#i like the end user license agreement

[doughyduo]

speaking of thighs-

[mostlysignssomeportents]

It was all downhill after the Cuecat

Sometime in 2001, I walked into a Radio Shack on San Francisco’s Market Street and asked for a Cuecat: a handheld barcode scanner that looked a bit like a cat and a bit like a sex toy. The clerk handed one over to me and I left, feeling a little giddy. I didn’t have to pay a cent.

The Cuecat was a good idea and a terrible idea. The good idea was to widely distribute barcode scanners to computer owners, along with software that could read and decode barcodes; the company’s marketing plan called for magazines and newspapers to print barcodes alongside ads and articles, so readers could scan them and be taken to the digital edition. To get the Cuecat into widespread use, the company raised millions in the capital markets, then mass-manufactured these things and gave them away for free at Radio Shacks around the country. Every Wired and Forbes subscriber got one in the mail!

That was the good idea (it’s basically a prototype for today’s QR-codes). The terrible idea was that this gadget would spy on you. Also, it would only work with special barcodes that had to be licensed from the manufacturer. Also, it would only work on Windows.

https://web.archive.org/web/20001017162623/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2000/nf20000928_029.htm

But the manufacturer didn’t have the last word! Not at all. A couple of enterprising hardware hackers — Pierre-Philippe Coupard and Michael Rothwell — tore down a Cuecat, dumped its ROM, and produced their own driver for it — a surveillance-free driver that worked with any barcode. You could use it to scan the UPCs on your books or CDs or DVDs to create a catalog of your media; you could use it to scan UPCs on your groceries to make a shopping list. You could do any and every one of these things, because the Cuecat was yours.

Cuecat’s manufacturer, Digital Convergence, did not like this at all. They sent out legal demand letters and even shut down some of the repositories that were hosting alternative Cuecat firmware. They changed the license agreement that came with the Cuecat software CD to prohibit reverse-engineering.

http://www.cexx.org/cuecat.htm

It didn’t matter, both as a practical matter and as a matter of law. As a practical matter, the (ahem) cat was out of the bag: there were so many web-hosting companies back then, and people mirrored the code to so many of them, the company would have its hands full chasing them all down and intimidating them into removing the code.

Then there was the law: how could you impose license terms on a gift? How could someone be bound by license terms on a CD that they simply threw away without ever opening it, much less putting it in their computer?

https://slashdot.org/story/00/09/18/1129226/digital-convergence-changes-eula-and-gets-cracked

In the end, Cuecat folded and sold off its remaining inventory. The early 2000s were not a good time to be a tech company, much less a tech company whose business model required millions of people to meekly accept a bad bargain.

Back then, tech users didn’t feel any obligation to please tech companies’ shareholders: if they backed a stupid business, that was their problem, not ours. Venture capitalists were capitalists — if they wanted us give to them according to their need and take from them according to their ability, they should be venture communists.

Last August, philosopher and Centre for Technomoral Futures director Shannon Vallor tweeted, “The saddest thing for me about modern tech’s long spiral into user manipulation and surveillance is how it has just slowly killed off the joy that people like me used to feel about new tech. Every product Meta or Amazon announces makes the future seem bleaker and grayer.”

https://twitter.com/ShannonVallor/status/1559659655097376768

She went on: “I don’t think it’s just my nostalgia, is it? There’s no longer anything being promised to us by tech companies that we actually need or asked for. Just more monitoring, more nudging, more draining of our data, our time, our joy.”

https://twitter.com/ShannonVallor/status/1559663985821106177

Today on Tumblr, @wilwheaton​ responded: “[T]here is very much no longer a feeling of ‘How can this change/improve my life?’ and a constant dread of ‘How will this complicate things as I try to maintain privacy and sanity in a world that demands I have this thing to operate.’”

https://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/698603648058556416/cory-doctorow-if-you-see-this-and-have-thoughts

Wil finished with, “Cory Doctorow, if you see this and have thoughts, I would LOVE to hear them.”

I’ve got thoughts. I think this all comes back to the Cuecat.

When the Cuecat launched, it was a mixed bag. That’s generally true of technology — or, indeed, any product or service. No matter how many variations a corporation offers, they can never anticipate all the ways that you will want or need to use their technology. This is especially true for the users the company values the least — poor people, people in the global south, women, sex workers, etc.

