ProCD v. Zeidenberg 86 F.3d 1447 (7th Cir. 1996) concerned the sale of a CD-ROM database of telephone numbers and addresses.  ProCD, the licensor, had spent in excess of $10 million compiling its database from more than 3,000 publicily available telephone and address directories.  The CD-ROM was sold with both a shrinkwrap and a clickwrap license, with the agreement appearing on the user's screen when the CD-ROM was first installed requiring the user to click a button indicating his or her assent to the displayed terms before proceeding.  The shrinkwrap and clickwrap licenses included with the CD-ROM provided that the data could be copied only for non-commercial purposes.  Zeidenberg, the defendant, purchased ProCD's database and subsequently resold the information over the Internet in violation of the license terms.  The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin granted Zeidenberg's motion for summary judgment, holding that ProCD's shrinkwrap license was unenforceable because Zeidenberg did not consent to the terms on the interior of the package at the time of the purchase.  The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's holding with respect to the shrinkwrap license, holding that shrinkwrap licenses in mass-market consumer transactions are enforceable under the Uniform Commercial Code 'unless their terms are objectionable on grounds applicable to contracts in general (for example, if they violate a rule of positive law, or if they are unconscionable).'  In its decision, the Seventh Circuit emphasized that parties are free to structure their relations so that the buyer can make a final decision after a detailed review of the license agreement.  In this case, therefore, Zeidenberg could have prevented the formation of a contract simply by returning the software after he had found any objectionable terms in the clickwrap agreement.  Importantly, the court noted that it is fair to enforce the terms of a shrinkwrap license as long as certain basic protections are provided to the consumer, namely notice of the existence of the shrinkwrap license, opportunity to review and reject the license, and an available refund if the license is not acceptable.

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