September 2012 – Page 2

OMFG! Now eBay is trying it!

Updated provisions governing how disputes between eBay and eBay users are resolved.

The User Agreement contains an Agreement to Arbitrate, which will, with limited exception, require you and eBay to submit claims to binding and final arbitration, unless you opt-out of the Agreement to Arbitrate by November 9, 2012. Unless you opt-out: (1) you will only be permitted to pursue claims against eBay on an individual basis, not as part of any class or representative action or proceeding and (2) you will only be permitted to seek relief (including monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief) on an individual basis.

I hate this country so much. Why not just make it illegal to have rights in opposition to corporate profits in any way? I mean Why not just let which ever companies are patent all our genes license us to the corporations as slave labor directly? That’s what they seem to want and no one seems to care.

On the surface opt out would seem to be an option but surprise surprise check this shit out…

If you choose not to accept the new terms, visit this help page for further direction.

That “help page” link sends me here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/closing-account.html

So apparently by “opt out” they mean “close your account.”

Searching for “opt out” in support yields nothing.

http://ocs.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CustomerSupport&action=0&searchstring=opt+out

I don’t know why this has me so upset, I mean its not like the legal system applies in favor of me anyway. Everyone knows that the law only applies in your favor if you can afford a lawyer. This really changes nothing.

Why isn’t the ACLU all over this? You’d think they would care about major companies forcing customer to sign away a civil right.

I guess they got tired of buying congressmen to get new rules in their favor, now they’ll just make them up as they go and enforce them themselves.

Yay for a budding Johnny Mnemonic dystopia. Welcome to the United ~~States~~ Corporations of America. Scanning dyslexia prostheses implant…

Microsoft jumps on the Rights denial Steam bandwagon.

If not now, when?

Updated slightly: 2013-10-17 1051 PM

I ask this question to illustrate the point that there is a point when the unthinkable must become thinkable. I ask this question because it’s a good idea to anticipate this sort of thing.

We are at the worst point for civil liberties the history of the west has ever seen. To get qualitatively worse from here we’d have to break out (more of) the East German or North Korean tool box.

I mean Jesus, look around. At what point (before it’s too late of course) if not now will it be justified to openly speak about, if not overtly plan for, our last resort?

Democracy is clearly dying, if not long dead.

That isn’t hyperbole. Look at the facts. (Feel free to suggest others.)

Indeed, even this post, despite (this sentence and) my overt and well known opposition to violence and vengeance could be construed as incitement of some quasi illegal type.

None of that is secret, or even uncommon knowledge. The facts have literally ceased to matter.

How bad does it have to get (for everyone, not just you) before talking about revolt stops being crazy/criminal talk?

Your silence is killing people, and the next death might well be yours.

“…the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” ~John Steinbeck

“There’s a point far out there, when the structures fail you and when the rules aren’t weapons anymore, they’re shackles, letting the bad guy get ahead… One day you may face such a moment of crisis.” ~Jim Gordon, DKR

Microsoft jumps on the Rights denial Steam bandwagon.

Update: http://consumerist.com/2013/12/19/watch-al-franken-shred-a-pro-arbitration-professor-for-trying-to-gloss-over-the-problem/

Today I got the following email.

We’ve updated the Microsoft Services Agreement, which governs many of our online services – including your Microsoft account and many of our online products and services for consumers, such as Hotmail, SkyDrive, Bing, MSN, Office.com, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail Desktop, and Windows Writer. Please read over the new Microsoft Services Agreement here to familiarize yourself with the changes we’ve made.

The updated agreement will take effect on October 19, 2012. If you continue to use our services after October 19th, you agree to the terms of the new agreement or, of course you can cancel your service at any time.

We have modified the agreement to make it easier to read and understand, including using a question and answer format that we believe makes the terms much clearer. We also clarified how Microsoft uses your content to better protect consumers and improve our products, including aligning our usage to the way we’re designing our cloud services to be highly integrated across many Microsoft products. We realize you may have personal conversations and store personal files using our products, and we want you to know that we prioritize your privacy.

Finally, we have added a binding arbitration clause and class action waiver that affects how disputes with Microsoft will be resolved in the United States.

Thank you for using Microsoft products and services!

This is exactly like that crap Steam has pulled. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2848908

https://plus.google.com/u/0/115056313943520401920/posts/fZfDdMgAVnK

I think this recent wave of class action terror is a strong sign that we should be demanding our right to it.

Rather than fighting the corporations on this individually perhaps we should demand legislation that makes it simply illegal to sign away your rights to legal recourse at all.

I mean really. What if I put a clause in a pre-nup saying my spouse lost her right to sue me for slapping her? Clearly that would be laughed out of court. How is denying access to a specific legal recourse as a condition of using the service any different? They are literally trying to be above the law.

Update: Now eBay is doing it as well.

OMFG! Now eBay is trying it!