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Cisco will not arbitrarily disconnect customers from the Cisco Connect Cloud service based on how they are using the Internet. Cisco Connect Cloud and Cisco Li

by Jabbles 14y ago

Cisco will not arbitrarily disconnect customers from the Cisco Connect Cloud service based on how they are using the Internet. Cisco Connect Cloud and Cisco Linksys routers do not monitor or store information about how our customers are using the Internet and we do not arbitrarily disconnect customers from the Internet. The Cisco Connect Cloud service has never monitored customers’ Internet usage, nor was it designed to do so, and we will clarify this in an update to the terms of service. Cisco Linksys routers are not used to collect information about Internet usage. Cisco’s Linksys routers do not track or store any personal information regarding customers’ use of the Internet. Ignoring all other aspects of this for the moment, I think startups can all learn something from this. Make sure you check what your lawyer is saying on your behalf. Putting "You agree not to use or permit the use of the Service: ...(ii) for obscene, pornographic, or offensive purposes;" in your TOU may help protect you from some obscure theoretical legal point of view, but from your customer's perspective it makes you seem malicious. Ironically(?), the first thing you have to agree not to do is "invade another's privacy"

lukejduncan 14y ago
Do we know that's really what happened? I can very much see it going either way a) Lawyer put in too much defensive language or b) Cisco really wanted to push you into a new service. Admittedly, it's a very different product and service, but can we blame them when they see companies like Facebook forcing their email service on users in such an obtrusive way? If I were a semi-out-of-touch manager I might think "The cloud is the way to go, we get more control, there are legitimate upsides to consumers, and anyone who bitches ultimately shuts up after a day of tweeting." Seems like there's lots of precedent for them to think about trying.
- rhizome 14y ago
  I agree that this can be a meme within the business/legal logic. "Hey, if Facebook can get away with it..."
- wmf 14y ago
  There are two separate issues here. It's clear that Cisco deliberately created the Cloud Connect service (I won't speculate on their motivations; in theory such a service could benefit customers) and deliberately auto-updated customers to it (which they promised all along). The TOS is a separate problem and appears to be a combination of legal ass-covering and deliberate misinterpretation.

by Jabbles 14y ago

lukejduncan 14y ago

Do we know that's really what happened? I can very much see it going either way a) Lawyer put in too much defensive language or b) Cisco really wanted to push you into a new service. Admittedly, it's a very different product and service, but can we blame them when they see companies like Facebook forcing their email service on users in such an obtrusive way? If I were a semi-out-of-touch manager I might think "The cloud is the way to go, we get more control, there are legitimate upsides to consumers, and anyone who bitches ultimately shuts up after a day of tweeting." Seems like there's lots of precedent for them to think about trying.

rhizome 14y ago
I agree that this can be a meme within the business/legal logic. "Hey, if Facebook can get away with it..."
wmf 14y ago
There are two separate issues here. It's clear that Cisco deliberately created the Cloud Connect service (I won't speculate on their motivations; in theory such a service could benefit customers) and deliberately auto-updated customers to it (which they promised all along). The TOS is a separate problem and appears to be a combination of legal ass-covering and deliberate misinterpretation.