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The TOS isn't meant to protect the users. It's the user's job to protect the users. The TOS is to protect the site. Say someone uses your site which provides a

The TOS isn't meant to protect the users. It's the user's job to protect the users. The TOS is to protect the site. Say someone uses your site which provides a free service. For whatever reason, the service is disabled for a day. Now let's say a user decides that they were harmed by the service being down and decide to sue. It's a good thing you have a TOS that states "The services offered through this site are provided as-is and without warranty. We may discontinue service or cancel accounts at any time with or without reason." I understand that there is a potential for fraud from the site, such as when the site decides to add a line after being sued that retroactively protects them, but the burden of proof is on the accuser and there are ways of checking revisions to a site (checking Google's cache or recent edit logs could help to find the truth).

zepolen 18y ago
There is a potential for fraud from the user as well - taking your example: The user can edit the html, print if off and say that /that/ was the TOS he agreed to. I don't know if Google cache or the wayback archive are usable as evidence, that would be for a court to decide, but there is always the possibility that they didn't catch it, and the user can always say 'on X date, when I joined up, it said this and this (with the fake printout)', now the site has to prove otherwise. In fact the user can just claim he never agreed to such a TOS, that no 'I have read and accepted the TOS' checkbox was displayed to him at any time.
- vincent_vega 18y ago
  I think this is really frightening. Can this really happen? Does anyone know the subject well (a lawyer maybe) and can give a definite response?
- dkokelley 18y ago
  That's why there is another clause that states "We reserve the right to modify these terms and conditions at any time and for any reason, with or without explicit notification to you." This is why you always hear "be sure to get a good lawyer" when discussing legal issues. It's their job to protect you from liabilities. Sure there will always be cases where someone could present false evidence, but this is why we have a court system.

zepolen 18y ago

There is a potential for fraud from the user as well - taking your example: The user can edit the html, print if off and say that /that/ was the TOS he agreed to. I don't know if Google cache or the wayback archive are usable as evidence, that would be for a court to decide, but there is always the possibility that they didn't catch it, and the user can always say 'on X date, when I joined up, it said this and this (with the fake printout)', now the site has to prove otherwise. In fact the user can just claim he never agreed to such a TOS, that no 'I have read and accepted the TOS' checkbox was displayed to him at any time.

vincent_vega 18y ago
I think this is really frightening. Can this really happen? Does anyone know the subject well (a lawyer maybe) and can give a definite response?
dkokelley 18y ago
That's why there is another clause that states "We reserve the right to modify these terms and conditions at any time and for any reason, with or without explicit notification to you." This is why you always hear "be sure to get a good lawyer" when discussing legal issues. It's their job to protect you from liabilities. Sure there will always be cases where someone could present false evidence, but this is why we have a court system.