This morning when I went to log in to a discussion forum on Yuku (“your interests, your communities” — the next-generation, friend-enabled version of ezboard), I was greeted with:
Our terms of service has changed. Please read the new terms of service. By clicking “I agree,” you agree to Yuku’s Terms of Use.
Oh, they has* changed, has they? What changes might those be?
Beats me. Their current Terms of Use has** 18 clauses, many of which have sub-clauses. #2, Rules of Conduct, has 20 though-shalt-nots, ending with “t. Cover or obscure the banner advertisements on your personal profile page, or any Yuku page via HTML/CSS or any other means.” #10, Modification and Termination (a subject very much on my mind these days) features
Specific reasons that Yuku may terminate your access or use, include, but are not limited to:
- lack of use.
- violation of the letter or the spirit of this Agreement.
- circumvention of any Yuku banner display. (Subscribers to Yuku’s “no-ad banner option” are exempt from this requirement. All Yuku member boards must have a link to Yuku or its related directories).
and a few more.
The disclaimer, limitation of liabilities, and attempted disclaimer of legal responsibilities for security security breach (“You expressly assume any and all liability in connection with actual and/or apparent breaches of security” — y’know, if their servers get hacked again as happened to ezboard a couple of years ago, I don’t think that’ll get them off the hook) are still there and still ALL IN CAPS. [As a non-lawyer, I’ve always wondered: does that give them more legal force?]
So I dunno, presumably some of the 40ish clauses have changed. I checked one that I’ve looked at in the past and was relieved to find it’s still there:
Yuku does not claim any ownership rights in any Content that you post to the Service. After posting your Content to the Service, you continue to retain all ownership rights in such Content, and you continue to have the right to use your Content in any way you choose.
Props to Yuku for their excellent stance on intellectual property!
Other than that, though, I don’t appear to have any rights … which is kind of how I remember it before. Oh well.
Since the only option to log in if I wanted to check my messages there was to check the box and click I agree, I did.
jon
* sic. At least I’m pretty sure ‘terms’ is plural in this context: “Our terms [of service] have changed …”
** … or maybe not. Is “Terms of Use” a term of art, and hence singular? And, while I’m digressing, are they using the two phrases interchangeably?
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