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ILLUSTRATIONS BY
SALLY JO
VITSKY
BY
MISSY
SULLIVAN
RIANLAWLERKNOWSATHINGORTWOaboutfineprinting.The
professorofgraphiccommunicationatCaliforniaStatePolytechnic
UniversityatSanLuisObispooverseesaquirkymuseumthathouses
acollectionof19th-centurypressesandmorethan500fontsofan-
tique type. His passion for the intricacies of print is such that he’ll
commentoffhandedlyabouttheletterspacingintheGutenbergBible
(mashed up pretty tight) and wax nostalgic about his “cook’s tour” of a place
calledtheMergenthalerLinotypeCo.That’swhere,backinthe1970s,agroup
oflegendarydesignerssatarounddraftingtablesinabigworkroom,manually
drawing—yes,drawing—letters.AtleastoneofthemwentontowinaMacArthur
“genius” grant, Lawler reports with a hint of awe.
CRINGE
AT THE SINISTER
THREATS BURIED DEEP
WITHIN THE FINE
PRINT!
SQUINTAT THE TINY FONTS
DESIGNED IN SECRET
UNDERGROUNDLABS!
PAYBILLIONS IN FEES,
FORFEITURES ANDINCOME LOST TO THE
UNREADABLE!
February 2012 | SmartMoney 57

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CONSUMER BANKING
More than 30 U.S. banks are currently being sued in federal court for allegedly
processing consumer debit transactions from highest dollar value to lowest
(rather than in chronological order) in order to maximize overdraft fees. In a recent
study of checking­account terms and conditions, fewer than 5 percent of banks
disclosed information about posting order.
SOURCES: PEW HEALTH GROUP; PUBLIC CITIZEN
OVERDRAFT
GREMLINS!
111 PAGES
Median length of bank disclosures for a
checking account
MORE THAN 94%
Share of consumer­complaint arbitration
cases won by credit card companies
But the day we’re chat-
tingwithhim,herelatesthetaleofanother“master-
ful”pieceoftypesetting.It’sanitemthat’sfairlyfa-
miliartotheaverageconsumer,especially
toanyonewhofancieshimselftech-savvy
oralittlecool,orboth.Thedesign,Lawler
says,is“stunning”(Gutenberg,eatyour
heartout)yetgoesunreadbymillionsof
buyers, even though ignoring it can be
costlytotheminthelongrun.Thedocu-
menthehasinmind?Theuseragreement
that came with his new iPhone.
We’veallseenit,orsomethinglikeit.
It’sa32-pagepamphlet,whichtakesasol-
id30minutestoreadclosely.(Weknow.Wetried.)
Lawlersays,ifjustscanningthepagestiresoureyes,
there’sareason—anditisn’tjusttheproliferationof
legaleselike“warrantiesofmerchantability.”With
marginsofonlyaboutone-eighthofaninch,thepage
reads like a big gray mass, he says, with hardly any
whitespace.Andaccordingtoatransparentrulerhe
keeps handy to measure lettering size, the charac-
ters’heighthitsonly4.5points,whichtranslatesto
about one-sixteenth of an inch—half the height of
lettersonthispage.Putanotherway,that’sasmidge
tallerthanthethicknessofasingledime.“Seriously
small,” he declares.
By Lawler’s reckoning, the spacing between the
linesoftextisn’tdoingoureyeballsanyfavorseither,
scrunchedtoabout5.5points.That’spainfullytight,
he says, squeaking just past the minimum legible
standardbeforethedescenders(thebottomsofthe
j’sandp’s,forinstance)inonelineoftextstartto
overlapwiththeascenders(thetopsoftheh’sand
f’s)inthenextline.Andifyouthinkanyofthese
line spacings and type sizes came to be by acci-
dent, you’re mistaken, says Lawler. The world’s
besttypesettersworkonthesedocuments,and
mostfine-printproducersreviewthewholede-
signwithlegalteams.“Thereare$500-an-hour
lawyers who make those decisions,” he says.
Foritspart,Appledeclinestodiscussthein-
tricaciesofitstype;itdoessaytextisnoweasi-
er to read on the latest iPhone because of a
high-resolution“retinadisplay.”ButtoLawl-
er, the most striking design move is one that
mightsurprisereaders:theliberaluseofup-
percaseletters.Thereare19separateblocksof
all-captext—somefivepages’worth—intheiPhoneagreement,
includingadisclaimeraboutGoogleMaps(thegist:They’repro-
vided“asis”)and60linesinasectioncalled“DisclaimerofWar-
ranties”(buriedhalfwayin:Don’tcountontheiPhonetooper-
ate a weapons system).
