Developing a mobile app in Southeast Asia? Here are some legal tips you need to know

We’ve all heard of Flappy Bird – that mobile game with the little bird that flies between rows of green pipes. It became hugely popular in early 2014, and by the end of January its developer claimed he was earning $50,000 a day from the app. But did you know that it was made by a developer in Vietnam?

Countries in Southeast Asia are experiencing increased mobile penetration, far beyond the expansion of internet (particularly at broadband speed). This means that app developers in the region are increasingly focused on mobile development, rather than web apps.

But if you are trying to develop a mobile app in Southeast Asia (perhaps the next Flappy Bird?) there are a number of legal tips you need to know. This article will cover End User Licence Agreements (EULA) and Terms of Use and how to make sure your users agree to your agreements.

EULA and Terms of Use

A number of countries in Southeast Asia have introduced Electronic Transactions laws, such as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Law on Electronic Transactions 2012, the Indonesian Law on Information and Electronic Transactions 2008, and the Singapore Electronic Transactions Act 1998. All of these laws set out that agreements and licences are able to be signed and agreed to electronically.

This means that you can use the same online Terms of Use and licence documents as many Western jurisdictions around the world.

The first document that you need to set up for your mobile app is a Terms of Use or a EULA. A EULA is suitable for most apps, except those that are Software As a Service (SaaS) apps. You should also have a Terms of Use to go alongside. First, let’s look at what these two documents are, and what they look like.

A EULA is a licence agreement (a contract between you and the purchaser of your app) and it gives the purchaser the right to use that copy of your software after they have paid for it.

This is what a EULA normally looks like on mobile:

BullGuard EULA

In contrast, a Terms of Use is broader in scope than a EULA, and covers how your users should behave while using the app. The Terms of Use doesn’t usually give your users the right to make a copy of your app when they install it on their mobile, it simply sets out how they can use the app.

Some of the key terms you need to cover in your mobile Terms of Use are:

• accountability for behaviour that isn’t permitted;
• dispute resolution;
• and payment details such as membership fees.

For your dispute resolution clause, make sure that you specify which jurisdiction (e.g. Malaysia) and which governing law will apply. The jurisdiction is where the case will be heard (so you should specify where your company is based) and the governing law is what country’s law will apply. There has to be some connection between your company and the governing law, so if you are based in Southeast Asia it is highly unlikely that you will be able to choose Delaware law as your governing law.