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To paraphrase someone wiser than me: "If you're not paying for it, you're not the customer, you're the product." Period.
by lucian303 14y ago
To paraphrase someone wiser than me: "If you're not paying for it, you're not the customer, you're the product."
Period.
- alexqgb 14y agoOh for god's sake, just STOP with this trite bit of idiocy. Every time a service that relies on users IP to do business does something users dislike, some brainless moron repeats this goddamn cliche as though it were an actual contribution to the conversation. What you need to understand is this: IP has real value. Period. So when a company secures limited use of yours in return for a specific service under a specific set of terms, they have no business retroactively changing those terms, any more than they would in the case of a cash transaction. And stating that the terms can be changed simply means the company is free to evolve the service, and renegotiate accordingly. It doesn't mean that they can secure your agreement under one set of terms, change everything, and retain unbroken consent. Every contract is based on an exchange of value. Both parties provide something, and both parties take something away. While it's fair to classify as "customers" those who pay cash, it's a mistake to think that other parties to the transaction are less than fully protected by the laws that govern exchange in general.
- lucian303 14y agoThat's not how most TOS are written and since you're not paying for the service (not that that would make a difference in reality) you're not going to get the protection you think you're entitled to. That's not how the law works in reality.