Barnes & Noble eReader Terms Of Use: Equally Unfriendly

If you thought that the announcement of Barnes & Noble’s partnership with Plastic Logic might lead to a more benevolent alternative to Amazon, A look over the terms of use for the existing eReader (which works on my iPhone) suggests they retain much of the same rights that Amazon has.

For example, their control of digital media makes “ebooks” unlike books in that they can’t be loaned or sold:

[via Barnes&Noble.com Terms and Conditions of Use - Barnes&Noble.]

XII. DIGITAL CONTENT

Barnes & Noble.com offers Users the ability to purchase or download digital content, such as eBooks, digital magazines, digital newspapers, digital journals and other periodicals, blogs, and other digital content as determined by Barnes & Noble.com from time to time from and through the Barnes & Noble.com Site (individually and collectively, “Digital Content”). Barnes & Noble.com grants you a limited, nonexclusive, revocable license to access and make personal, non-commercial use of the Digital Content in accordance with these Terms of Use.

Users may generally browse, preview, or search Digital Content without having to purchase or download the Digital Content. In order to be able to download and/or purchase Digital Content, a User must first open a Barnes & Noble.com account; provide valid credit card information and the User’s billing address to Barnes & Noble.com; and install Barnes & Noble’s eReader software application (the “Barnes & Noble eReader Software”) onto their computer or electronic reading device(s). At the time of installation, Barnes & Noble grants User a non-exclusive, revocable license to download and make personal, non-commercial use of the Barnes & Noble eReader Software solely for the purpose of downloading, purchasing, accessing, reading and using Digital Content, all subject to the terms of the Barnes & Noble eReader Software End User License Agreement.

You must register your computer or electronic reading device(s) with Barnes & Noble.com prior to downloading any Digital Content. Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right to automatically update, modify and/or reinstall the Barnes & Noble eReader Software. The Barnes & Noble eReader Software is subject to restriction and/or revocation for security purposes or other purposes as determined by Barnes & Noble.com.

There may be separate end user license agreements you may need to accept in connection with specific hardware or software you may use to interact with the Barnes & Noble eReader Software. Your failure to accept and agree to the terms of those agreements may prevent, restrict and/or limit your ability to use the Barnes & Noble eReader Software.

Your purchased Digital Content will be stored in, or accessible from, your eBooks Library on the Barnes & Noble.com Site. You can access your eBooks Library by signing into your Barnes & Noble.com account. You may also transfer the Digital Content from your eBooks Library to other electronic devices that you own. You may not transfer the Digital Content from one electronic reading device to another without maintaining the applicable digital rights management solution for that Digital Content. You may not bypass, modify, defeat or circumvent any of the security features, special rules or other applications that protect the Digital Content.

Digital Content is only available for purchase by Users with a credit card that has a United States billing address. By opening a Barnes & Noble.com account for Digital Content, you represent and warrant to Barnes & Noble.com that you reside in the United States and that you are capable of entering a contract under the laws of the United States.

Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right to modify or discontinue the offering of any Digital Content at any time. If a unit of Digital Content becomes unavailable prior to download but after purchase, your sole and exclusive remedy is the refund of the purchase price paid for such Digital Content.

You may not (i) modify, alter, duplicate, reproduce, copy, distribute copies of, disassemble, reverse engineer, emulate, decompile, or tamper with the Barnes & Noble eReader Software or Digital Content; (ii) create derivative works from or of the Barnes & Noble eReader Software or Digital Content; (iii) bypass, modify, tamper, defeat or circumvent any of the security components, special rules or other applications that protect the Barnes & Noble eReader Software or Digital Content; (iv) use any robot, spider, data miner, crawler, scraper or other automated means to access or index the Digital Content or any portion thereof, including but not limited to any metadata associated with the Digital Content; or (v) rent, loan, lease, sublicense, transfer, network, reproduce, display, distribute, or otherwise make any of the Digital Content available to any third party.

And B&N attempt to force all users into dispute resolution and to block users’ rights to class action, which (as I explained in an earlier post today) does not stand up in today’s courts:

XVIII. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of the Terms of Use, the Barnes & Noble.com Site or any Barnes & Noble.com Service (each a “Claim”), shall be resolved through binding arbitration conducted by telephone, online or based solely upon written submissions where no in-person appearance is required. In such cases, the arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules (including without limitation the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes, if applicable), and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

Alternatively, at Barnes & Noble.com’s sole option, a Claim (including Claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) may be adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction located in New York County, New York.

Any Claim shall be arbitrated or litigated, as the case may be, on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated with any Claim of any other party whether through class action proceedings, class arbitration proceedings or otherwise.

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users. Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right, but has no obligation, to become involved in any way with disputes between you and other Users.

Each of the parties hereby knowingly, voluntarily and intentionally waives any right it may have to a trial by jury in respect of any litigation (including but not limited to any claims, counterclaims, cross-claims, or third party claims) arising out of, under or in connection with these Terms of Use. Further, each party hereto certifies that no representative or agent of either party has represented, expressly or otherwise, that such party would not in the event of such litigation, seek to enforce this waiver of right to jury trial provision. Each of the parties acknowledges that this section is a material inducement for the other party entering into these Terms of Use.