[asterisk-biz] FW: "illusory" terms of service

While not restricted to online websites I’m wondering if some of the people on this list running USA based ITSP’s could be affected by this court case.

 

 

 

Regards,

Dean Collins
Cognation Inc
dean@cognation.net
+1-212-203-4357   New York
+61-2-9016-5642   (Sydney in-dial).
+44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial).

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From: Dean Collins
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 10:45 AM
Subject: "illusory" terms of service

 

First posted at:  http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/illusory-terms-of-service.html

 

 

"Illusory" terms of service

Wow I’m not sure how many people caught this or understood the ramifications of it.

I’m trying to do some additional research to find out what this means but this ruling at MediaPost.com this morning caught my eye.


Lynn determined that Blockbuster's contract with users was "illusory" because the agreement said that movie rental store could change the terms and conditions at any time.
A Blockbuster spokesperson declined to comment on the case or state whether the company will appeal.

The decision is a blow to Blockbuster because individual consumers would have had a difficult time bringing cases one-by-one against the company. But the decision paves the way for attorneys to argue that all consumers affected by Blockbuster's participation in Beacon should be able to proceed as a class.

Internet law expert Venkat Balasubramani said Lynn's decision invalidating Blockbuster's user agreement was potentially far-reaching because many Web companies reserve the right to make changes to their terms of service. "It seems broad and could have impact on the terms of service used by a lot of different companies," he said.


I’m fairly sure this has to be appealed as couldn’t this throw a lot of User Agreements out the window? (I know it would affect my agreement at www.LiveBaseballChat.com out the window).

Any thoughts about how this affects your business? Post below.

 

 

 

Regards,

Dean Collins
Cognation Inc
dean@cognation.net
+1-212-203-4357   New York
+61-2-9016-5642   (Sydney in-dial).
+44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial).