Re: Editors note incl. Dangerous Precedence Set - Federal Criminal Charges for Violation of Commercial Online ToS?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe () gabegold com>
Date: November 29, 2008 1:14:01 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   Editors note incl. Dangerous Precedence Set -  
Federal Criminal Charges for Violation of Commercial Online ToS?

After a friend forwarded a Doonsbury cartoon to me I intended to  
subscribe to the strip's daily mailing. But I was put off by the  
several hundred-line Terms of Service agreement, which include:

You agree to indemnify and hold uclick, its parent company,  
affiliates, officers, agents, partners and employees harmless from any  
claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys fees, arising out of  
your content and materials, your use of the Site, your violation of  
these Terms or your violation of any third party's rights including  
such party's copyrights and trademarks.

and

uclick respects your right to privacy and understands that visitors to  
uclick need to be in control of their personal information. To that  
end uclick has developed a Privacy Policy, and you should review it  
carefully. Your use of the Site is your consent to the Privacy Policy.

where the latter paragraph links to an equally long and arcane privacy  
policy. All this, just to read a comic strip -- not to buy a house or  
access state secrets! So I didn't register, and used the Contact Us  
link to tell them why. But I'm sure that most people blithely register  
and click the "Yeah, yeah, whatever" (I mean, "I agree to the Terms of  
Service") link without blinking.

Are loony nebulous mumbo-jumbo agreements like that actually binding?  
Or just legal folly? Who knows.
> Dave Wilson said:
>
> The idea that I am contractually obligated to do *anything* by some  
> legally nebulous mumbo-jumbo based on a click through license  
> agreement should be terrifying to people. Maybe after this, people  
> will wake up. In a Democratic society, laws should govern our  
> behavior, not unalterable contracts forced upon us by people who  
> answer to no one.
--

Gabriel Goldberg, Computers and Publishing, Inc.          (703) 204-0433
3401 Silver Maple Place, Falls Church, VA 22042        gabe () gabegold com





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