It looks like the current pending requests are:
-WoW
-Xbox 360
-iTunes
I don't think I'll be using the iTunes one, because it seems like a lot of people have gone over it already. So I guess it's a coin flip between the other two. *flips* Xbox it is!
Today we're reviewing the
Xbox Live and Games for Windows Terms of Use. As usual, the website is ugly and hard to read so you should paste it into a word program if you're following along. It looks pretty similar to other EULA's we've done so far, but hopefully there will be enough unique elements to keep it interesting.
As usual, you are advised to take a break somewhere in the course of reading this. It's godawful long.
1. This Is a Contract between You and Microsoft.This is a contract between you and Microsoft Corporation... or, based on where you live, one of the Microsoft Corporation affiliates. We will refer to ourselves in this contract as "Microsoft", "we", "us", or “our”.
Pretty straightforward, this. Worth noting since they're actually using Microsoft in their contract instead of some other silly name. Oh, heads up, I may use "XBL" for Xbox Live later.
This contract covers your use of the Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows LIVE interactive services... To avoid any confusion, when you register to use the Xbox LIVE service, you are registering for both the Xbox LIVE service and the Games for Windows LIVE service.
Nice and simple. I should note that so far this is a pretty readable document. It also says that this governs things downloaded from Xbox Live or the windows marketplace.
The Service is offered to you conditioned on your acceptance of all terms in this contract. By selecting "ACCEPT" below, you are representing that you are 18 years old... [and that your registration information is correct]
This again.
I find it humorous. Just remember, they CAN revoke your account if you claim to be born on January 1st, 0 in Nazareth.
In addition, if you were a party to a prior version of this contract, that version may have stated that the contract can only be updated on 30 days’ notice. By selecting “ACCEPT” below, you are also agreeing to waive the applicability of this notice requirement.
Oh my! Here I thought I was on a good streak. It looks like previously, there was a clause in the EULA that said the EULA could not be modified without a month's notice.
Then they made a change to the EULA that revoked that. Looks like this is yet another EULA that can be changed at any time.
Oh, and as usual, there's a clause saying that if you don't agree to the contract you don't get any XBL service.
2. Additional Terms.Certain games, content offerings, features, or events (for example, sweepstakes and tournaments) that are available via the Service may contain additional terms, codes of conduct, or guidelines
Yeah, this just governs third party stuff. I think it would be clearer if I paraphrased than quoted:
-Some things may cause you to enter additional contracts with third parties
-These contracts may not affect Microsoft's contract with you
-Microsoft is not responsible for any number of problems, fiascoes or shenanigans third parties may cause
-Microsoft's agreement comes first:
Your use of any part of the Service as accessed through a third party web site or social network, however, is still governed by this contract – even if the terms or agreements applicable to such a third party web site state otherwise.
3. When You May Use the Service.This is just a brief paragraph.
You may start using the Service as soon as you have finished the sign-up process... except if the law requires a "cooling off" period despite your waiver and even when a Service starts right away.
Which is a weird thing to say, because I don't know of any law that prevents you from accessing an online service immediately, anywhere. Just an odd provision, I guess, or maybe it applies only to Estonia or something.
4. Using the Service.This is the section regarding your code of conduct.
First off, it says you shouldn't break any laws (yawn) or break the
XBL Code of Conduct. While the code of conduct is kind of an aside and some of it is redundant to the EULA, I'd like to take a brief look at it. Let's see... it encourages you to mute players instead of argue, don't be obnoxious, don't cheat, don't sell accounts, there's a list of how account suspension works...
D. Expression of Relationship Orientation
You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation or gender identity in your profile or Gamertag:
* Lesbian
* Gay
* Bi
* Transgender
* Straight
Other terms regarding relationship orientation are not allowed. In addition you may not use these terms or any other terms regarding relationship orientation to insult, harass, or any other pejorative use against other users.
Hmmmmmm. Well, I don't envy whoever was on the committee to write up this policy. Also, what other "terms regarding relationship orientation" are not allowed, exactly? Beastial? You know what, actually, I just don't want to know.
Any-hoo, back to our regular programming. Next up:
YOU MUST NOT: [bullet-pointed list]
Time to pick on some bullet points! ...actually meh, this bit is pretty standard. Stuff about not hacking the service or viruses or cheating or advertising/selling things over XBL.
It's also got the bullet-pointed list from the Code of Conduct. Notably, it says you must not use XBL to:
Publish, distribute, or disseminate any content, topic, name, material, file, or information that incites, advocates, promotes, depicts, constitutes, or expresses ... profanity, hatred, bigotry, racism, illegal drug use, gratuitous or graphic violence, or criminal or fraudulent activity; [emphasis mine]
Good thing there isn't profanity or violence in things Microsoft publishes or markets on the Xbox or Xbox Live...
Create a Gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members.
This sort of thing always worries me. The whole bullet point mentions that this
includes various offensive things, but I still wonder where they draw the line on people who are offended just being crazy as opposed to screen names being too offensive.
Download or use any material sent or provided by another user of the Service that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally shared or distributed in such manner (except as expressly permitted by us);
This is meant to prevent piracy. However, it looks to me like the wording implies that it's okay to download something that isn't legal as long as Microsoft expressly permits it.
Not that they could actually do that, but hey, I get my laughs.
5. Your Service account, associated accounts and accounts from third parties. Is this a good time to mention there's 19 sections?
Only you may use your Service account. ...You’re responsible for all activity that takes place with your Service account and any associated accounts.
The details and exceptions of that make up this section.
Chiefly, this regards:
If you allow or enable a minor to use your Service account or an associated account, then:
A list! And it's
for the children!You represent that you are the parent or legal guardian of each such minor;
Again, this weird policy of not letting other people's children use your account. What's up with that? Do they think kids don't have friends over and then proceed to share the XBL account?
You acknowledge that you are aware that some features of the Service, and some content available through the Service may contain or expose users to material that is unsuitable for minors...
What they don't tell you is that the worst profanity comes from squeaky twelve-year-olds.
Other than that it mostly just says to use your parental settings.
6. If You Pay Microsoft.The first bit of this section notes that it doesn't apply to payments made to third parties.
Boring details: When you give them your payment information you agree to let them take money from you before, shortly after or on a subscription to the service, and...
Also, we may charge you up to the amount you have approved.
Up to? Sweet! It looks like Microsoft decided to make it clear that they weren't required to take your money. For some reason.
It also mentions that subscriptions will be automatically renewed unless you say otherwise, and that free trials might automatically upgrade (and charge you). Standard, but ugh. I think I already complained a lot about this practice earlier though.
In addition, the price we set for certain features or functions in the Service may vary depending on whether the features or functions are accessed from Xbox LIVE or from Games for Windows LIVE...
Huh, that's weird. They can have different prices for the same service on your Xbox and PC.
Unless otherwise provided by law or in connection with any particular Service offer, all charges are earned when received and are non-refundable...
The usual.
If we make an error on your bill, we’ll correct it promptly after you tell us and we investigate the charge. You must tell us within 120 days after an error first appears on your bill.
It looks like they have a pretty good policy on billing errors. Again, not much to say though.
Oh, and alarmingly, they reserve the right to cancellation charges.
Some Service offers may require you to pay cancellation charges as stated in the materials describing the offer.
It also says you're responsible for paying for your own internet service, and mentions that content purchases are covered further in section 10.
Oh, and section 7 is just regarding payments made to... presumably people selling things through XBL, or refunds. It's only one paragraph and it mostly just says that they can't pay you if you don't provide your payment information.
8. Your Content.This is the part that says you have no rights to things you post!
Basically, the whole section describes the various ways in which any content you put on XBL becomes open content. Most notably:
...you grant to those members of the public to whom you have granted access (for content posted on shared and private areas of the Service) or to the public (for content posted on public areas of the Service), and, in either case, to us, free, unlimited, worldwide, nonexclusive, perpetual, and irrevocable permission to:
* use, modify, copy, distribute, and display the content in connection with the Service and other Microsoft products and services;
* publish your name, Gamertag, or other information you supply in connection with the content; and
* grant these rights to others.
Not quite as silly as the one in World of Tanks (they only went for worldwide rights, whereas World of Tanks claims rights including on the moon), but still pretty crazy. Same goes with photos, it basically considers you to have signed a release form in the act of posting one.
If the submission is a photograph or other digital image, you also expressly waive any and all rights of privacy and publicity with respect to the image.
As far as I know, there haven't been any scandals with this. But I'd like to make clear what this allows: Let's suppose, theoretically, you uploaded a picture of yourself naked somehow. Say, you forgot your camera was on and taking video of you playing a game and you sat down on your catch for some pre-breakfast video games.
Microsoft could then, legally, sell this picture. Mm-hmm. It's what you're agreeing to. They
wouldn't, but suppose a less trustworthy company had this sort of agreement? Think about it.
Oh, and on a less sensational note, it says not to violate copyright and to back up your own data.
9. Privacy.Whee! This is what they do with your credit card number (note it has nothing to do with user-uploaded content such as photos).
First off, it says that collecting certain information about you is necessary to provide the service. It may be disclosed, however.
In particular, we may access or disclose information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft, our partners, or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the Service; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public.
I'm not sure when disclosing your personal information will be necessary to protect Microsoft employees, but most of this makes sense.
We may use technology or other means to protect the Service, protect our customers, or stop you from breaching this contract. These means may include, for example, filtering to stop spam or increase security. These means may hinder or break your use of the Service.
"The spam filter might break your account." That's... frank.
It also says that information about things like online time and gameplay is collected for various purposes (such as leaderboards or charting server load).
You should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features (for example, voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions) offered through the Service.
Good internet advice. It says that you may be monitored, but shouldn't rely on it.
10. Intellectual Property. I'm on page 10 of 15.
Basically, this says that you don't have copy rights to the software you download. You cannot resell it, etc.
