4 ms·

I'm not fluent in legalese, but clearly this is just an attempt to prohibit or mitigate customers from publicising in a manner that could be seen as endorsement

I'm not fluent in legalese, but clearly this is just an attempt to prohibit or mitigate customers from publicising in a manner that could be seen as endorsement by Google?

panarky 15y ago
We can guess about Google's intent, but that's not what it actually says. It's pretty plain that I 'cannot make any public statement' (except that I'm an App Engine customer) without 'prior written consent'. There's a separate Trademark agreement incorporated by reference to ensure I don't dress up my app to look like a Google property.
- nknight 15y ago
  "regarding the relationship contemplated by this Agreement". It's pretty plain that it means talking about your relationship with Google, not about the nature or technical details of App Engine. Words in legal documents, be they contracts or laws, must be read in their full context.
- JimmyL 15y ago
  Except that's not what it says. The relevant line is: Neither party may make any public statement regarding the relationship contemplated by this Agreement The rest of the section is just clarifications on this. What this section is prohibiting you from doing is using the relationship governed by the ToS as a marketing tool, in effect. It's preventing you from saying that your application is developed in a partnership with Google, endorsed by Google, supported by Google, or really anything beyond the fact that it's running on the GAE platform. The next few sentences past the one above say that you're allowed to state that you're a customer/user of GAE, and Google is allowed to include you on a list of customers of GAE - but neither side is allowed to imply or suggest any greater relationship than that, barring some other agreement.
  - panarky 15y ago
    I think you're assuming a meaning that's not here. There's nothing about 'saying that your application is developed in a partnership with Google, endorsed by Google, supported by Google'. App Engine pricing, technical support, licenses, privacy, acceptable use, etc. are all part of the 'relationship contemplated by this Agreement'. It may not be Google's intent, but the language says I can't talk about any of this without their prior written consent. I'm violating the ToS by writing this comment.
    - gatlin 15y ago
      No, you're not. This is explained in the parent comments.

I'm not fluent in legalese, but clearly this is just an attempt to prohibit or mitigate customers from publicising in a manner that could be seen as endorsement by Google?

panarky 15y ago

We can guess about Google's intent, but that's not what it actually says. It's pretty plain that I 'cannot make any public statement' (except that I'm an App Engine customer) without 'prior written consent'. There's a separate Trademark agreement incorporated by reference to ensure I don't dress up my app to look like a Google property.

nknight 15y ago
"regarding the relationship contemplated by this Agreement". It's pretty plain that it means talking about your relationship with Google, not about the nature or technical details of App Engine. Words in legal documents, be they contracts or laws, must be read in their full context.
JimmyL 15y ago
Except that's not what it says. The relevant line is: Neither party may make any public statement regarding the relationship contemplated by this Agreement The rest of the section is just clarifications on this. What this section is prohibiting you from doing is using the relationship governed by the ToS as a marketing tool, in effect. It's preventing you from saying that your application is developed in a partnership with Google, endorsed by Google, supported by Google, or really anything beyond the fact that it's running on the GAE platform. The next few sentences past the one above say that you're allowed to state that you're a customer/user of GAE, and Google is allowed to include you on a list of customers of GAE - but neither side is allowed to imply or suggest any greater relationship than that, barring some other agreement.
- panarky 15y ago
  I think you're assuming a meaning that's not here. There's nothing about 'saying that your application is developed in a partnership with Google, endorsed by Google, supported by Google'. App Engine pricing, technical support, licenses, privacy, acceptable use, etc. are all part of the 'relationship contemplated by this Agreement'. It may not be Google's intent, but the language says I can't talk about any of this without their prior written consent. I'm violating the ToS by writing this comment.
  - gatlin 15y ago
    No, you're not. This is explained in the parent comments.