The first case to consider the validity of shrinkwrap licenses was Vault Corp. v. Quaid Software, Ltd. 847 F.2d 255 (5th Cir. 1988), in which the Fifth Circuit held that a Lousiana statute purporting to make such licenses enforceable was pre-empted by federal copyright law.  In Arizona Retail Systems v. Software Link, Inc. 831 F. Supp. 759 (D. Ariz. 1993) the District Court of Arizona found a shrinkwrap license to be both enforceable and non-enforceable depending upon the circumstances surrounding the relevant transaction.  Ultimately, in Step-Saver Data Systems, Inc. v. Wyse Technology and Software Link, Inc.. 939 F.2d 91 (3d Cir. 1991) the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found a shrinkwrap license to be unenforceable based on the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code.  For some useful discussions of these decisions and the general desirability of enforcing shrinkwrap licenses see also:

• Zachary M. Harrison, "Just Click Here: Article 2B's Failure to Guarantee Adequate Manifestation of Assent in Click-Wrap Contracts" 8 Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, 907 (1998);

• Brandon L. Grusd, "Contracting Beyond Copyright: ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg" 10 Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, 353 (1997); and

• Mark Lemley, "Intellectual Property and Shrinkwrap Licenses", 68 Southern California Law Review 1239 (1995).