# OT: Terms of service **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [October 17, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417 "2006-10-17T04:24:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/1 "2006-10-17T04:24:53Z")
Guys, Can anyone point me to an online resource that provides boiler plate terms of service for web apps? If not, how can one gain TOS on a poor man’s budget? Is it legal to copy/modify another company’s terms of service? They don’t seem to be copyrighted, but somehow this just feels wrong. Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if the only way to get TOS is through a lawyer, any affordable lawyer recommendations that specialize in this sort of thing would be helpful. Thanks! Jake ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/2 "2006-10-17T15:45:11Z")
On 10/16/06, Jake C. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if > the only way to get TOS is through a lawyer, any affordable lawyer > recommendations that specialize in this sort of thing would be helpful. Bump…just to see if anyone’s listening. I _know_ some of you have had to deal with this… 😉 Thanks, Jake ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/3 "2006-10-17T16:07:02Z")
I copied mine from a major online retailer and tweaked it, but it’s still way over-the-top for my little store. I have pasted it below. c. Conditions of Use Introduction Welcome to the SITE Store. This site (referred to throughout this site as “[SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM)”) is provided by Site as a service to our customers. Please review the following basic rules that govern your use of the [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) site (the “Agreement”). Please note that your use of the [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) site (the “Site”) constitutes your unconditional agreement to follow and be bound by these Terms of Use. Although you may “bookmark” a particular portion of this Site and thereby bypass this Agreement, your use of this Site still binds you to these Terms of Use. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) reserves the right to update or modify these Terms of Use at any time without prior notice to you. Your use of the Site following any such change constitutes your unconditional agreement to follow and be bound by these Terms of Use as changed. For this reason, we encourage you to review these Terms of Use whenever you use this Site. Use of this Site By accepting these Terms of Use through your use of the Site, you certify that you are 18 years of age or older. If you are under the age of 18 but at least 13 years of age you may use this Site only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms of Use. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) does not intentionally collect personal information about children under the age of 13. Children under the age of 13 may not use this Site and parents or legal guardians may not agree to these Terms of Use on their behalf. If you are a parent or legal guardian agreeing to these Terms of Use for the benefit of a child between the ages of 13 and 18, be advised that you are fully responsible for his or her use of this Site, including all financial charges and legal liability that he or she may incur. If you do not agree to (or cannot comply with) any of these terms and conditions, do not use this Site. All billing and registration information provided must be truthful and accurate. Providing any untruthful or inaccurate information may constitute a breach of these Terms of Use. By confirming your purchase at the end of the checkout process, you agree to accept and pay for the item(s) requested. All materials, including images, text, illustrations, designs, icons, photographs, programs, music clips or downloads, video clips and written and other materials that are part of this Site (collectively, the “Contents”) are intended solely for personal, non-commercial use. You may download or copy the Contents and other downloadable materials displayed on the Site for your personal use only. No right, title or interest in any downloaded materials or software is transferred to you as a result of any such downloading or copying. You may not reproduce (except as noted above), publish, transmit, distribute, display, modify, create derivative works from, sell or participate in any sale of or exploit in any way, in whole or in part, any of the Contents, the Site or any related software. The Contents and software on this Site may be used only as a shopping resource. Any other use, including the reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication, display, or performance, of the Contents on this Site is strictly prohibited. Objectionable Material. You understand that by using this Site or any services provided on the Site, you may encounter Content that may be deemed by some to be offensive, indecent, or objectionable, which Content may or may not be identified as such. You agree to use the Site and any service at your sole risk and that [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) and its affiliates shall have no liability to you for Content that may be deemed offensive, indecent, or objectionable. Site Security Users are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Site, including, without limitation, (a) accessing data not intended for such user or logging onto a server or an account which the user is not authorized to access; (b) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (c) attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, “flooding,” “spamming,” “mailbombing” or “crashing;” (d) sending unsolicited email, including promotions and/or advertising of products or services; or (e) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) will investigate occurrences that may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are involved in such violations. You agree not to use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of this Site or any activity being conducted on this Site. You agree, further, not to use or attempt to use any engine, software, tool, agent or other device or mechanism (including without limitation browsers, spiders, robots, avatars or intelligent agents) to navigate or search this Site other than the search engine and search agents available from [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) on this Site and other than generally available third party web browsers (e.g., Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Explorer). Order Acceptance Please note that there may be certain orders that we are unable to accept and must cancel. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse or cancel any order for any reason. For your convenience, you will not be charged until your payment method is authorized, the order information is verified for accuracy and your order is shipped. Some situations that may result in your order being canceled include limitations on quantities available for purchase, inaccuracies or errors in product or pricing information, or problems identified by our credit and fraud avoidance department. We may also require additional verifications or information before accepting any order. We will contact you if all or any portion of your order is canceled or if additional information is required to accept your order. If your order is canceled after your credit card has been charged, we will issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of the charge. Pricing Information While [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) strives to provide accurate product and pricing information, pricing or typographical errors may occur. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) cannot confirm the price of an item until after you order. In the event that an item is listed at an incorrect price or with incorrect information due to an error in pricing or product information, [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) shall have the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse or cancel any orders placed for that item. In the event that an item is mispriced, [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) may, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation. Quantity Limits & Dealer Sales [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to limit the quantity of items purchased per person, per household or per order. These restrictions may be applicable to orders placed by the same [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) account, the same credit card, and also to orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address. We will provide notification to the customer should such limits be applied. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) also reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to prohibit sales to dealers. If you are interested in purchasing multiple quantities of items for a corporation or institution, please contact us by email at removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid. Copyrights and Trademarks Access to this Site does not confer and shall not be considered as conferring upon anyone any license under any of [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM)’s or any third party’s intellectual property rights. The Site names and logos and all related product and service names, design marks and slogans are the trademarks or service marks of SITE. All other marks are the property of their respective companies. No trademark or service mark license is granted in connection with the materials contained on this Site. Access to this Site does not authorize anyone to use any name, logo or mark in any manner. References on this Site to any names, marks, products or services of third parties or hypertext links to third party sites or information are provided solely as a convenience to you and do not in any way constitute or imply [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM)’s endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation of the third party, information, product or service. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) is not responsible for the content of any third party sites and does not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of material on such sites. If you decide to link to any such third party web sites, you do so entirely at your own risk. Colors We have made every effort to display the colors of our products that appear on the Site as accurately as possible. However, as the actual colors you see will depend on your monitor, we cannot guarantee that your monitor’s display of any color will be accurate. Indemnification You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) and its affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising from or related to your use of the Site. Termination These Terms of Use are effective unless and until terminated by either you or [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM). You may terminate this Agreement at any time, provided that you discontinue any further use of this Site. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) also may terminate this Agreement at any time and may do so immediately without notice, and accordingly deny you access to the Site, if in [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM)’s sole discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of this Agreement. Upon any termination of the Agreement by either you or [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM), you must promptly destroy all materials downloaded or otherwise obtained from this Site, as well as all copies of such materials, whether made under the Terms of Use or otherwise. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM)’s right to any Comments shall survive any termination of this Agreement. Disclaimer THIS SITE IS PROVIDED BY [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SITE OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, OR PRODUCTS INCLUDED ON THIS SITE. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 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IN NO EVENT WILL [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF THE FEES PAID BY YOU IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SITE DURING THE SIX MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE DATE ON WHICH THE CLAIM AROSE. General This Agreement represents the complete agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior agreements and representations between them. Headings used in these Terms of Use are for reference purposes only and in no way define or limit the scope of the section. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable and the other terms of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. The failure of [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM) to act with respect to a breach of this Agreement by you or others does not constitute a waiver and shall not limit [SITE.COM](http://SITE.COM)’s rights with respect to such breach or any subsequent breaches. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed under California law without regard to conflicts of law provisions. Any action or proceeding arising out of or related to this Agreement or your use of this Site must be brought in the state or federal courts of California and you consent to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of such courts. ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/4 "2006-10-17T17:57:20Z")
I discussed this very topic with a lawyer that specializes in copyright/trademark law a couple years ago. I may get the finer details wrong here, but the gist of his answer was that Terms of Service are considered legal forms, and are therefore NOT copywritable. However, I can also tell you from personal experience that if you copy a much larger competitors TOS nearly verbatim, and the boys in charge there are ex-Microsoft people with trigger-happy lawsuit habits, you may get end up paying your lawyer to argue with theirs until one of you gives up or runs out of money. So, my recommendation is to copy TOS’s from several similar sites, and a few less similar, meld them together, reword key sentences and paragraph structures, etc. Spend about two hours and make it “look” like you’re own work. It may save you a big headache down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/5 "2006-10-17T18:19:27Z")
> Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if > the only way to get TOS is through a lawyer, any affordable lawyer > recommendations that specialize in this sort of thing would be helpful. Maybe I’m naive, but rather than first approach our TOS from a legal standpoint, I thought about it in what I guess I’d call a moral light: what did we actually want people to use our site for, and what did we find objectionable? I think this made it a friendlier and more human document. I then did read a few other TOS’s from around the web to make sure I didn’t leave any gaping holes (though I well might have – if anyone checks it out and sees any, please let me know 🙂 This is what I ended up with: [http://squirl.info/tos](http://squirl.info/tos) ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/6 "2006-10-17T19:47:55Z")
On 10/17/06, removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I like your approach of giving it a more homey feel (and funny to boot). I guess my biggest concern is exposing myself to risk of litigation from people who simply have nothing better to do. I’ll be releasing my application soon…a first for me, so just trying to cross all t’s and dot all i’s. While it’s nothing that could cause bodily harm if it feels, one could stretch to say that if it presented information improperly due to a bug, it could impact your work life and thus cause you harm (a big stretch). In this case, I want to make sure I’m covered. I wonder if “MyCompany is in no way responsible for anything contained at the web site [XYZ.com](http://XYZ.com), or for your use of anything contained at the web site [XYZ.com](http://XYZ.com)” would cover it? Jake ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/7 "2006-10-18T18:51:52Z")
Guys, Thanks very much for the useful feedback. It helped tremendously! Jake ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/4491bb/32.png) [@Jake\_C](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Jake_C)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ot-terms-of-service/72417/8 "2006-10-17T20:59:13Z")
Sorry Jake, I misunderstood what you meant by “TOS” - mine was (of course obvious by looking at it) a tos for a retail site. With respect to TOS on an application, just as with any other contract, you can put whatever conditions on use you feel you need (IANAL, though I was in a past life a CPA with commercial law familiarity). It is perfectly acceptable for you to state upon signup that “use of this site is at your own risk including the potential for loss of data, etc., etc.” I would also specifically disclaim: …all warranties, implied and otherwise, including the warranties of merchantibility and fitness for a particular use. This is standard boilerplate contractual language, but is absolutely necessary in Uniform Commercial Code contracts in terms of limiting your liability. You would do well also to highlight this specific disclaimer with bold and/or larger lettering. So, I guess my point is that yes, it can be as simple as you stated below, but you would do yourself a favor to put some thought into it and make it both clear and somewhat comprehensive with respect to the types of things you can imagine someone trying to use as a claim against you. c. Jake C. wrote: > On 10/17/06, removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > > > I like your approach of giving it a more homey feel (and funny to boot). > > I guess my biggest concern is exposing myself to risk of litigation from > people who simply have nothing better to do. I’ll be releasing my > application soon…a first for me, so just trying to cross all t’s and > dot > all i’s. While it’s nothing that could cause bodily harm if it feels, > one > could stretch to say that if it presented information improperly due to > a > bug, it could impact your work life and thus cause you harm (a big > stretch). > In this case, I want to make sure I’m covered. > > I wonder if > “MyCompany is in no way responsible for anything contained at the web > site > [XYZ.com](http://XYZ.com), or for your use of anything contained at the web site [XYZ.com](http://XYZ.com)” > would cover it? > > Jake