Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service 254
Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements.
"No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."
Re:Well..Term limits. (Score:1, Funny)
It's a completely ridiculous proposition to compare the public telephone network to a gaming network. Are you going to die if you can't use the latter? Surely you can't be serious.
I would
Re:Well..Term limits. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Ooo... now contracts must not matter to EFF (Score:4, Funny)
I preferred the websites that present TOS in editable textarea. Textarea implies invitation to edit = negotiation.
I tend to edit these to my needs and save myself a copy. Of course by clicking "I Agree" I -am- sending these back to the originating server (if they don't get them, it's their negligence).
Since they accept the edited copy, I can safely assume they agreed to changes.