Clickwrap Agreement

What Does Clickwrap Agreement Mean?

A clickwrap agreement is a type of contract that is widely used with software licenses and online transactions in which a user must agree to terms and conditions prior to using the product or service.

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The format and content of clickwrap agreements vary by vendor. However, most of clickwrap agreements require the consent of end users by clicking an "OK," "I Accept" or "I Agree" button on a pop-up window or a dialog box. The user may reject the agreement by clicking the Cancel button or closing the window. Once rejected, the user us unable to use the service or product.

A clickwrap agreement is also known as a clickwrap license or clickthrough agreement.

Techopedia Explains Clickwrap Agreement

Chances are that you agree to clickwrap contracts on a regular basis. These agreements typically appear in an independent page when the user undergoes an online registration process, such as an email account creation, online banking login process, online purchase, or a new program installation. At times these agreements are laughable, displaying dozens of pages of text in a tiny window that practically no user would take the time to read.

The term comes from shrink wrap contracts that are also common in the software industry. The basic idea is that the user is given a notice saying something to the effect of "by opening this package, you agree to our terms and conditions…"

Clickwrap agreement permits the online companies to have contracts in place with numerous customers without negotiating with them individually. In addition, clickwraps permit the companies to save electronic signatures and incorporate additional clauses that are not provided by the present cyber law.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…