Second Life ToS Analyzed

Over on SLUniverse people are tracking down the changes in the ToS (Terms of Service) that popped up the other day.

So, far it seems to mostly be CYA clauses. There is also a reorganization of the information. Several people think this was to accommodate using the same ToS for all of Linden Lab’s™ products. Whatever the case no one has found a new deal breaker.

See: Yipes – can’t agree to TOS – The main point being several people have not been able to see the text of the ToS in the viewer’s login screen. They get the “Please Agree” window, it’s just empty, nothing to read.

Darien Caldwell has some posts in the thread pointing out some things Darien was unfamiliar with. See: post. Ayesha Lytton has an interesting post about what happens when you remove things from the grid or leave SL. See: post.

There seems to be an aspect of the ToS that says changes can be made without notice. I doubt that will ever stand up in court if someone suffers significant damages from a change that could have been mitigated with notice.

Just last month New World Notes had an article about the Lab losing a law suit, which may have inspired this change. See: Class Action Lawsuit Against Linden Lab for Suspended Accounts Settled for $172,000 Paid in Linden Dollars UPDATE: Legal Expert Says “Looks like Linden Lab lost”

Amity Slade gets into a Catch-22 with a valid point about one-sided contracts. Courts usually will not uphold them as valid unless both parties provide something and have some responsibility. Things have to be somewhat balanced on both sides. Amity tries to promote the idea that is the case with the Linden ToS. I wouldn’t bet on that standing up.

You can download a comparison document here: Google Doc LL TOS 81513.pdf.

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