tos
Latest
Imagined, but not owned
Linden Lab has been overhauling its website and promotional material lately for the poorly understood virtual world Second Life. One of the key changes to be spotted is the alteration of the long-standing descriptor, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its residents", which now only reads, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, and created by its residents", and there's signs that the wording is still evolving a little. The unannounced change has caused a fair bit of speculation, especially among those who were never all that certain as to what the ownership consisted of in the first place. In fact, that seems to be at the heart of the reason for the change.
AT&T disconnecting critical users? Probably not
You may have heard the hubbub in the last 24 hours about AT&T's new Terms of Service for its DSL accounts, and its apparent hardline approach to customers who may criticize the company. For those of you not up to speed, the long and short of it is that the TOS stipulates that AT&T can and does reserve the right to disconnect any user's account if the telco believes said user is utilizing the connection to "damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries." Sounds doomy and gloomy, doesn't it? Well, AT&T issued a statement in response to the backlash it's been getting, making it explicitly clear that it is not the company's policy to axe users who take it to task. Here's what they had to say:"AT&T respects its subscribers' rights to voice their opinions and concerns over any matter they wish. However, we retain the right to disassociate ourselves from websites and messages explicitly advocating violence, or any message that poses a threat to children (e.g. child pornography or exploitation). We do not terminate customer service solely because a customer speaks negatively about AT&T. This policy is not new and it's not unique to AT&T."So, according to The Man, you can talk all the smack you want about AT&T and its screwball policies / high prices / use of dental implants to monitor your conversations -- without the fear of having the lines snipped... or so they say.
Might as well face it, you're addicted to WoW
A tipster sent in a link to this post about World of Warcraft, specifically, how to force yourself to stop playing it.I don't know why this made me laugh as hard as it did. For starters, some of the advice is good... I'd encourage you to read a book or take a martial arts class whether or not you're going to play WoW any longer. Books are fun. I sometimes read a book while I play WoW, but I suppose that wouldn't really be what the article is going for.Part of the problem would be that I don't want to dismiss the article out of hand. After all, "Psychological dependence does not have to be limited only to substances; even activities and behavioral patterns can be considered addictions, if they are harmful, e.g. gambling, Internet use, usage of computers, sex / pornography, eating, self-harm, vandalism or work" according to Wikipedia's article on the subject. I suppose for me it's the 'if they're harmful' qualified that gets me. So far, WoW has given me and some friends some fun times and a chance to do something as a group when we can't all get together in one place, it's allows me to make new friends who live well outside my range, and it's allowed me to work out some frustrations that would otherwise go without venting. So for me at least WoW is a game that I play and a source of fun. Clearly, for some people WoW has become a big part of their social lives. And anything you care about can become an obsession or an addiction.But still, I cannot help but laugh when I see advice like "burn yourself out by finding ways to cheat...Find a private server to play on" or my personal favorite, "Sabotage your WoW future". I'm kind of surprised the original author didn't feel the need to add "Seal yourself in a lightless vault with only tins of tomato soup for sustenance" or "hire an angry man to break your thumbs if you go near a keyboard'". It just seems so hyperbolic and reactionary that I can't help but be amused by it. The funniest part is when he advises people to play on private servers, warms them that this may get their account banned as it is a violation of Blizzard's ToS, and then later advises people to violate Blizzard's ToS to get their accounts banned. I don't think most players have to go to these extremes, I know I don't play so much that I feel this kind of fear over it.Have you already begun to construct your WoW-proof bunker?
The latest in summer jobs for kids
Mowing lawns is so passé, delivering newspapers is totally last year. These days kids have found a new way to make money: selling WoW characters on eBay. But how, might you ask, can they get around the fact that this is clearly against the TOS? Evidently they are posting disclaimers on their auctions, letting bidders know that they aren't selling the characters (which are the intellectual property of Blizzard,) but are instead selling the time it took to level that character. In a CNBC segment on the topic, one kid mentioned that he gets around $400 for a level 70 character. He puts his profits right back into the business as any bright entrepreneur would, reinvesting in characters he will then level up again to sell to – you guessed it – Chinese gold farmers. Now, as much as I like the idea of news we have been writing on for weeks getting mainstream coverage, I have to wonder if this disclaimer business isn't just a loophole to get past Blizzard. What do you think? Is it breaking the TOS to sell the characters even with a disclaimer, or is this just a novel workaround enabling kids to make a profit off their play time? [via Jane Wells]
Your favorite WoW Insider posts this month
By a show of hands (and by hands we mean clicks), you've voted on your favorite posts on WoW Insider for the month of March. Here's the list of the top trafficked posts this month: In Death and Taxes, pallies heal and priests DPS (vampiric embrace FTW!) Who can resist delicious Hordecake? Leaked 2.1.0 patch notes? (zomg FAKE!) Food on the flying mount wing (warning: cute cat video enclosed) Tier 6 names and bonuses -- 'cuz we all want the Professor Plums. Use the Armory to find WoW's worst player because they're sure to make your sorry ass look halfway decent. Blue Notes: Seduction, Pet Health, and Old Hillsbrad -- because "seduction" is always a popular search term. Instance griefing not against the ToS? -- a) we don't need Blizzard to tell us that PuGs suck; b) couldn't there be a more elegant solution to this? Leveling build for a Retribution Paladin -- because Retnoobs need love too. Armory + Signature Generator = AWESOME! (note that the original server was crushed by the teeming hordes (see what we did there?) clogging the intertubes, but the original URL will redirect you to the new signature generator). And to level our fishing skills -- any other posts from this month you particularly enjoyed that you wouldn't want your WoW-loving comrades to miss?
Forum Post of the Day: Is this against the ToS?
