> Do you really not see how saying, "businesses should be allowed to sever ties with people who say mean things" is different from saying, "the courts will deci

> Do you really not see how saying, "businesses should be allowed to sever ties with people who say mean things" is different from saying, "the courts will decide whether or not you committed libel"? Of course I see that. Contract law and defamation law (tort) are separate domains. A court does not have to conclude that a party to a contract committed libel in order to determine that they are in breach for making disparaging remarks about the counterparty. The layperson might (understandably) believe that the analysis would be identical, but it is not. A finding of libel under tort law requires a multi-part test which I won't elaborate on here, and there are lots of defenses, too. > Companies with contract language like this have broad leverage to wield their power in whatever way they see fit -- because for the most part courts have not ruled that escape clauses boiling down to "we can decide to ban you at any time for any reason" are illegal or unenforceable. I think we're in violent agreement for the most part -- I'm just saying that your characterization is overbroad since obviously "any reason" is not quite "any reason." As engineers, we should strive to be as accurate as possible in our analyses and avoid hasty overgeneralizations. At bottom, courts aren't generally inclined to force parties to do business with each other if one of them is no longer interested, there are no promises left to be fulfilled, and there's nothing binding them to an infinite term (which courts also don't like to enforce). Apple is not a common carrier or the government, and so they're treated just like anyone else for the purpose of contract law.