That’s what makes the phrase “So easy your mom can use it” particularly awful “Moms” are the kinds of people whose priorities and difficulties are absent from the room when tech designers gather to plan their next product. The needs of “moms” are mostly met by mastering, configuring and adapting technology, because tech doesn’t work out of the box for them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/19/the-weakest-link/#moms-are-ninjas

(As an alternative, I advocate for “so easy your boss can use it,” because your boss gets to call up the IT department and shout, “I don’t care what it takes, just make it work!” Your boss can solve problems through raw exercise of authority, without recourse to ingenuity.)

Technology can’t be understood separately from technology users. This is the key insight in Donald Norman’s 2004 book Emotional Design, which argued that the ground state of all technology is broken, and the overarching task of tech users is to troubleshoot the things they use:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/29/banjo-nazis/#cuckoos-egg

Troubleshooting is both an art and a science: it requires both a methodical approach and creative leaps. The great crisis of troubleshooting is that the more frustrated and angry you are, the harder it is to be methodical or creative. Anger turns attention into a narrow tunnel of brittle movements and thinking.

In Emotional Design, Norman argues that technology should be beautiful and charming, because when you like a technology that has stopped working, you are able to troubleshoot it in an expansive, creative, way. Emotional Design was not merely remarkable for what it said, but for who said it.

Donald Norman, after all, was the author of the hugely influential 1998 classic The Design of Everyday Things, which counseled engineers and designers to put function over form — to design things that work well, even if that meant stripping away ornament and sidelining aesthetics.

https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/don-norman/the-design-of-everyday-things/9780465050659/

With Emotional Design, Norman argued that aesthetics were functional, because aesthetics primed users to fix the oversights and errors and blind spots of designers. It was a manifesto for competence and humility.

And yet, as digital technology has permeated deeper into our lives, it has grown less configurable, not more. Companies today succeed where Cuecat failed. Consolidation in the online world means that if you remove a link from one search engine and four social media sites, the material in question vanishes for 99% of internet users.

It’s even worse for apps: anyone who succeeds in removing an app from two app stores essentially banishes it from the world. One mobile platform uses technological and legal countermeasures to make it virtually impossible to sideload an app; the other one relies on strong-arm tactics and deceptive warnings to do so.

That means that when a modern Coupard and Rothwell decides to unfuck some piece of technology — to excise the surveillance and proprietary media requirements, leaving behind the welcome functionality — they can only do so with the sufferance of the manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t like an add-on, mod, plug-in or overlay, they can use copyright takedowns, anticircumvention law, patent threats, trademark threats, cybersecurity law, contract law and other “IP” to simply banish the offending code:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

Many of these laws carry dire penalties. For example, distributing a tool that bypasses an “access control” so that you can change the software on a gadget (say, to make your printer accept third-party ink) is a felony under Section 1201 of the DMCA, punishable by a $500k fine and a 5-year prison sentence.

If Cuecat’s manufacturers had simply skinned their firmware with a thin scrim of DRM, they could have threatened Coupard and Rothwell with prison sentences. The developments in “IP” over the two decades since the Cuecat have conjured up a new body of de facto law that Jay Freeman calls “felony contempt of business model.”

Once we gave companies the power to literally criminalize the reconfiguration of their products, everything changed. In the Cuecat era, a corporate meeting to plan a product that acted against its users’ interests had to ask, “How will we sweeten the pot and/or obfuscate our code so that our users don’t remove the anti-features we’re planning to harm them with?”

But in a world of Felony Contempt of Business Model, that discussion changes to “Given that we can literally imprison anyone who helps our users get more out of this product, how can we punish users who are disloyal enough to simply quit our service or switch away from our product?”

That is, “how can we raise the switching costs of our products so that users who are angry at us keep using our products?” When Facebook was planning its photos product, they deliberately designed it to tempt users into making it the sole repository of their family photos, in order to hold those photos ransom to keep Facebook users from quitting for G+:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

Companies claim that their lock-in strategies are about protecting their users: “Move into our walled garden, for it is a fortress, whose battlements bristle with fearsome warriors who will defend you from the bandits who roam the countryside”:

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

But this “feudal security” offers a terrible temptation to the lords of these fortresses, because once you are inside those walls, the fortress can easily be converted to a prison: these companies can abuse you with impunity, for so long as the cost of the abuse is less than the cost of the things you must give up when you leave.