An uppercase strategy might seem
consumer-friendly, a good way to alert
userstowarnings,butLawlersaysit’sjust
the opposite—it makes the paragraphs
nearlyimpossibletovisuallypenetrate.
Indeed,expertsinthefieldsaythatwith-
out the variety of different-shaped let-
ters,readerstendtoperceivewordsofall-
captextasinscrutableblocks.(Onestudy
says that it slows reading speed by as
muchas20percent.)Sowhywouldacompanypresentitscus-
tomerswithsuchathicketofforbiddingtype?Thelifelonglet-
teringexpertsumsuphistutorialwithasigh:“Theydon’twant
you to read it.”
THASBECOMEadailyfixtureforAmericanconsumers,
that collection of warnings, disclaimers and legal jargon
thatcomeswithmostproductsandservices—designedin
what typesetters descriptively call mouse type. In many
ways,it’satime-honorednationaltradition,employedhis-
torically in everything from snake-oil elixirs (it contains
how much opium?) to stock market manipulation. And while
dinky-printdisclaimerslike“resultsmayvary,”“voidwherepro-
hibited”and“maycausedrymouthorabnormaldreams”have
becomeanannoyingfactoflife,mostAmericanshavelearned
toprettymuchtunethemoutandsignthat10-inchstackofloan
documentsorclick“Iagree”onthe55-pageonlineuseragree-
ment—hopingallthewhiletheyhaven’tsignedawayanyvital
IN ONE STUDY, A FINE­
PRINT FORM COMMITTED
PARTICIPANTS TO GIVING
EACH OTHER ELECTRIC
SHOCKS; 96 PERCENT OF
READERS SIGNED IT.
Some experts say fine print is designed to
fool your brain. Learn the tricks of the trade
at smartmoney.com/fineprint.
Infographics by Chris Philpot for SmartMoney58 SmartMoney | February 2012

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SOFTWARE AND GADGETS
Whether for software or smartphones, most tech companies seal their products’
end­user licensing agreements inside the shrink­wrapped packaging—where
it’s easy to miss. One result? Many antivirus­software buyers miss the disclaimer
that their purchase will automatically deactivate if they don’t pay to renew it by
the end of the one­year service term.
SOURCE: NYU SCHOOL OF LAW
THE SHRINK­
WRAP
DEFENDER!
2003
1,615
2010
2,235Average number of words in a software
license agreement
LESS THAN 1%Share of software license agreements
that are easily understandable for those
with a high school education or less
TRAVEL
Many advertised travel deals look cheap…until consumers read
the fee­laden fine print. Whether from airlines, hotels or car­
rental firms, the reasons for surcharges range from carrying
an infant on your lap on international flights (10 percent of the
adult fare) to mandatory housekeeping gratuities (one resort
charges up to $63 per person per night).
SOURCE: BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS
FEEZILLA!
Total airline
revenue from
baggage and
reservation­
change fees
$2.8
BIL.
$5.7
BIL.
2008
2010
organs.Accordingtoresearchconductedbypro-
fessors at John Marshall Law School and De-
Paul University, 61 percent of consumers re-
ported that they didn’t read all the terms of
contractsbeforeagreeingtothem.(Andthose
arejusttheoneswhowilladmittoit.)Inare-
lated study, 96 percent of subjects signed a
contractthatincludedclausessayingthey’d
do push-ups on demand and give fellow
participants…electricshocks.“Laidedgeto
edge,they’reimpossibletostayontopof,”
says New York–based attorney James
Denlea,ofthefine-printdisclaimersand
contractsinconsumers’lives.“Itwould
be a full-time job.”
Buttalktoconsumeradvocates,or
even to the lawyers who write the
stuff,andthey’llsaythatthefine-print
worldisgoingthroughasignificanttran-
sition—thanks to an ongoing cat-and-mouse game
over what consumers need to know. On the average joe’s side
oftheledger,regulatorshaverecentlypushedbackonthetiny
printwithnewrulesdesignedtocurbabuses.Atlonglast,mutu-
alfundshavetodisclosethefeestheychargeto401(k)account
holders.Airlinesmustnowincorporateallpreviouslyasterisked
feesandsurchargesintheiradvertisedticketprices(nomore
fuel-taxstickershock).Butcriticsworrythatsomeofthemoves
mayonlybackfire—generating
even more pages of dis-
closureinsteadofreducingthem.Theis-
sue, experts say, may be that as both products and
regulationsbecomemorecomplex,somustthefine
printthatexplainsitall.Inthepastsevenyears,soft-
warelicensecontractshavegrownby600words,a
40percentjump,whiletodaythemedianlengthof
bankdisclosuresforacheckingaccountisawhop-
ping111pages.Andamidallthatlegalese,criticssay,
theconsumerlosesbigmoney.TransparencyLabs,
whichadministersanationaldatabaseofconsumer
contracts, estimates that information buried in
thesedisclosuresgeneratesfees,exclusions,waivers
and the like that cost each American household
more than $2,000 a year—for a total of about $250
billion annually.
