"Terms and Conditions"

Whenever I sign in to “blogger”, I'm asked to update to the new Google blogger edition. I always answer “no" because I don't need any of the new features. Plus, its kind of scary to think about how dominant Google Inc. has become in the internet market, combined with the fact that they store all of your searches and internet activity.

But for some reason, today I decided to give it a try. After entering my username and password, I was asked to accept the “Terms of Service.”

(I love it when "Terms of Service" are short. Not only short, but they're written to be read by actual people. (as opposed to their attorneys) I signed up for something once where the Terms were just 5 bullet point items. and they were written like this; "Don't make copies and sell this software. We won't distribute any of your personal information. etc." It was the information that a reasonable user could read and would want to know.)

So anyway, I was curious to see how long the "Google Blogger" terms were, so I clicked on them. Within those terms, were additional links to the “terms and conditions”, “privacy policy”, and “content policy” among others. I clicked on most of the major links, and cut and paste the contents into Word.

The result; 18 and a half single spaced pages in 10 pt font.

These were two of my favorite clauses at the beginning:

Google may, in its sole discretion, modify or revise these Terms of Service and policies at any time, and you agree to be bound by such modifications or revisions.

Although we may attempt to notify you when major changes are made to these Blogger Terms of Service, you should periodically review the most up-to-date version.

So what if,,, beginning next month, Google starts charging $1,000 a month for the Blogger service, and fails to notify me of the change? A year from now I get a bill for $12,000.

I guess I'm legally bound.