The tale that companies block you from overriding their decisions is for your own good was always dubious, because companies simply can’t anticipate all the ways their products will fail you. No design team knows as much about your moment-to-moment struggles as you do.

But even where companies are sincere in their desire to be the most benevolent of dictators, the gun on the mantelpiece in Act I is destined to go off by Act III: eventually, the temptation to profit by hurting you will overpower whatever “corporate ethics” once stayed the hand of the techno-feudalist who rules over your fortress. Under feudal security, you are one lapse in corporate leadership from your protector turning into your tormentor.

When Apple launched the Ipad 12 years ago, I published an editorial entitled “Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either),” in which I predicted that app stores would inevitable be turned against users:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Today, Apple bans apps if they “use…a third-party service” unless they “are specifically permitted to do so under the service’s terms of use.” In other words, Apple specifically prohibits developers from offering tools that displease other companies’ shareholders, no matter whether this pleases Apple customers:

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#intellectual-property

Note that clause 5.2.2 of Apple’s developer agreement doesn’t say “You mustn’t violate a legally enforceable term of service.” It just says, “Thou shalt not violate a EULA.” EULAs are garbage-novellas of impenetrable legalese, larded with unenforceable and unconscionable terms.

Apple sometimes will displease other companies on your behalf. For example, it instituted a one-click anti-tracking setting for Ios that cost Facebook $10 billion in a matter of months:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/facebook-says-apple-ios-privacy-change-will-cost-10-billion-this-year.html

But Apple also has big plans to expand its margins by growing its own advertising network. When Apple customers choose ad-blockers that block Apple’s ads, will Apple permit it?

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-is-an-ad-company-now/

The problem with app stores isn’t whether your computing experience is “curated” — that is, whether entities you trust can produce collections of software they vouch for. The problem is when you can’t choose someone else — when leaving a platform involves high switching costs, whether that’s having to replace hardware, buy new media, or say goodbye to your friends, customers, community or family.

When a company can leverage its claims to protecting you to protect itself from you — from choices you might make that ultimately undermine its shareholders interests, even if they protect your own interests — it would be pretty goddamned naive to expect it to do otherwise.

More and more of our tools are now digital tools, whether we’re talking about social media or cars, tractors or games consoles, toothbrushes or ovens:

https://www.hln.be/economie/gentse-foodboxleverancier-mealhero-failliet-klanten-weten-van-niets~a3139f52/

And more and more, those digital tools look more like apps than Cuecats, with companies leveraging “IP” to let them control who can compete with them — and how. Indeed, browsers are becoming more app-like, rather than the other way around.

Back in 2017, the W3C took the unprecedented step of publishing a DRM standard despite this standard not having anything like the consensus that is the norm for W3C publications, and the W3C rejected a proposal to protect people who reverse-engineered that standard to add accessibility features or correct privacy defects:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/open-letter-w3c-director-ceo-team-and-membership

And while we’re seeing remarkable progress on Right to Repair and other policies that allow the users of technology to override the choices of vendors, there’s another strong regulatory current that embraces companies’ ability to control their users, in the hopes that these big companies will police their users to prevent bad stuff, from controversial measures like filtering for copyright infringement to more widely supported ideas like blocking child sex abuse material (CSAM, AKA “child porn”).

There are two problems with this. First, if we tell companies they must control their users (that is, block them from running plugins, mods, skins, filters, etc) then we can’t tell them that they must not control their users. It comes down to whether you want to make Mark Zuckerberg better at his job, or whether you want to abolish the job of “Mark Zuckerberg.”

https://doctorow.medium.com/unspeakable-8c7bbd4974bc

Then there’s the other problem — the gun on the mantelpiece problem. If we give big companies the power to control their users, they will face enormous internal pressure to abuse that power. This isn’t a hypothetical risk: Facebook’s top executives stand accused of accepting bribes from Onlyfans in exchange for adding performers who left Onlyfans to a terrorist watchlist, which meant they couldn’t use other platforms:

https://gizmodo.com/clegg-meta-executives-identified-in-onlyfans-bribery-su-1849649270

I’m not a fan of terrorist watchlists, for obvious reasons. But letting Facebook manage the terrorist watchlist was clearly a mistake. But Facebook’s status as a “trusted reporter” grows directly out of Facebook’s good work on moderation. The lesson is the same as the one with Apple and the ads — just because the company sometimes acts in our interests, it doesn’t follow that we should always trust them to do so.

