly agree to the contract.</p>

<p>Does the user of the product or service risk liability solely because the user falsely claimed he/she read the agreement, even if the contract is never breached? Can the company providing the product or service take legal action on this cause alone?</p>

<p>The EULA is in most jurisdictions a legally binding contract; there is plenty of case law that supports this.</p>

<p>You can only be liable under a contract for breaching its terms and only to the extent that the other party suffers harm from that breach.</p>

<p>Clearly, if you haven't read the terms then you are greatly increasing the chance that you will inadvertently breach them but not reading them would not, of itself, be a breach and I can't see what harm could flow anyway.</p>
