Ed Felten has a seemingly sensible suggestion for a consumer guide to End User License Areements, those pages of legalese that you click through to download software.
People comment with typical apologetics for the status quo. EULAs aren’t enforceable in court; buyers who know enough don’t believe them; sellers don’t believe them; and well-meaning lawyers insist that they are needed anyway, since everyone else uses them.
EULAs are a funhouse conversation between buyers and sellers, where nobody believes what they are saying, but everyone is compelled to recite these ritual untruths.