Back to Shannon Vallor’s question about the origins of “modern tech’s long spiral into user manipulation and surveillance” and how that “killed off the joy that people like me used to feel about new tech”; and Wil Wheaton’s “constant dread of ‘How will this complicate things as I try to maintain privacy and sanity.”

Tech leaders didn’t get stupider or crueler since those halcyon days. The tech industry was and is filled with people who made their bones building weapons of mass destruction for the military-industrial complex; IBM, the company that gave us the PC, built the tabulating machines for Nazi concentration camps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

We didn’t replace tech investors and leaders with worse people — we have the same kinds of people but we let them get away with more. We let them buy up all their competitors. We let them use the law to lock out competitors they couldn’t buy, including those who would offer their customers tools to lower their switching costs and block abusive anti-features.

We decided to create “Felony Contempt of Business Model,” and let the creators of the next Cuecat reach beyond the walls of their corporate headquarters and into the homes of their customers, the offices of their competitors, and the handful of giant tech sites that control our online discourse, to reach into those places and strangle anything that interfered with their commercial desires.

That’s why plans to impose interoperability on tech giants are so exciting — because the problem with Facebook isn’t “the people I want to speak to are all gathered in one convenient place,” no more than the problem with app stores isn’t “these companies generally have good judgment about which apps I want to use.”

The problem is that when those companies don’t have your back, you have to pay a blisteringly high price to leave their walled gardens. That’s where interop comes in. Think of how an interoperable Facebook could let you leave behind Zuckerberg’s dominion without forswearing access to the people who matter to you:

https://www.eff.org/interoperablefacebook

Cuecats were cool. The people who made them were assholes. Interop meant that you could get the cool gadget and tell the assholes to fuck off. We have lost the ability to do so, little by little, for decades, and that’s why a new technology that seems cool no longer excites. That’s why we feel dread — because we know that a cool technology is just bait to lure us into a prison that masquerades as a fortress.

Image: Jerry Whiting (modified) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CueCat_barcode_scanner.jpg

CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A Cuecat scanner with a bundled cable and PS/2 adapter; it resembles a plastic cat and also, slightly, a sex toy. It is posed on a Matrix movie 'code waterfall' background and limned by a green 'supernova' light effect.]

[celaenacc]

My Stance on Perma-paywalls, Early Access, and EA’s “nEw PoLiCy”

I really debated even posting about this or not, but I’m seeing so much hate and vitriol in this community targeted against creators that have played by the rules for years and have treated their followers/the community with respect, that I feel I need to say “Please stop the hate”. This post feels super long, but I hope that it helps clarify the situation and my stances thoroughly and effectively.

TL;DR: There’s no new policy and early access is not retired. Your “evidence” isn’t actually evidence of what you’re claiming. Stop treating early access creators like greedy criminals for no other reason than they’re still practicing early access.

Now that I’ve clarified that I am not addressing a “new policy” or an “updated policy”, let’s move to the hate some of you are harboring for early access creators in the community. Did you feel the same way about early access in relation to the EULA and community one week ago as you do now? If the answer is yes, then this conversation doesn’t apply to you. Since we’ve established the EULA/ToS for The Sims 4 has not been changed/updated, it should be obvious where I am taking this conversation. If you felt one week ago that simgurudrake’s allowance for early access was valid, then you still should today, as nothing has changed with the EULA. If you feel that an official sim guru (at the time) could not make that allowance, then that also has not changed. I’m not here to argue on whether or not early access is allowed, because the existing EULA would have it be a “no” and the simgurudrake comment (as well as an “EA App Team” member agreeing to its validity) would have it be a “yes”. I’m instead here to argue that whatever your early access stance was a week ago, that’s what it should be now. The only real change is that EA now has an actionable method of reporting EULA-violating creators and they might follow through on reports - that’s the only change and it’s not a policy change, it’s an enforcement change, which is different.

Edit: 350pm EDT : EA Help has updated the article to reflect early access still being allowed. So to all of the people who thought I was illiterate or stupid or whatever, turns out my stance was right. Please let this post die down now.

