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applfanboysbgontoday at 7:30 AM1 replyview on HN

> 5. You automatically agree to the new terms if you continue to have an account.

I would really love to see courts throw this BS out.


Replies

necovektoday at 7:57 AM

I agree with you in principle.

It would also potentially invalidate clauses like the one in GPL license too: "this version or any later version" — how can anyone consent to yet-unknown terms?

In this particular case and going after the summary from big85, there's one case of legal compliance (like age restrictions — it applies in appropriate jurisdictions even if the ToS is not updated) or maybe two (banning per-account vs per-owner), some widening of the terms to the benefit of the customer (like refunds being permitted in "special circumstances" on top of "required by law, with only "reductionist" change being about lowering service window for unused free accounts (in some jurisdictions, even this could be about respecting data privacy laws — companies are obligated to remove any data which is not used after a certain time, though I think this is 12 months even under GDPR).

As such, I believe this would not be a good case where you can bring enough light how this type of clause is harming one side to the contract.

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