61–70 of 174 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, as long as they make it a required step. It's your fault if you choose to not read it.
I am curious if there is any legal doctrine on this in any part of the world.
There is no legal requirement you agree to use the service. The system may prevent access but that's not a legal requirement.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t think time spent would matter if someone took the deliberate action of clicking “Accept.” It’s like arguing that you didn’t read a contract before you signed. You still signed. I’m not arguing in favor of TOS. I just don’t buy this. The “I do not agree,” method reminds me of the tactics of “sovereign citizens.” They try to game things via highly specific language. People think they can loophole the system, bu…
I often don't even read what's written on the button? Am I lefally accepting something even if I'm just cliking buttons randomly to make anything useful happen in your app?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, as long as they make it a required step. It's your fault if you choose to not read it.
I am curious if there is any legal doctrine on this in any part of the world.
Here is a list of unfair contract terms that will likely cause an EULA or ToS to have no legal binding at all:
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treat...
Then the second biggest lie is: We use cookies to give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume you are happy with it. [Ok] [No] [Privacy Policy] Actual text from the www.gdpr.eu cookie consent pop-up. =)
I always thought "We value your privacy" was the biggest lie on the internet.
If a website knows I didn't really read a contract, can they claim I am bound by it? I like to hope that the time-spent-reading is logged somewhere. Should it come up in court, Website.com would be required to disclose their logs which would show that I spent all of 1.35s reading their terms and conditions, most of which was spent scrolling. Another puerile hack of mine is to sign a document with the name "I do not a…
The best thing to do is to send them by snail mail a printed copy of their ToS with the changes highlighted that you'd like to suggest, accompanied by a friendly letter stating that they are free to send you back their suggestions for further negotiation and that no further action on their behalf is needed if they accept the suggested changes.
I frequently get mails from banks and other service providers with subject lines like 'changes to our agreement'. I don't read those either. Mind you, it might be fun to send a few unilateral changes back their way, detailed in a suitably upbeat or condescending letter.
A few contracts I have done in the past I got the terms through and had serious issues with so just ended up blacking out and initially it or adding in an appendix. I don't think I have ever seen a company say a thing about a unilateral change to the contract I just made without negotiation, they like most simply people sign it and accept it without reading it.
I pointed out that the contract had several places where it referred to other documents I must agree to, referenced by URL, and the linked-to documents didn't exist.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just out of curiosity, what happened if you declined to sign? You flunk out of the course? Reading the TOS is pointless anyways, when declining them is very problematic for you.
I really don't know what would have happened. There was nothing worth objecting to, though it was certainly worth reading to understand the boundaries while accessing their system (i.e. it was for course use). Even if there was anything objectionable, the student may have to drop the course (rather than flunk it). Overall, I view blindly signing ToS as the foundation for the situation we see today: these agreements e…
One of the younger team members asked me if he could use one of the machines to compile homework for another course. Given that the machine wasn't critical, I said certainly! (Applauding his initiative)
A week later, the department sys admin sends me an email, noting our server pegged cpu and men utilization briefly and asking if we required additional resources.
I responded, laid out exactly what happened (omitting the student's name), thank him for the attention, and tell him we don't need anything.
At which point he drops me from the email chain, writes to the professor in charge of our group (a guy doing some really interesting stuff in AUUVs, and only teaching undergrads out of the kindness of his heart), and launches into a tirade about students abusing system resources, unfair advantages, violations of the honor code, academic integrity cases, etc.
After discussing it with my professor, I send the admin an email apologizing for the misunderstanding, will make sure it won't happen again, and would appreciate if he raised concerns with me first next time.
To which professor receives another email about "not letting students contact him about faculty matters." My prof told me to stop emailing him, which I wisely listened to. The student's name was never shared, and no actions were taken.
But my takeaway was that kid almost had his academic career (and potentially his future) trashed, because someone decided to get a bee in their bonnet over an interpretation of rules.
... As a happy ending, I happened to know the BOFH in social circles outside of academia (doubt he linked me to my school self) and subsequent to this interaction his marriage collapsed, he moved to his farm, and eventually left university and took up an in depth study of the copious and frequent application of alcohol. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy...
On the first day of a university course, several hundred students asked to line up and sign a two page agreement in order to access computing resources necessary for the course. When my turn came, I asked where I could read it without holding up the entire line. They were shocked that anyone would ask such a question, though they provided me a space to read over the document. If blindly signing a contract one of the…
Just out of curiosity, what happened if you declined to sign? You flunk out of the course? Reading the TOS is pointless anyways, when declining them is very problematic for you.
On the first day of a university course, several hundred students asked to line up and sign a two page agreement in order to access computing resources necessary for the course. When my turn came, I asked where I could read it without holding up the entire line. They were shocked that anyone would ask such a question, though they provided me a space to read over the document. If blindly signing a contract one of the…