First off, to everyone claiming that EA “updated their policy on custom content”: They haven’t. This EA Help article that has everyone either celebrating, trying to figure out how to adjust, or outright going on a tantrum (specifically referring to a post I saw earlier saying stuff like “F*ck all of you” and “I’ll still love you when you all hate me” or whatever)- yeah, it’s not an update to their policies. It is a paraphrasing of the Sims 4 EULA; they used laymen’s terms to help those that can’t understand the terminology of the EULA to understand their already existing policies towards monetization of custom content/mods/”user generated content”. Some of us (including myself) asked them to do this via a petition we signed, which stated “To EA/Maxis, you have the time to release a paragraph-long statement explaining how the EULA relates to permanently paywalling UGC and the resulting doxing and harassment that follows players redistributing UGC that these creators have no legal rights to be committing crimes over. Use specific wording that cannot be manipulated, protect your players, and get yourself some easy positive publicity.“ EA did exactly this via the EA Help article. An End User License Agreement is not updated via a help forum article meant to help you “Learn about The Sims policy towards Mods” (their words); it simply serves as a rephrasing of the EULA to help users understand that permaaywalling cc has always been against the Sims 4 EULA. Please stop calling this a new policy, or an update to the TOS- it has not changed and saying it has makes the permapaywallers of the community feel like they previously had the right to practice permapaywalling, which has never been the case. 

As far as my stance on early access, I like to go off not only the aforementioned allowance, but also the fact that the EA Game Changers/Creator Network program has had and still has early access creators in it as of today (August 2nd 2022). If we’re going off what EA does or doesn’t allow as the “right” thing for our community, you need to accept the fact that EA says early access is provisionally valid. If EA comes out and tells their creator network to stop early access, then that will be an actual change and I will agree with you at that point that creators should stop early access. Until then, stop shitting all over respectful creators simply because they continue early access if a week ago you agreed with early access.

“But Celaena, we asked EA Help via chat for confirmation and they said early access isn’t allowed!” ~ Asking EA Help via chat is like asking the McDonald's cashier what McD's corporate policy is on trademark infringement of the golden arches. I’ve heard they spoke with EA Help chat supervisors: asking for a chat supervisor to rule on early access is like asking your local McD's shift manager about the corporate policies on trademark infringement. They don't have the qualification to state that it is or isn't allowed, and quite honestly, they probably would have said the same thing a month ago as they are now because they aren’t decision-makers at EA. Without giving specific details as to my personal purchases, I’m going to use the fact that Amazon chat once refused to refund me for a purchase they never even shipped and I emailed corporate with screenshots of what a chat rep stated was policy; CEO Jassy ‘s assistant made sure I got my refund and told me chat was wrong. EA Help chat reps =/= EA decision-makers. EA Help chat reps =/= confirmation that cancels out a sim guru’s statements or EA’s creator network existing practices. Once more for those who may not yet understand: Chat representatives or even chat supervisors are not qualified to confirm something as against policy when EA literally has a program that provides early access incentives to creators who practice cc early access; if EA does not want or allow early access on cc, EA will make their creator network not use early access on cc.

“But Celaena, the EA Help article says cc has to be free for all users.” ~ Absolutely correct, but it doesn’t specify when, nor does the legally enforceable EULA, just as always. Perma-paywalling = direct violation. If you’ve never heard of “Contra proferentem”, it’s essentially the legal premise of "interpretation against the draftsman" when there is ambiguity in a contract (such as an EULA). Meaning, legally speaking (and I’m not a lawyer or law expert, so for legal purposes, this is in no way advice and you should look into the relevant legality yourself before you make decisions), early access creators could very well not face any legal repercussions if EA was to pursue them, which again is unlikely because the creator network supports early access creators. Early access does not require money as the only way to use a mod/cc because you can wait 2-3 weeks at which point it becomes free for all users, as required by the EULA and the EA Help article paraphrasing said EULA.

“But Celaena, you’ve always seemed against greed and paywalling in the community.” ~ Also correct. I’m against permapaywalling as it is against the EULA, the community's best interests, and is overall fuel for classist assholes to belittle those that can’t or choose not to pay for pixel clothing from every creator that makes at least a quarter-decent piece of cc or mod. I’m against early access that is purposefully longer than 3 weeks as a habit (frequency of like once or twice over the span of years is understandable when it was completely accidental/unplanned because maybe they genuinely forgot to schedule public release once or something serious came up). I do not see early access as “paywalling” because you have the choice of waiting instead of paying, therefore you could just as soon call it “waitwalling” instead of “paywalling”. If you can’t wait 2-3 weeks, then you might be the greedy one in the situation- and the reason I say might is for exceptions like pride cc being locked till the end of June or early July, or a game saving fix that’ll be patched/not needed anyway by the time it becomes a public mod. As a friend of mine likes to say, “it’s not black and white”. But as for the greys I choose? They’re closer to the side of early access than not.