Certainly, there is more than enough evidence
thatciviliansareplentyfedup.TheBetterBusiness
Bureaureportsthatcomplaintsrelatedtofineprint
oruncleardocumentationrosemorethanfivefold
from2005to2010.AndmorethanhalfoftheFederal
Trade Commission’s consumer-oriented cases in-
volvecompaniesfailingtodiscloseimportantinfor-
mationadequately,estimatesMaryEngle,theFTC’s
associate director for advertising practices. The
opaque language can hide everything from minor
nuisancestoexpensivesetbacks.Afterpurchasing
aplaneticketthroughanationalonlinetravelagen-
cy,DanaRadcliffebegannoticingsomemysterious—
andrecurring—chargesonhisVisabill.Itwasonly
aftertheCornellUniversitybusiness-ethicsprofes-
February 2012 | SmartMoney 59

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sor called the company that he was told that, by
clickingona$20cash-backofferattheconclusion
ofthetransaction,hehadactuallysignedupfora
membership program. Radcliffe discovered he
wasn’t alone; between 2006 and 2008, the three
largest credit card companies processed more
than10millionrefundsforsuchdisputedcharges.
(Radcliffesayshegotoffthehookprettyquickly:
“Iwentintherewithgunsblazing.”)Onabigger-
ticketscale,cardealershipsincentralandsouth-
westTexasgeneratedsome1,100BetterBusiness
Bureaugrievancesinthepastyear,mostrelated
tomisleadinglanguageontrade-inincentives
andwarranties.IntheLosAngelesarea,amajor
satellite-TVcompanyearnedaD+ratingwith
nearly40,000complaints,mostrelatingtothe
disconnect between its promotional pricing
and“conditionsthatarenotreadilyapparent
from the advertising.”
For many consumer advocates, the most
unsettling event of 2011 came when a Su-
premeCourtrulingstrengthenedcompanies’
ability to use mandatory arbitration, a dis-
pute-resolutionprocessdesignedtokeepcon-
sumercasesoutofcourt.Byupholdinganarbitra-
tion provision buried in the fine print of an AT&T
wireless service contract, the court slammed the
dooronconsumers’optiontobandtogetherin
class-actionsuitsandpresentcasestoajury.
Suchclauses,saycriticsofthefine-print
proliferation,maynowbethemostegre-
gioustake-it-or-leave-ittrendlurking
in those small-type contracts. Con-
sumer-protection lobbyist group
RETAIL
Traditionally, these plastic dollars have included few, if any, disclaimers about fees
or expiration dates. But since regulation hit the $100 billion gift­card industry last
year, consumers face fewer surprises: Cards must now be good for at least five
years before expiring.
THE
INCREDIBLE
DISAPPEARING
GIFT CARD!
2008
$2.7
BIL.
SOURCE: TOWERGROUP
2011
$1.2
BIL.
Estimated amount of gift­card value
lost to fees
2008 2011
$0.3
BIL.
Estimated amount of gift­card value
lost to expiration
$3.4
BIL.

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PublicCitizensaysthatatleast75percentofcompaniesacross
sevenmajorindustries—includingbanks,creditcardcompa-
nies, computer manufacturers and brokerages—now include
mandatory binding-arbitration provisions.
That’sunwelcomenewsforconsum-
ers like John and Michelle Rechtien. A
fewyearsago,aftertheArmyhelicopter
pilot and nurse purchased a newly built
homeinSavannah,Ga.,problemsquickly
arose,includingill-fittingdoorsandwin-
dows(onespontaneouslyshattered),in-
adequate heating and cooling systems,
shower leaks and mold. The home had
come with a warranty contract, but the
document included a clause requiring
themtosettleanybeefthroughbindingarbitration.Ofthe182
concernsthecoupleraised,thearbitratorruledintheirfavor
ononly39—evenfewerthanthebuilderhadagreedtofix.They
were ultimately awarded $3,210, far less than the $14,000 to
$20,000inestimatestheyreceivedforrepairs.NeitherMichelle
norJohnremembersreadingtheclause,buteveniftheyboth
did,theymightnothavenoticed,Michellesays:“Yousee‘man-
datory arbitration,’ and unless you’ve been screwed by it, you
have no idea what it means.”
