Google Warns Google Glass Users Not To Sell or Loan Eyewear
Google has warned people not to sell or loan out their $1,500 Google Glasses, if they have been believed worthy to own a pair.
According to the terms of service on the limited-edition eyewear, “you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person. If you resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person without Google’s authorization, Google reserves the right to deactivate the device, and neither you nor the unauthorized person using the device will be entitled to any refund, product support, or product warranty.”
Google is starting the revolution of companies keeping control over their products even after they’re purchased by consumers. This isn’t anything really new, as people don’t really own the software they purchase these days. Simply, people are renting the software under severe end-user agreements. Google is the first to put such draconian guidelines on customer electronics.
Intellectual Property Coordinator with Electronic Frontier Foundation Corynne McSherry said what Google is doing may not be illegal because it’s a contract issue. In fact, the company will know if the eyewear is transferred since every device will be registered under the user’s Google account.
For right now, only a select few will be able to purchase the glasses.
How did Google determine who could purchase the glasses for $1,500. The company used social media – hashtag #ifihdglassand – to allow people to post things about the device. If they liked it, people could shell the money out for the glasses.
Google has not commented about the issue, and one-would-be-owner halted his eBay auction because he was afraid of Google’s punishments. Philadelphia resident Ed, last name not known, said he knew that he could make more than $1,500 for the glasses but halted the auction.
Ed said the only correspondence he had with Google was through the initial acceptance tweet. He learned of the warning through the Glass Explorers Google+ Group. He said some folks are actually upset that he thought about selling the Google Glass headset.
Ed said when he learned of Google’s terms of service, he closed the auction. He began it at $5,000 and it had grown to more than $90,000. Nobody from eBay or Google has tried to talk to him about the glasses and he still wants them.
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$1,500 for the privilege of being owned by the ultimate tracking device that practically reads your thoughts and sends every detail of your life back to Google with no control over what they do with the information. Are they insane? FU Google, I’ll permanently ban Glass from my world now.