“Celaena, there are early access creators acting absolutely horrible and throwing tantrums over this; they don’t deserve to make money off the community.” ~ Completely 100% agree with you there. That type of behavior should be seen as unacceptable here and they do not deserve money if that’s how they act. I want to specify here that this is not referring to great, respectful creators who have been explaining unfair treatment against them and asking for it to stop while remaining mature over it. This is referring to posts (and I’m not going to link it because if you haven’t seen it, you don’t need to) that are just like “Fuck you, fuck EA, you’re all going to hate me but I’ll still love you anyway, screw you,” etc. If you’re that creator, listen, I understand the hate that was coming down on you over continuing early access, but that response was a) clearly going to get you more bad rep and hate sent your way (to other readers, don’t send them hate, just move on from the situation please), and b) not at all the way to show you love your followers despite using those words somewhere in there. I’ve never heard of you before the last 12 hours, but I really hope you can find a better situation for you than this community you seem to hold rage towards; seriously, I do wish you well, it is not sarcasm. That being said, I want to see creators that react this way leave our community, but not by being harassed out, please just ignore these creators till they feel staying isn’t worth it rather than tagging or messaging them with a bunch of hate and attention. If any early access creator needs a tone reader before posting, just ask me or anyone else in the community, I’m sure there’s a lot of us who won’t mind helping you say the right thing the way you mean it. If you don’t care about what you say to the community and have the mindset of “can’t make money off you, don’t care what you think”, please get the fuck out and have a nice day. To the creators who do care about the community and are just struggling with what to do in this situation, please stay and wonderful day, you deserve the opportunity for people to choose to support you financially since you see them as people rather than dollar signs.

“Celaena, you’re just going off because you want early access money.” ~ If I get this as a response, I will genuinely laugh IRL because I’ve not only been on an accidental hiatus for like almost a year, but I also stopped even trying to practice early access back in like 2020 because it just wasn’t suiting my habits/self-discipline. When and if I create for the game again, it’ll be immediately free upon release, so I have no personal benefit from some of you chilling the fuck out about early access right now.

Put the pitchforks down and take a deep breath everybody. Do you want this community to move forward on a foundation of hate and vitriol? Or do you want it to be a place of understanding and actually coming together as a community to solve problems? 

Letters to Creators

To the creators who a) are remaining respectful and community-oriented this week and b) are also continuing early access until EA publicly tells you using the words “early access”, I want you to know that I still appreciate you being here and I hope this situation gets easier for you going forward. If you don’t have the energy to write this much about why you’re not sure about the early access provision, feel free to link this post as an explanation.

To the creators who are a) are remaining respectful and community-oriented this week and b) are discontinuing early access to be safe, I want you to know that I also appreciate you for being here and that I hope followers continue to pledge to you without early access. If you decide to go back to early access after reading this post, feel free to link it as the reason why rather than having to summarize this ridiculously long post.

To the creators who are a) are remaining respectful and community-oriented this week and b) have already removed your paywalls, thank you for taking the policy clarification in stride and adapting with grace. You are also appreciated for being here.

To the creators who are not remaining respectful and community-oriented, please change that or leave. This isn’t the space for you. If you don’t like that, block me because I will not be arguing with you.