...the software and Service are solely licensed and not sold.
And, it says not to hack or jailbreak it.
You must not work around any technical limitations in the software. You must not disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer any software that’s included in the Service...
The software is subject to U.S. export laws and regulations.
Okay, that's pretty normal. What else does it entail?
Without limitation, you may not transfer the software or Service without U.S. government permission to anyone on U.S. government exclusion lists... the governments of Iran, Sudan, or Cuba; or prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party.
Holy crap. Yikes. Wow. No communists allowed, huh? Don't think I've seen
this in other EULAs.
11. Microsoft Points.If you didn't know already, Microsoft points are the currency used to buy things on XBL. You can purchase it directly from your credit card or from cards sold in stores.
If you obtain Microsoft Points, you have obtained a limited license to a digital product. Points have no monetary value.
Yadda yadda, the usual.
...no refunds are available for unused Points. Points may only be available for purchase in a few denominations.
Okay, that's actually more sinister than it sounds. The "few denominations" mentioned are offset a little from the standard price points of their products- so that when you buy things with Microsoft Points, you tend to have a little left over that's too little to spend on anything, and you can't ever seem to exchange the exact amount of real currency you're paying for an item. So not only does it obscure the actual price of an item sold on XBL (even if you do the math to convert points to currency, you have to buy the fixed, odd amounts of points), it leaves you with "money" that you can only really make use of if you buy more Microsoft points to even it out. Genuinely evil.
It also says that they can delete your points (but only if they suspect you're doing something fraudulent) and that free points given out for promotions might have an expiry date (but regular points don't expire).
12. Service Operation and Equipment.This is kind of a long segment, but it basically only says stuff about not reverse engineering or modifying your console. And, more importantly, it says that Microsoft can attempt to
detect hacked consoles and shut down their Xbox live service.
13. How We May Change the Contract.This section is
really short. All it says is that they can change the contract and you have to agree with it. Remember, there apparently used to be a provision here saying that they had to give you 30 days' notice, but they removed it.
14. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY.They make no warranty! This is so you can't try to sue Microsoft because XBL went down Friday night. They do note, though:
You may have additional consumer rights under your local laws that this contract cannot change.
15. LIABILITY LIMITATION.You can recover from the Microsoft parties for all claims only direct damages up to a total, aggregate amount equal to your Service fee for one month.
That's right: This section says no matter what happens to XBL or Windows Live (service down/incompatible, loss of data, virus destroys your computer through windows live,
Microsoft breaches an agreement with you) -note that those things are specifically listed- you're entitled to, at maximum, a month's service fee, of ten dollars or so.
It also applies even if this remedy does not fully compensate you for any losses, or fails of its essential purpose or we knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages.
Jeez.
16. Changes to the Service; If We Cancel the Service.This is also a pretty short section... it says that if they change or cancel the service, you basically have to deal with it. The only provision here they make in favor of the consumer is that if they close down the service "without cause", they'll refund you for the subscription time you won't get.
17. General Legal Terms ugh this bit looks boring...
There's a lot of loosely-related or unrelated clauses here. Let's look at the important ones:
A court may hold that we cannot enforce a part of this contract as written. If this happens, ...the rest of this contract won’t change.
Pretty much standard.
If you are accessing the Service within Germany, the agreement located at http://www.xbox.com/de-DE/legal/LiveTOU applies.
Well, I have no idea what to make of this. As usual, Google translator turns anything German into a complete word salad. However, it appears to be basically the same contract. I just can't figure out what the differences are (apparently Germany was significant legally, because there isn't a separate TOU for any other country mentioned here).
Assignment and Transfer. We may assign, transfer, or otherwise dispose our rights and obligations under this contract, in whole or in part, at any time without notice.
This section
really bugs me. It's basically a clause that says Microsoft doesn't have to keep any of its agreements made in this contract, at all, and it doesn't have to tell you about it. Really. Weasels.
Claims Must Be Filed Within One Year. You must bring any claim related to this contract or the Service within one year after the date you could first bring the claim, unless your local law requires a longer time to file claims.
This says any legal claim regarding XBL has to be filed within one year... however, I can't imagine a situation in which this would override the limit or lack thereof given by national or state laws regarding lawsuits. In fact, I think they might as well just ask pretty please with a cherry on top and get the same results before a court.
Section 18 says that legal claims regarding the EULA are carried out under Washington State law if they're in America and under the appropriate local laws in other countries, basically.
19. NOTICES.Oh screw this section it just says Microsoft has copyrights on its logo and crap.
We're Done! Finally. Gog.
Maybe I was just tired when I started, but my brain feels
especially pudding-like after this one. After having read a few EULAs, I'm kind of surprised that new and creative clauses we can get angry at keep coming up- but they do.
So, what should we do next? Also, do you guys like the long posts or prefer short, less pudding-inducing ones?
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Topic: Let's read the EULA! VII: Pando Media Booster EULA (Short one this time) (Read 36305 times)