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From the TOS: By uploading, distributing, transmitting or otherwise using Your Content with the Service, you grant to us a perpetual, nonexclusive, transferabl

From the TOS: By uploading, distributing, transmitting or otherwise using Your Content with the Service, you grant to us a perpetual, nonexclusive, transferable, royalty-free, sublicensable, and worldwide license to use, host, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display Your Content in connection with operating and providing the Service. The Company does not guarantee the accuracy, quality, or integrity of any user content posted. They also have a ban against distributing or even talking about macro/autohotkey programs, and, of course, they can see every single message and piece of content you put on the service. It's 20XX; why is there anything but harsh condemnation for services like this? Modern communication platforms should not be set up this way.

holler 8y ago
99% of users don't care, it's a great product
- elagost 8y ago
  I agree, but that's sad, and not the way things should be. We should hold ourselves to a higher standard instead of blindly shuffling into the tar pits. Does that mean life is harder? Yes. But no one great ever took the easy way out.
  - umvi 8y ago
    There are alternatives, like Zulip https://zulipchat.com/ https://zulipchat.com/
    - gsich 8y ago
      No voice, how is that an alternative?
    - strig 8y ago
      That's not in any way a replacement for discord.
    - woah 8y ago
      What? Here is Zulip’s license which is almost identical: When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Kandra Labs (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, perform, display and distribute such content. The ridiculous pitchforking in this thread is out of control.
- hobs 8y ago
  Most users of heroin dont care that it is harming them, but that's a good thing right?
  - filoleg 8y ago
    Poor analogy. Just because they can't break the addiction, doesn't mean they don't care. A lot of long-time smokers are very aware that it harms them, and they wish they had never started, they just can't break the habit. Find me a sizeable group of discord users who are addicted to it and are using it because of the powerful habit they wish they could break, despite them being aware of how much it hurts them.
stormbrew 8y ago
Any service that does the things discord does and doesn't somehow obtain a license along those lines from their users is probably in trouble. Note that it is a non-exclusive license and only grants them the rights to do those things in connection with the providing the service.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
snek 8y ago
How would they be able to distribute your content (messages, images, etc) to other people if they didn't have the license to do so? Every chat service and social media has this clause because they couldn't send your messages without it. https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/3r3rrt/question_about_tos_clause_your_data/ https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/3r3rrt/question... Please do your research before bringing out the pitchforks.
- jellicle 8y ago
  How would anyone be able to look at your house if they didn't own it? No, the expansive licensing Discord demands here is not required to operate the service.
  - snek 8y ago
    It absolutely is. You know who else has a license like this? hacker news. (https://www.ycombinator.com/legal/ https://www.ycombinator.com/legal/) By uploading any User Content you hereby grant and will grant Y Combinator and its affiliated companies a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, store, modify and otherwise use your User Content for any Y Combinator-related purpose in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed. also microsoft, google, reddit, twitter, etc, etc, etc, etc
    - elagost 8y ago
      Hacker News is publicly viewable without an account. Totally different. Discord tricks the user into using it as a private messaging platform. Its main draw, as I understand it, is the IRC channel clones ("Servers"), which can be public or private/invite-only. It's also got no privacy or security options for the direct person-to-person messages, which people use essentially as an SMS/iMessage/WhatsApp replacement. Encrypted chat at scale is hard, but this is a relatively new product and was built in an era where privacy concerns were well known. The benefits of encryption/privacy/security etc (and drawbacks from the lack of it) are clear. I understand they need to be able to transmit the data, but they also clearly state that the developers of the product can look at your messages in cleartext. That's absolutely not required. How do you think Signal operates?
GuB-42 8y ago
The first part of the TOS is standard, even something as simple as showing a thumbnail of a posted picture (which discord does) requires it. AutoHotKey have their own relatively active Discord server, so obviously, you can talk about it. What is banned is the use of macros on the Discord client itself. As for seeing every single message, then yes, certainly. That's how you get the entire conversation history when you first log into a server, search, previews, etc... Discord is not privacy oriented, it is a convenient platform, and great for semi-public conversations. It is not a replacement for Signal, and vice-versa. Modern communication platforms don't have to be all privacy-oriented. Just like in real life, there are public and private places, with different expectations.
- snek 8y ago
  > Modern communication platforms don't have to be all privacy-oriented. Just like in real life, there are public and private places, with different expectations. I wish more people understood this. Discord's primary design is large open public spaces; layers of encryption and e2e make no sense.
- gambler 8y ago
  Well, it's not necessarily either/or. Discord could also include tools for private conversations. A lot of people started using as a replacement for Teamspeak, after all. I don't think it would get nearly as much initial traction if they were just a chat room platform.
- lightedman 8y ago
  "What is banned is the use of macros on the Discord client itself." Good luck stopping that when the functionality is built-into my Logitech G15 (when the drivers are installed instead of using the default HID input drivers.) Built by gamers for gamers, HAH!
- elagost 8y ago
  This is the most well-thought-out response in the thread. My initial knee-jerk is too extreme. Thank you for the sanity check.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
defertoreptar 8y ago
> They also have a ban against distributing or even talking about macro/autohotkey programs, and, of course, they can see every single message and piece of content you put on the service. Woah. That's strange considering I've subscribed to the AHK Discord group for a while now. Maybe they're referring to the ban in the context around cheating in video games.
Chardok 8y ago
I honestly found it very refreshing how explicit and upfront they were about their data collection. There are plenty of "free" products that try hard to hide the fact that they are doing it too; this time I felt like I was actually engaging in a fair transaction. For a lot of my less tech-savvy friends, it has been a blessing too. Discord is incredibly easy to set up, the audio adapts without tweaking, and new chatrooms are just a couple clicks away. Really my only other option was Skype and that is seemingly much worse.