Poster Gnipgnop claims he's taught his pet cat to play World of Warcraft -- and wants to know whether or not this is a violation of the terms of service. Tseric responds to the thread with a cop out answer -- but inquiring minds really want to know! I've chatted with a guildmate recently about teaching a cat to play World of Warcraft, and we feel that a hunter would be the best class. You'd just have to do some heavy keyboard remapping: bind a fourth of the keys to autoshoot, another fourth to pet attack, another fourth to tab targeting, and the rest to assorted directional movements -- combined with some cats' natural fascination with keyboards, and it could work! (Of course, you would have to take over the controls to tame new pets, sell phat lewts, etc.) So, Blizzard, intelligent people everywhere demand an answer -- is it against the terms of service to teach my cat to play?
Switched On: Happy TOSgiving
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: By reading this column, you agree to the following "TOS" (turkey over stuffing) between yourselves and the providers of the work known as "Thanksgiving". Providers of said work grant upon you an exclusive, non-transferable license to enjoy "Thanksgiving" for a period not to exceed 24 hours. During this time, licensee may participate in a range of Thanksgiving-related traditions, including reckless overeating, expressing enthusiasm for a team of burly men advancing toward a patch of grass, or watching giant, life-threatening monsters float toward you; in short, provider makes no guarantees that Thanksgiving will be significantly different from the regular activities of World of Warcraft devotees. Licensee may greet fellow community members using the term "Thanksgiving" provided it is preceded by favorable intent, such as "Happy Thanksgiving" or "Have a great Thanksgiving." Licensees need not disclose compensation received for spreading awareness of the Thanksgiving feast via word-of-mouth advertising through services such as PayPerPlate, but in such case, licensee agrees to comment positively on all such aspects of said feast, including but not limited to the texture of any string bean casserole. Licensee may engage in other non-traditional leisure activities over the course of the 24-hour period, such as completing viewership of movies downloaded from various digital rental services.
Remastered high-def Star Trek details
Paramount Television has confirmed plans to remaster the original Star Trek series in high definition, despite not having plans to broadcast it that way yet. The lack of HD Star Trek broadcasts is simply because most stations don't have space to store the episodes before they're aired several days later, but whenever the equipment is ready, the episodes will be as well. They're promising to remain faithful to the original series, and not to change any key elements in the programs, just adding things like a missing phaser beam, a new CGI Enterprise for external shots, and an updated picture of Earth. The show will be broadcast in 4x3, with 40 episodes shown each year. It will take about a year to remaster all 79 episodes, which begin airing September 16th, with "Balance of Terror".[Thanks, Tom]Read - Enterprise Wasn't Bumped for Trek, Says Nogawski - Broadcasting & CableRead - TOS Remastered - The Trek Movie Report
T-Mobile: no MinuteWatching for you
If you're a wireless customer, it goes without saying that being able to micromanage your usage is a great thing. It also goes without saying that if you're a wireless carrier, it's not. As many of us have found out the hard way, it doesn't take much overage to double your bill, and carriers rely on that exactly that kind of carelessness to make some extra coin month to month. We told you about MinuteWatcher not long ago, a nifty free service for keeping an eye on your calling and predict future usage based on trending, and apparently T-Mobile doesn't think much of it; in fact, besides blocking MinuteWatcher's servers, they've gone ahead and amended their terms of service to specifically prohibit such services. For a company typically known for showing its customers much love, T-Mobile's move doesn't show a lot of tact -- but then again, nothing speaks louder than the almighty overage minute.
Norway takes iTMS ToS gripes to court
A consumer advocacy group in Norway is apparently not too happy with the iTMS ToS (Terms of Service) and has won a preliminary ruling in an attempt to force Apple to make some edits. Specifically, the Norwegian group is attacking Apple's liability for any security breaches their software might allow (think: "Sony rootkits"), as well as the company's 'we can edit these ToS anytime we want' policy that is outlined in said ToS. Also on the table, yet again, is the use of DRM and whether it violates fundamental consumer rights in Norway, and the proposition of a 'cooling off' period for iTMS purchases.First France, now Norway. The iTMS and its practices are taking quite the beating lately. We should take bets as to how long it will take Norwegian pro-music industry lobbyists to get these rulings fixed this time around.[via MacNN]
UK T-Mobile sez no to VoIP
Got UK T-Mobile's Web 'n' Walk Professional laptop 3G service? Well, you better beware about your data use -- even though you're paying a flat rate fee for your service, you're likely to cross the TOS line by going over 2GB of data per month, especially if you use two services they specifically cite in prohibition: VoIP and IM. VoIP, well, that's something that due to latency issues you probably won't consume a lot of on your 3G connection, but IM? We're having a hard time imagining why they wouldn't want you instant messaging with your laptop -- how about web browsing, want to axe that too? So be aware that if the "use of Voice over Internet Protocol and Messaging over Internet Protocol [over the service]... is detected, T-Mobile may terminate all contracts with the customer and disconnect any SIM cards and/or Web 'n' Walk cards from the T-Mobile network." Guess that's better than being charged insane prices per byte of "overage" on flat data services like we've heard of happening in the US, but don't say we didn't warn you.[Via The Reg]
Embargoed Azeroth
Until I saw this article, I hadn't realized that any country with which the US had a trade embargo was prohibited from adventuring throughout Azeroth according to World of Warcraft's terms of service. Even formerly embargoed countries, such as Iraq and Iran, remain specifically banned from playing WoW. This doesn't mean that there are no players in embargoed countries - only that they may be permanently banned whenever Blizzard takes the time to enforce these rules. It's an interesting look at the barricades between some players and the virtual world most of us take for granted.
