Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ “...to crush a 14-year-old would appear to be a step too far.”

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This story essentially involves a large company suing a 14-year old for cheating on a video game. Actually, it's not clear to me that it's 'cheating' - he simply used a piece of software to automate some activities. But the main argument here revolves around the use of licensing agreements and terms of service contracts. I personally don't recognize their validity, first, because nobody reads them, second, because they are deliberately obscure and misleading, third, because they often contain terms that are not enforceable (because, for example, they may violate charters of rights, or other legislation), and fourth, because we are not in a position to comply (we may be minors, we may be working in organizations, etc.). I recognize that some courts may disagree with me. But I have long since given up on the fairness of the courts in matters such as this; no matter what the document actually says, in the main, the party with the most resources will win.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 5:21 p.m.

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