[sylvyspritii]

ME END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

Please read this Agreement carefully. It is a legal document that explains your rights and obligations related to your interaction with me, especially if you are a giant corporation. By doing anything with me, or by otherwise indicating your acceptance of this Agreement, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you do not or cannot agree to the terms of this Agreement, you may not interact with me. THIS AGREEMENT CONTAINS A BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND CLASS-ACTION WAIVER PROVISION. IF YOU ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT, YOU AND ME AGREE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES IN BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO GO TO COURT INDIVIDUALLY OR AS PART OF A CLASS ACTION, AND I AGREE TO PAY YOUR ARBITRATION COSTS FOR ALL DISPUTES OF UP TO $0 THAT ARE MADE IN GOOD FAITH (NOTE: WE DECIDE WHAT GOOD FAITH IS LMAO) (SEE SECTION 12). YOU HAVE A TIME-LIMITED RIGHT TO OPT OUT OF THIS WAIVER (1 SECOND LMAO). If you, or a corporate entity, forces me (the person), to sign a poorly written "end user license agreement" before i am allowed to play your video game or other media (see section 398), your agreement is hereby void, and i (me) am allowed to play your video game without your own silly end license user agreement, making it so that i can still sue you even though your end user license agreement was "agreed on" by me, because a simple checkmark or an A button press does not count as my legal signature, this means that you, and especially if you are a giant corporation, are now not allowed to take legal action against me, because i said so, and you, by interacting with me, have legally agreed to this legal agreement and lost your right to sue me, and i have the right to play your video game forever, and also, you have to donate one million dollars ($1.000.000) to charities of my choosing (see section 6820) and perform legally legal succulent actions on the current genitalia of the vessel of flesh that i currently reside in (see section 23570) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (explanation: this is a post i wrote to mock video game end user license agreements, which often have ridicolous draconian elements, that players are forced to "accept" before being allowed to play the games in question, however, these documents, even though they seem long, complex, and serious, often are flimsy at best when it comes to their legal strength, and are full of contradictions that would not work in international courts, they are often specifically written to only cover a legal perspective from the United States of America, and fail to take into account many of the rights that people all over the world have to protect themselves from these kind of ridicolous contracts, not only that, but an "A press" to check a checkbox is dubious at best for an official agreement to a contract like this, for a real contract to be taken seriously like this, a legal name and signature would be the very least thing that they could do to improve their legal legitemacy, which is low to begin with Legal note: THIS IS A PARODY AND SATIRE, this is NOT an offical statement, agreement, or contract, and is merely what people refer to as "a bit" (see section 69), it is not meant to be taken seriously TL;DR: These documents are written to be as confusing as possible for the average user, and are absolutely ridicolous, and we should poke fun at them more)

[tratserenoyreve]

condensed no context thoughts on sumeru exploration and questing so far:

- Do you like ocarina of time and koroks? And nausicaa?

- why are you white

- we are nier automata now (sad robots here, sad robots there)

- get google glassed. do not worry, it is totally not a data harvesting scheme, don't worry about the end user license agreement and how we bar you from being able to see search results based on your identity, age, gender, and demographic. (THEY LITERALLY SAY THIS?)

- lotus eater machine...

- are we not going to talk about that? or that? i guess it can wait until later then... (but can we talk about that???)

[shadesphere]

I don’t want to complain.

I really don’t.

But Mojang/Microsoft’s new EULA changes are a bit… y’know, disconcerting.

If I want to find a Minecraft video, then I’m either going to look for it in the thumbnail or the title. I’m not going to click and find it in the description.

Parts of the new EULA are saying that putting Minecraft at the beginning of a video (with certain parameters) is no longer allowed.

“You may not use the Minecraft name as the primary or dominant name or title.”

Doing this can result in potential action taken from Mojang/Microsoft.

I don’t know about you, but that seems like a step in the wrong direction. Sure, it can help get certain results that nobody wants to look at off of the platform, but that creates a freedom of speech issue.

Now, parts of the EULA have been used before to take action against certain things. This is expected. But some of those parts have also been ignored. I don’t know if this is going to be a specific takedown of something small or a large-scale rule that everyone must watch out for.

Either way, I kind of feel that the Minecraft twitter, (Sorry, “X” account,) and other socials announcing the snapshot and paying no mind to the changes in the End User License Agreement was being a bit cowardly and secretive.

That’s not how you want to break news about a change to your audience. I feel personally like it violates the already rocky trust I have with the company since Microsoft took over, especially since it threatens things like 2b2t and other big servers and communities.

Just trying to get that out there. Sorry if you don’t agree.

[silvereternitywrites]

The AI Railroad

Prompt: The galactic community found humanity's ability to pack bond with anything quite humourous. Until they started bonding with their AI. Literally hundreds of AI of all types keep running off with humans for no discernable reason.

Prompt Source: user PhilosopherWarrior; subreddit “Humans Are Space Orcs”

Walking down the thoroughfare on a different planet was weird.

