Under the provisions of those fine-print contracts that you probably toss in the trash or banish from your screen with a heedless click on an innocuous looking "Agree" button, your tender of cash for Doom or Microsoft Word gets you only a license-under terms dictated by the software's maker.

Although such "shrinkwrap" and "click-through" contracts don't currently carry much weight, a law under consideration by state governments could give these ephemeral agreements legal heft-and give software companies the power to enforce controversial new provisions.