Ever read your software license agreements?

Of course not. They are in those annoying dialogs that pop up during a software install, where you click whatever is necessary (usually an "Accept" button) to make that screen full of legal mumbo-jumbo just go away. Of course, there are some souls that do; otherwise, the "no anti-Microsoft pages can be made with this product" clause in the FrontPage 2002 EULA would never have been discovered and subsequently slashdotted.

But, Saturday, while waiting for my Mac OS X 10.1 upgrade to install, I perused the included "Software License Agreement." Two phrases jumped out to me. (I'll remove the all-caps for your reading enjoyment.)

From Section 2.C.:

The Apple Software is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control systems, life support machines or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple Software could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage.

And from Section 8:

In particular ... the Apple Software may not be exported or re-exported (a) into (or to a national resident of) any U.S. embargoed countries (curently Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Serbia, Sudan, Syria or the Taliban Controlled areas of Afghanistan)...

That "Taliban" comment made me curious, and yes, it's the word-for-word same license that came with my original copy of Mac OS X, shipped in March.