SCOTUS sides with Corporations ... again.

[Mac1337]

Grace62 wrote:
I plan to incorporate myself as soon as possible.

Please do. You'll then realize how life is when you have to hustle for every dollar then turn it over to people you don't even know. But wait! You have no intention of actually working.

[Grace62]

I do work Dakota, I've mentioned it here a number of times.
You're just to busy making up your own reality to befriend the other people here.

[cbelt3]

Ignoring the hysteria, it's important to note that this is a Contractual issue. It has to do with the binding nature of 'service contracts'. SCOTUS has empirically upheld the integrity of the contract.

I mean, do you actually READ contracts that you sign ? I do. I've even been known to take out a red pen and mark them up before I agree to sign them. And I'm talking boilerplate 'agreements'.

Admittedly, the 'take it or leave it' contract that one is given on a web site cannot be changed. So one's choice is to simply say 'No' and walk away.

Of course, there's a game store in the UK that contractually owns the rights to a number of their customers immortal souls.. :devil:

Hate to burst your sense of moral outrage here, folks, but this is not a big deal. Don't want it ? Don't sign it. The alternative is that contracts start to become non-binding and unenforceable. And for those of you who depend on contracts to get paid for freelance work and so forth... how would you fare ? Yeah. Thought so.

[Spock]

cbelt3, when a contract takes away your constitutional right to access the justice system it is a big deal.

[cbelt3]

Spock wrote:
cbelt3, when a contract takes away your constitutional right to access the justice system it is a big deal.

By signing it, you WAIVE your constitutional rights. Don't sign it. It's pretty darn simple.

I'm actually kind of impressed... SCOTUS did not take the opportunity to enrich the parasitic population of lawyers by destroying binding arbitration, which is a generally lower cost alternative.

[mattkime]

yes, of COURSE we should read every contract we enter into. I'd love to have the time to peruse the contract that comes with every credit card, bank account, phone, software application, and pretty much goddamn near anything i buy. but when 99% of the time

a) the contract doesn't affect me
b) if it does, i don't understand how
c) makes claims that may or may not be legally binding
d) won't be enforced even if its breached

then why am i going to spend the time?

And this ignores the point that people have limited choice in some marketplace items (like cell phones!) and that people end of forced choosing between making use of common technology and preserving their rights.

Sure, it would be nice to livein your high midned world of ideas, but most of us are stuck here in reality.

[cbelt3]

matt-
Agreed. But unfortunately "I didn't read it" doesn't work in contract law.

Which, of course, is why the damn things are so impenetrably dense. I'd prefer to see some laws encouraging 'plain language'. But that will never happen, because then all those damn lawyers would have to find real jobs. And of course because the damn politicians are generally lawyers.

[vision63]

Like you said cbelt3, when you're cracking open the box to your Mac, are you going to choose to not continue? Are you going to read the contract? No. It's not just websites, it's everything that you "need" or want. The depth, breadth and scale of these contracts and user agreements are not reasonable in the first place.

I should say. kinda said...

[loveshine]

It's just the continued rise of the new rulers of the world. It's clear that governments simply place profits above people because they must serve their masters.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Rulers-World-J...185984393X