Woman wins $ 10,000 to read fine print: NPR
The social platform Facebook logo reflects in the student's eye.
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The social platform Facebook logo reflects in the eyes.
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No one reads the prints. But maybe they should.
Donelan Andrews, Georgia's high school teacher, received a $ 10,000 reward after carefully reading the terms of a travel insurance she bought for a trip to England. SquareMouth, a Florida insurance company, had put in languages that promised a reward to the first person who sent email to the company.
"We understand that most customers don't actually read contracts or documentation when they buy something, but we know the importance of doing so," the company said. "We created the top secret Pays to Read campaign in an effort to highlight the importance by reading the guideline documentation from start to finish. "
Not all companies are so generous. To demonstrate the importance of reading print, many companies do not; they take. The discerning clauses tend to emerge from time to time. Other, usually in rude England.
In 2017, 22,000 people who signed up for free public Wi-Fi, agreed on 1,000 hours of community service, including cleaning of toilets and unloading of sewer blockages, "Guardian reported. The company, Manchester-based Lilla, said it put the clause into the deal "to illustrate the lack of consumer awareness of what they sign up for when accessing free Wi-Fi."
A few years earlier, several Londoners agreed presumably inadvertently to give away their oldest child in exchange for Wi-Fi access. Before they could get online, users had to check a box and agreed to "assign their firstborn children to us for eternity." According to the Guardian, six people reported, but the company providing Wi-Fi says the probability will not be enforceable in a court. "It is contrary to public policy to sell children in return for free services," the company explained.
And on April Fool's Day, 2010, the UK dealer GameStation introduced a new clause in the license agreement, with a checkbox ticked. If users did not remove the mark in the box, they agreed to give the GameStation "a non-transferable option to demand, for now and for all, your immortal soul." GameStation said that if it chose to exercise the soul transfer, it would earn notice in six-foot high letter letters.
Fortunately, GameStation offered a way to get out of that clause. "If you a) do not believe that you have an immortal soul, b) have already given it to another party, or c) do not want to give us such a license, please click on the link below to cancel this sub-clause and continue with Your transaction. "Those who clicked on the link were rewarded with a coupon.
Other businesses just have fun with their fine print.
Most online agreements restrict the use of children under the age of 13, but Tumblr's agreement goes further and anticipates a teenager's pushback: "But I'm like, almost old enough!" If you are not old enough, do not use Tumblr. Ask your parents for a Playstation 4 or try books. "
And in the" Community Guidelines "document, after warning that imitation is not allowed, Tumblr elaborates:" While free to ridicule, parody, or admire the incredible beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you cannot pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. "
MailChimp is more direct:" We will not be held liable for any delays or errors in performance of any part of the Service, from any cause beyond our control. "Such reasons may include" fire, earthquakes, nuclear accidents "and" zombie apocalypse ".
The Apple iTunes End User Agreement contains a mystery clause that prohibits the use of weapons of mass destruction. "You will not use these products for any purpose prohibited by US law, including, without limitation, development, design, manufacturer or production of nuclear, rocket or chemical or biological weapons", the agreement states.
It is unclear how to use iTunes to build such weapons.
So they got him. Kim Jong-un uses an iMac, so probably also iTunes … This has to be what Trump meant when he talked about North Korea already agreed full nuclear before the summit. pic.twitter.com/sWMXkypux0
– Kasperi Summan (@_Ksummanen) June 12, 2018
Some have pushed back on heavy terms and conditions that "no one reads" yet "remains" legal backbone on the internet. "In an editorial last month, The New York Times criticized what is called" legal fiction of consent ", suggesting that people have unwittingly signed away their privacy rights to major internet companies .
"The Americans deserve strong privacy protection, wrote the editorial staff." Consent is not enough to replace them. The clicks that pass for consent are uninformed, non-negotiated, and offered in exchange for services that are often necessary for community life. "
