title: Did you read your TOS?
link: http://jj.isgeek.net/2006/02/did-you-read-your-tos/
author: Jj
description: 
post_id: 112
date: 2006/02/01 01:23:59
created_gmt: 2006/02/01 06:23:59
comment_status: open
slug: did-you-read-your-tos

The other day I read this post with [10 reasons why not to use MSN spaces to write a blog](http://www.recablog.com/2006/01/28/10-motivos-por-los-que-no-usar-msn-spaces-para-escribir-un-blog/).

And it really caught my attention point #1:

> **Copyright:** Todos los blogs alojados en los MSN Spaces estÃ¡ sujetos a Copyright con autorÃ­a de Microsoft. Si nosotros hacemos los artÃ­culos Â¿Por quÃ© tienen que ser suyos?

Translated:

> **Copyright** All blogs' posts in MSN Spaces are bound to Copyright with Microsoft authorship. If we make the post, Why do they have to be theirs(microsoft's)?

Not happy I went to read Microsoft's [Terms of Use](http://privacy2.msn.com/tou/en-us/default.aspx):

> **6\. MATERIALS YOU POST OR PROVIDE; COMMUNICATIONS MONITORING**
> 
> For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a "Submission"), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission. Microsoft may remove your Submission at any time. For each Submission, you represent that you have all rights necessary for you to make the grants in this section. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Microsoft may monitor your e-mail, or other electronic communications and may disclose such information in the event it has a good faith reason to believe it is necessary for purposes of ensuring your compliance with this Agreement, and protecting the rights, property, and interests of the Microsoft Parties or any customer of a Microsoft Party. 

Which means(I could be wrong) that if Microsoft finds something interesting in your blog posts or whatever you put in a "Msn Web Site" (Is hotmail a MSN Web Site?) may be sublicensed by them, then removed from where you put it and they will not pay you for it. God knows what they do your post :P.

It's not that my conversations are worth big money, but I still feel cheated by the fact they are claiming ownership of my thinking.

[Google's Terms of use](https://mail.google.com/mail/help/terms_of_use.html) and [Yahoo's Terms of Services](http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/) do not do that.

From Google's:

> Your Intellectual Property Rights. Google does not claim any ownership in any of the content, including any text, data, information, images, photographs, music, sound, video, or other material, that you upload, transmit or store in your Gmail account. We will not use any of your content for any purpose except to provide you with the Service.

From Yahoo's:

> Yahoo! does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service, you grant Yahoo! the following world-wide, royalty free and non-exclusive license(s), as applicable:

The rest tells you that if it is in a public place, Yahoo can _the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purposes of providing and promoting the specific service_ as long as you or Yahoo make the content available.

It amazes me now how millions of people just click on the ckeck box to get through not knowing what they are agreeing on. 

Too bad tho all my friends still love the spam, ads, flash at @hotmail emails, and vibrating chat windows :?

## Comments

**[talishte](#181 "2006-02-01 02:20:51"):** Que buena comparaciÃ²n.