Thenagain,manyAmericanssaythebiggerproblemisthat
they simply can’t see those words in the first place. It’s a side
effectofasteadilyagingna-
tion,wherebabyboomersareturning65attherate
of10,000peopleaday.Visionexpertssaythatpres-
byopia,afancytermforthedegenerationthatmakes
readingglassesmandatory,developsinolderreaders
almostascommonlyaswrinkles.(Weak-
eyed boomers account for much of the
$670millionmarketforover-the-counter
readingglasses,whichjumped54percent
from 2003 to 2010.) One recent after-
noon, Bonnie Meyer, a 60-something
professorfromStateCollege,Pa.,found
herself straining to read the ingredient
listonasoup-mixpackage.Evenwithher
prescription glasses, Meyer couldn’t
make out whether the t word was tama-
rindorturmeric—aserioushealthissue,giventhat
she’s allergic to turmeric. “I wasn’t up for a shot of
adrenaline at the emergency room,” she says.
F COURSE, IT’S EASY to blame the
businesscommunityformousetyperun
amok, but companies say it’s not their
fault.“I’veneverhadaclientsaytome,
‘Let’s hide it in the fine print so no one
willreadit,’”saysAlanKaplinsky,aPhil-
adelphialawyerwho’sspentthebulkofhis40-year
career advising and defending financial-services
firmsinconsumersuits.“It’sjustanecessarypartof
transactingbusinessintheU.S.”Businessessaythey
havetoprotectthemselvesfromclass-actionsuits,
theworstofwhich—thinkoilspills,tobacco-related
diseasesandbustedbreastimplants—havecostthem
tensofbillionsofdollars.Theyalsopointtothediz-
zyinglistsofgovernmentregulationsthat,whilede-
signedtoprotectAmericans,areturningdisclosures
intobiggerdiatribesoflong-formlawyerlingo.When
investmentcompanyVanguardstartsanewmutual
fund, says Laura Merianos, an attorney there, her
colleagueswhodrafttheprospectusrelyontheSecu-
ritiesandExchangeCommission’sFormN-1A,which
offers64pagesofultraspecificguidanceonwording,
lengthandtypesize.AlthoughVanguardworkshard
tomakeitsmaterialsaccessibletoMainStreetinves-
tors,explainingindustrytermsliketurnoverrateand
derivatives,Merianos says,sheadmitsit’llneverbe
beachreading:“Thereisn’talotofabilitytobecre-
ative.”Andtherulesareabouttogrowexponentially:
TheDodd-Frankfinancial-reformlaw,designedto
crack down on bankers and brokers, is expected to
generatehundredsmoreseparatedisclosurerules.
Indeed,betweengovernmentrequirementsand
companies’needtocovertheirmultinationalback-
sides, many say that boiling down the blah-blah-
ONE FAST­GROWING FINE­
PRINT TREND: BINDING­
ARBITRATION CLAUSES
THAT MAKE IT HARD
FOR CONSUMERS TO TAKE
A COMPANY TO COURT.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Insurers say there’s good cause when they deny coverage—like
a patient failing to disclose a preexisting condition—but critics
say insurers use ambiguous language. Terms like medically
necessary, reasonable and customary, and emergency can be
defined in ways that rule out coverage.
Sum exceeds 100% due to rounding.
SOURCE: AMERICA’S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS
COVERAGE
CAVEATS!
4%
Service not
necessary
11%
Prior
authorization
or referral
needed
Reasons for
full­claim
denials
15%
Benefit limit
exceeded
20%
Other 51%
Service not
covered
February 2012 | SmartMoney 61

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blah is a nearly im-
possibletask.LookatMicrosoft,thisyear’swinner
oftheWondermarkaward,adubiousdistinctionbe-
stowed by a group called the Center for Plain Lan-
guageonfirmsandorganizationsthatcan’tseemto
push the translation button on the gobbledygook.