holler 8y ago

99% of users don't care, it's a great product

elagost 8y ago
I agree, but that's sad, and not the way things should be. We should hold ourselves to a higher standard instead of blindly shuffling into the tar pits. Does that mean life is harder? Yes. But no one great ever took the easy way out.
- umvi 8y ago
  There are alternatives, like Zulip https://zulipchat.com/ https://zulipchat.com/
  - gsich 8y ago
    No voice, how is that an alternative?
  - strig 8y ago
    That's not in any way a replacement for discord.
  - woah 8y ago
    What? Here is Zulip’s license which is almost identical: When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Kandra Labs (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, perform, display and distribute such content. The ridiculous pitchforking in this thread is out of control.
hobs 8y ago
Most users of heroin dont care that it is harming them, but that's a good thing right?
- filoleg 8y ago
  Poor analogy. Just because they can't break the addiction, doesn't mean they don't care. A lot of long-time smokers are very aware that it harms them, and they wish they had never started, they just can't break the habit. Find me a sizeable group of discord users who are addicted to it and are using it because of the powerful habit they wish they could break, despite them being aware of how much it hurts them.

stormbrew 8y ago

Any service that does the things discord does and doesn't somehow obtain a license along those lines from their users is probably in trouble. Note that it is a non-exclusive license and only grants them the rights to do those things in connection with the providing the service.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

snek 8y ago

How would they be able to distribute your content (messages, images, etc) to other people if they didn't have the license to do so? Every chat service and social media has this clause because they couldn't send your messages without it. https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/3r3rrt/question_about_tos_clause_your_data/ https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/3r3rrt/question... Please do your research before bringing out the pitchforks.

jellicle 8y ago
How would anyone be able to look at your house if they didn't own it? No, the expansive licensing Discord demands here is not required to operate the service.
- snek 8y ago
  It absolutely is. You know who else has a license like this? hacker news. (https://www.ycombinator.com/legal/ https://www.ycombinator.com/legal/) By uploading any User Content you hereby grant and will grant Y Combinator and its affiliated companies a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, store, modify and otherwise use your User Content for any Y Combinator-related purpose in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed. also microsoft, google, reddit, twitter, etc, etc, etc, etc
  - elagost 8y ago
    Hacker News is publicly viewable without an account. Totally different. Discord tricks the user into using it as a private messaging platform. Its main draw, as I understand it, is the IRC channel clones ("Servers"), which can be public or private/invite-only. It's also got no privacy or security options for the direct person-to-person messages, which people use essentially as an SMS/iMessage/WhatsApp replacement. Encrypted chat at scale is hard, but this is a relatively new product and was built in an era where privacy concerns were well known. The benefits of encryption/privacy/security etc (and drawbacks from the lack of it) are clear. I understand they need to be able to transmit the data, but they also clearly state that the developers of the product can look at your messages in cleartext. That's absolutely not required. How do you think Signal operates?

GuB-42 8y ago

The first part of the TOS is standard, even something as simple as showing a thumbnail of a posted picture (which discord does) requires it. AutoHotKey have their own relatively active Discord server, so obviously, you can talk about it. What is banned is the use of macros on the Discord client itself. As for seeing every single message, then yes, certainly. That's how you get the entire conversation history when you first log into a server, search, previews, etc... Discord is not privacy oriented, it is a convenient platform, and great for semi-public conversations. It is not a replacement for Signal, and vice-versa. Modern communication platforms don't have to be all privacy-oriented. Just like in real life, there are public and private places, with different expectations.

snek 8y ago
> Modern communication platforms don't have to be all privacy-oriented. Just like in real life, there are public and private places, with different expectations. I wish more people understood this. Discord's primary design is large open public spaces; layers of encryption and e2e make no sense.
gambler 8y ago
Well, it's not necessarily either/or. Discord could also include tools for private conversations. A lot of people started using as a replacement for Teamspeak, after all. I don't think it would get nearly as much initial traction if they were just a chat room platform.
lightedman 8y ago
"What is banned is the use of macros on the Discord client itself." Good luck stopping that when the functionality is built-into my Logitech G15 (when the drivers are installed instead of using the default HID input drivers.) Built by gamers for gamers, HAH!
elagost 8y ago
This is the most well-thought-out response in the thread. My initial knee-jerk is too extreme. Thank you for the sanity check.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

defertoreptar 8y ago

> They also have a ban against distributing or even talking about macro/autohotkey programs, and, of course, they can see every single message and piece of content you put on the service. Woah. That's strange considering I've subscribed to the AHK Discord group for a while now. Maybe they're referring to the ban in the context around cheating in video games.

Chardok 8y ago

I honestly found it very refreshing how explicit and upfront they were about their data collection. There are plenty of "free" products that try hard to hide the fact that they are doing it too; this time I felt like I was actually engaging in a fair transaction. For a lot of my less tech-savvy friends, it has been a blessing too. Discord is incredibly easy to set up, the audio adapts without tweaking, and new chatrooms are just a couple clicks away. Really my only other option was Skype and that is seemingly much worse.