If it doesn't do what it was advertised to do, it's fraud, plain and simple.

I'm still waiting for those two inches that were promised to me.

Yeah, EULAs are a great read.

You fall upon the most incredulous information.

I especially love the part for software EULAs where the company washes it's hands clean of any damage or setback their software may cause.

This includes security bugs that might compromise the security of your system.

So, if software X has a security bug that allows an attacker to take over your computer, the company that made the software has no responsibility whatsoever.

Nobody takes responsibility nowadays which, amongst other things, is why software security is crap.

If it's a "plain" DVD disc - you do not need a trial - use free version. If that damaged disc is HD DVD or BD - you can try to extract tracks/sessions with freeware.
Here you can find version comparison
http://www.isobuster.com/license-models.php

If you are going to buy it - http://www.bitsdujour.com - there is –10% discount on that soft. It also appears there with greater discount but you have to hunt for it – there is no fixed schedule.

BTW
It's a recovery data software - is there any software of that kind that can guarantee you 100% success of recovery or money back?

I figured it out, I was just a bit confused by them saying that I was about to use a part of the program that wasn't free. I thought that it was just the CDROM stuff that was free, the page you linked to was accurate if somewhat confusing.

As for the issue of data recovery software, all the products I've bought over the years have had some method of showing me if what I was wanting was possible. It was typically limited and wasn't precise, but it was usually a close enough look that I'd know what I was getting.

In this case, it's a bad disc as far as I can tell and I'll probably have to find an alternate source for the image.

You do not specify what kind of disc you are having problems with (plain DVD, BD, HD DVD, game, movie) but nevertheless I would give ISOBuster a chance. I used it several times - saved me some nerves. Of course finding another source of img is the safest method

"Fitness for a particular purpose" is a fancy legalism that is part of the implied warranty on consumer goods in the US. What it means is that, if you tell the salesman that you need something that does this specific task, and what he sells you doesn't do that, he's breached the "fitness" implied warranty, and he has to remedy it.

Nobody would ever give you a fitness warranty on data recovery software, because there is no way they can be sure it will succeed in its stated purpose of reading damaged media.

I did, it's a DVD, which is to say DVD Video, and the disc is visibly damaged. I suspect that it's a manufacturing defect as there's a definite visual distortion below the surface.

In this case due to the incorrect reflectivity of the metal it finds large stretches where it can read the disc. If this were the only type of software which included that sort of clause I could buy that, but it's hardly the only sort of software that does. I've seen that particular clause in pretty much every EULA I've ever read.

In this case it is somewhat reasonable, it's more in keeping with the traditional practice of software companies selling people things which might not work and preventing them from returning the item in question.

So free edition is all you need. You know it's possible that on that damaged place there is no or small data chunks. ISOBuster has an option do check ability to read VOB files. If you are lucky you will get source video with only few seconds of image distortion. However I do not know if ISOBuster can handle imaging commercial video DVD's – never tried to do this. And just one last word of advice – it takes LONG for ISOBuster to recover lost/damaged data. You will probably have to give PC a night-run.

Most times that fitness clause is in there to cover their own asses, for reasons both good and bad. That way you can't buy something knowing what it can and cannot do and still buying it anyways and then suing/etc.

The damages not liable over the cost of the product clause isn't usually upholdable though in court so if it does major damage to your PC/etc you can sue and they can still be made to pay damages if you can prove your case.

Also with Alcohol 52% FREE edition(there's a trial one and a free one...make sure to get the right one) You can make images of discs and mount them to virtual drives from which you can play them on various software.

The problem I have with that is that by including it in the EULA it means that they don't have to deliver anything if they don't want to, it doesn't even have to load properly on your computer and they're off the hook. Even if they claim that something does do something and it doesn't, they're off the hook.

I've been bitten by that in the past and it's not fun, basically you can try to get your CC company to issue a charge back, but that's about it, and they might not even be willing to do that.