The National Consumer Council (NCC) has called for a clampdown on software companies that it says mislead computer users into signing away legal rights.

The NCC said these companies force consumers to sign end-user licence agreements (EULAs) before they can see if software is suitable for their use. It said its research, 'Whose licence is it anyway?', showed that these EULAs are often incomprehensible or hidden away inside packaging. Once the software is opened the user has no legal right to return it.

The consumer rights organisation has referred 17 companies to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for investigation under the Unfair Terms and Conditions of Contract law.

Carl Belgrove, NCC Senior Policy Advocate said: "Plugging the gaps in consumer legislation is a vital move. Consumers can’t have a clue what they’re signing up to when some terms and conditions run to 10 or more pages. There’s a significant imbalance between the rights of the consumer and the rights of the holder."

The NCC said more than half of the 25 products it surveyed did not mention on the packaging that the consumer has to sign a EULA before they can use it. Only four of the companies included a web link to an online copy of the agreement; six more included paper copies inside the instruction manual that could only be accessed after opening the pack.

On seven products the only option was to read the agreement on screen.

Kaspersky, one of the 17 companies the NCC has asked the OFT to investigate, put a seal on the CD case of its Anti-Virus 6 software, with instructions to read an enclosed paper copy of the licence agreement before installing software.

It said this means that consumers are unable to make informed decisions before they buy a product, yet are being forced to take on an unknown level of legal responsibility.

The 17 companies NCC has referred to the OFT for investigation are: Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, Chief Architect, Symantec, Magix, Nero, Corel, Sega, Nova Development, Britannica, Sonic Solutions, Twelve Tone Systems, THQ, GSP, McAfee and Kaspersky.

As well as asking the OFT to examine these companies' terms and conditions it has also said the European Commission needs to fill the gaps in the consumer rights and protection framework and put digital contracts and licence agreements into consumer law.