At 06:02 PM 7/1/1999 +0200, you wrote:
>On 30 June 1999, Michael Knight wrote:
>> Geocities and Yahoo recently merged and are now trying to, in their Terms
>> of Service contract, take intellectual property rights away from their users,
>> by forcing their users to sign the contract before they can access their
>> accounts. Current accounts. I can't even delete my account with them
>> without agreeing that what I put there is theirs to copyright.
>
>Wha...? Got a link to this contract? I don't have a Geocities account, but
>sounds like Information Superhighway Robbery. Are they saying they own
>content by default, or just have options on it at their discretion? Wouldn't
>this blow their limitation on liability regards material published on their
>sites? It's one thing to provide storage facilities for others and not be
>fully accountable for what others put there, but assuming ownership of the
>material, it seems being aware of what they've been given is the more their
>responsibility. One might plead that one didn't know the .50 caliber machine
>gun was stolen, but excusing ignorance that one owns this .50 caliber machine
>gun, "I own so much stuff, I can't keep inventory"--I don't think that works.
This is the URL for new and returning users, as well as the section in
question. I think someone slipped in and modified this since yesterday, but
it still looks to say the same thing, just more garbled. Knew I should have
included a cut and paste of it yesterday for comparison. Hmm, and it still
dumps me out to www.yahoo.com if I decline to agree to this new contract.
So no deleting for me.
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
8. CONTENT SUBMITTED TO YAHOO
Yahoo does not own Content you submit, unless we specifically tell you
otherwise before you submit it. You license the Content to Yahoo as set
forth below for the purpose of displaying and distributing such Content on
our network of properties and for the promotion and marketing of our
services. By submitting Content to any Yahoo property, you automatically
grant, or warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted,
Yahoo the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully
sublicensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish,
translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display
such Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other
works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. You
acknowledge that Yahoo does not pre-screen Content, but that Yahoo and its
designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole
discretion to refuse, edit, move or remove any Content that is publicly
available via the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, Yahoo and its
designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates the TOS
or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear
all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on
the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content. In this regard,
you acknowledge that you may not rely on any Content created by Yahoo or
submitted to Yahoo, including without limitation information in Yahoo!
Message Boards, Yahoo! Clubs, and in all other parts of the Service.