Judgesofthisyear’scontest—whoincludelegallin-
guists,communication-designscholarsandtheau-
thoroftheOxfordGuidetoPlainEnglish—calledone
of the tech giant’s software-license agreements “a
turgidrompthroughincomprehensible
legalese.” Microsoft declined to com-
ment,butJackRusso,managingpartner
ofComputerLawGroupofPaloAlto,Ca-
lif.,saystherealaudiencefordocuments
like these is other attorneys—not con-
sumers—and that their key concern is
staving off lawsuits. In fact, some of the
mostbroad-baseddisclaimersappearin
the middle of Microsoft’s agreement,
whereitdiscloses—inallcapitalletters—
thatitdoesn’tguaranteeitsproductisfittobesold,
thatit’snotaviolationofsomeoneelse’scopyright
(saywhat?),andfurtherdown,thatthesoftwaregi-
ant is only liable for direct damages up to (don’t
spenditallinoneplace)$5.Ofcourse,thelanguage
isalotlessplain,astheWondermarkjudgesdutiful-
ly point out.
Thenewsisn’tallbad.Recentlegislationhasre-
sulted in more consumer-friendly disclosure rules
on everything from credit cards to mortgage docu-
ments. And Annetta Cheek, chair of the Center for Plain Lan-
guage, says President Obama’s signing of the Plain Writing
Act of 2010, which requires public agencies to lighten their
leadenlanguage,gavestrongsupporttotheantijargonmove-
ment. As for the private sector, Cheek is hoping her group’s
awards—whichrecognizebothpositive(Clearmark)andneg-
ative (Wondermark) examples—will keep raising the bar.
(Insurance giant Aetna won one of the group’s Clearmarks
this year for its benefits website.) And Transparency Labs,
an online database of contracts, is launching a free Web-
based service that promises to translate every contract is-
sued by America’s largest corporations and financial insti-
tutions into readable, ninth-grade-level text. One
inspiration for the archive? David Hirsch, CEO of Trans-
parency Labs, says he was shocked when the first $100 he
put into his young kids’ savings accounts was quickly re-
duced to zero by fees.
Evenifthecorporateworld’spublic-facingdocuments
aren’t perfect, the process companies undergo to write
them can benefit consumers, says Lisa J. Sotto, a New
York–basedattorneywhohascraftedhundredsofonline
privacy notices for huge multinational banks, retailers and
health care corporations. When disparate departments in
megafirmstalktoeachother,shesays,itoftenforcesacollective
reality check—and even a pullback from more-controversial
newpractices,likethesaleortradeofcustomers’privatedata.
Sotto,who’sbeendraftingthesenoticessince1999,saysshe’s
seen a huge evolution as the teams behind the verbiage try to
make ethical and legal sense of technology that’s ever faster,
evermorepowerful—andevergrowinginitsinvasivepotential.
Themandatetowriteitallclearlyisespeciallyimportant,she
says, since a load of legalese can only scare people more: “It’s
unfairtotheconsumertowriteitinsuch
a convoluted way.”
Ultimately, though, some corporate
GoliathssuggestthatalltheDavidsbear
moreresponsibilityto,well,practicedue
diligence—andslogthroughthelittlelet-
ters.Infact,whetherthey’reputtingout
a 150-page user contract or a one-line
advertisingdisclaimer,somecompanies
simplyseemtobetestingwhetherwe’re
paying attention. A recent Dentyne ad,
for one, features a claim that its gum is endorsed by the Safe
BreathAlliance,completewithanofficial-lookingstampfrom
the certifying body. Shawn Pulscher, senior associate brand
manager at Dentyne, says the ad was designed to inject a
cheeky tone into the disclaimer. If gumchewers look closely,
they’llseethatinsmall,low-contrast,all-uppercaseprintbe-
lowthestamp,thecompanyadmits,“THESAFEBREATHAL-
LIANCE IS 100% MADE UP.” S
Additional reporting by Jen Wieczner and Anna Prior.
BUSINESSES SAY THAT
REGULATIONS DESIGNED
TO PROTECT CONSUMERS
HAVE, IRONICALLY,
MADE THE FINE­PRINT
LINGO LONGER.
REAL ESTATE
Despite a regulatory crackdown after the real estate market’s
implosion, critics say clear mortgage documentation is still
a work in progress. One ongoing point of contention between
regulators and consumer advocates: whether or not to disclose
basic information like a loan’s long­term payment schedule—
especially for adjustable­rate loans.
SOURCE: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
MIGHTY
MORPHING
MORTGAGE
RATES!
“TOTAL AMOUNT OF
UP­FRONT CHARGES”
90%
“MONTHLY
PAYMENT”
20%
“LOAN
AMOUNT”
50%
Percentage of loan recipients who could not correctly identify
basic terms of mortgage forms, precrash
62 SmartMoney | February 2012