FreeLex project is here!

We are used to surf the web and use some of the services that live in there. However, every time we have to face a “Users Agreement”, some “Terms of Use” or a “License”, we tend to do what in the real life we don’t: clicking the “AGREE” button without reading them. Let’s face the facts: these contracts tend to be too long. We have no time, and if we have it, they are quite difficult to understand because they usually use legal terminology. Thus, the reasons why we push the agree button are quite simple:

1. The Legal Text of the Contract is too long and uses difficult legal terms, thus, we might not be able to understand everything even if we read the whole text.
2. It is too much time consuming trying to read it from beginning to end and decipher the parts we don’t understand or aren’t clear for us.

While into the analogical world we do read those kind of contracts or search for some legal advice before signing anything (it does take time); into the digital world we do not tend to do so.

@DrZuco and me have started the FreeLex non-profit Project after long discussions about this topic. After mixing some ideas and getting inspired by Creative Commons, we finally created FreeLex.

So, what’s FreeLex? FreeLex is a non-profit project focused on making “legal contracts” online easier to understand. Internet is creating a deviant habit: “click without reading”. In other words, “agree to a contract without reading it”. Your signature (made with a pen), or your agreement (made by clicking) have the same legal value: you agree to a contract.

Think about this for a moment. If someone knocks to your door and wants to sell you a wonderful service for free, what would you do? You would like to know what they ask you in exchange for the free service. In this case, the person who wants to sell it to you will show a long contract, explain to you some of its parts, and let you some time for further reading. He will even give you the pen for the signature. Even though the deal can seem wonderful when hearing to the seller’s words, I’m sure that when you are exposed to “signing” the contract, things get different: you think it twice.

We never think it twice when being confronted to an “agree button”. Whether the contract might be too long, whether we do not have time for reading it, whether we finally understand it or not, for the sake of not bothering because of time or other reasons, we end clicking, thus agreeing, to a contract we have not read, or when read, not understood.

FreeLex wants to correct this flaw by giving a layer in between the Real Legal Code (that is the long contract) and the user. In this layer the user has the most important points of the contract resumed with a logo and a small explanation. Thus, the user can have an idea about the terms of the contract (what can be done and not, who owns the copyrights, etc) quickly and clearly.

Understanding the Law a little bit will give us freedom, as well as more security while operating into the digital world as well. Let’s make law open, free and accessible to everybody.

If you like the idea, you can participate with FreeLex. You can subscribe to the RSS to stay updated about the changes and news of FreeLex. You can also follow @free_lex on Twitter, and on Facebook.

FreeLex is open right now and welcome contributions If you are a lawyer, a law student, a technician, a translator, an open source specialist, an author or a designer you can participate with FreeLex improving FreeLex User-Friendly Agreements Legal Code and summaries; translating the websites, projects and future projects; contributing to the technology that supports FreeLex User-Agreement Builder; designing a better website, logos or future projects; helping create a free and open community by spreading the word about Freelex You can contact FreeLex at: INFO AT FREELEX DOT EU

We got inspired by Creative Commons. That is the beauty of sharing ideas: you get inspired by someone and create something new. So you can inspire others, people who will create other things