I feel like there are two sides you can take on this. There is the "ideal" side where we read all the fine print and stay away from services which violate X ele

I feel like there are two sides you can take on this. There is the "ideal" side where we read all the fine print and stay away from services which violate X elements which we individually consider as going over the line. Then there is the boots on the ground reality which is what really happens vs. what could happen. I don't think either side is right or wrong. I see people like RMS as being on the extreme end of the ideal side. He may be right. His tech usage habits from his beliefs may work for him. But I'm not willing to go that far. I think leverage may be a silent force in this case. If X service has terms I hate but I feel like I really need the traffic I can generate from that service (so that I can eat) then I'm probably going to jump on it. If I feel like I don't need the service, then I may not bother. I may complain about the terms, but being unwilling to put in the effort for something I feel I don't need might be the greatest force. In the Philippines, all businesses are on Facebook because Facebook is the internet. Facebook plays similar games with their terms (as does a long list of services). But if you want to advertise to locals, you don't have much choice but to give in. I would like to see someone who is expert in this area weigh in on why these services come up with these terms. IFTTT isn't going to be selling or using user generated content. I don't see that Pinboard has any content to lose of their own (all of their content is user generated?) I'm sure I'm wrong, but the only reason I can come up with is to cover your ass if someone sues you for content which goes through your wires and potentially gets displayed on your site. Covering your ass isn't evil. Attempting to remove the right for one side to sue in the normal operation of the service is attempting to create a lopsided relationship (one side gains powers while the other side loses powers.) But they may be necessary for a service which has received funding and could be a target for court battles. I don't agree with much of your logic. > If it's not important, then it didn't need to exist in the first place. If it needs to exist, then it's worth reading. I have a spam folder in my email which I would submit as evidence to refute this point. I could also submit my Facebook feed, Twitter feed and a whole bunch of other sources.