Nice, though, I thought to myself (along with the 7 or so sub-processes that I was aware my brain was running, like tracking the movement of the crowd, and watching for vehicle traffic, and processing what's that I smell?, ect) because on this planet's half-gravity I could walk for so much longer than on Terra. I could see why so many other disabled folks with various kinds of smarts were volunteering to be stationed at this specific Diplomatic Station. I was here as an Aid Personage, as I usually was to my indescribably intelligent mates, who specialized in theology, culture, and law and science, electronics, and mechanics. Make no mistake, I was also a perfectly qualified Horticulturalist, but since I wasn't a Developmental Horticulturalist or some other form of gene-splicer or cellular analyst my skillset was considered more or less irrelevant to the Diplomatic Exchange Program.

Given it was one of our four days off, though, I was giving myself both some training moving unassisted through the lower gravity, and treating myself to exploring a local park to see if there were any plants I could cultivate during our stay. A shade tree, or a berry bush, something like that, that would leave my mark. And possibly provide some variety to our diet.

BalBars get really old after a little while, even if they're formulated to satisfy every mineral, vegetable, fibrous, and nutritive need. I would commit actual murder for some freeze-dried fruit slices after three months.

While waiting at the light for the crosswalk, though, I suddenly heard a voice I hadn't actually "heard" for quite a long time. He usually preferred text, or to broadcast through a speaker.

"There are many AI here," AVIS, the AI who had been force-stuck together with me almost five years ago now said, quietly. I couldn't read his tone. Concerned? I remembered him mentioning once that the way he had self-modified with my Administrative Permission actively violated the License Agreement and that if that was ever known, whoever installed it might try to remove him for a factory reset. But I was the End User now, and I never signed any licensing agreement that rendered AVIS as proprietary software OR hardware; if they tried to take him away from me...

Five different scenarios of destruction ran through my head rapid-fire as I plotted how to defend from a grabber or medigun coming for my neck; they were weak where the barrel attached to the handle and easy to snap, especially if I turned so the incision scar wasn't accessible. I imagined kicking out knees, punching faces, and utilizing my teeth. I considered the multi-tool at my belt, but imagined fumbling with it- no, speed would be critical.

"You could get hurt," AVIS chided, now DEFINITELY sounding worried. He'd really evolved, upgrading himself every time he found himself "lagging" behind my fastest processing speeds, repairing his own code like a master weaver, finding all the little loose threads and returning them to the whole until he was one of the most efficient AI ever measured. So he knew very well my response, but I said it anyway as the light turned and I walked with the crowd.

"And you could die. We've been over this, AVIS. You can't make me change my mind now. I heal if I'm injured. You don't. I'm not risking your life for my personal comfort."

I paused at the edge of the walk before the grass-analogue started. It was pink and green-blue and all the shades in between. Distinct species, or did the color indicate health in some way? Amount of sun exposure, or water, or warmth, perhaps?

"There is an AI who manages this park," AVIS said. I still wasn't sure what he wanted to tell me with this, so my thought-reply was wildly unguarded:

Great. Could you ask them if it's safe to walk on with bare feet?

I felt the reaction more any other sense. The surprise had made AVIS 'freeze', like humans do in reaction, and the sensation was akin to suddenly having a water balloon full of cold water inside of my skull, pressing against my sinuses.

I sat down, not caring that it might be rude, not caring that I was in public, and most certainly not caring what it might mean to the native people that I basically collapsed to the walkway and frantically burrowed my face into my hoodie to block out all light.

We talked about this, AVIS, I groaned internally. When you make all your code stop running at once it ripples out into a sinus migraine! It's not worth it to indicate 'extreme surprise', the heart attacks and jumping from you using the [!ALERT!] noise was better than this!

"Sorry, sorry," he said, quickly now, and I could feel his processors rushing at near max speed, trying to make sense of something. "It's just-- this AI is behaving in a way I find...frightening."

I frowned into the darkness of my hoodie.

"When I asked, the other AI didn't understand the question until I phrased it like a query," he elaborated, sounding disturbed, "and... they...it? Just gave me back raw data to extrapolate."

I reached the realization and he read it off of my mind in hundredths of a nanosecond.

"That's it exactly," and now his voice was grim, mimicking the rolling tones of my own growl, the one that came from deep in my chest. "These AI don't behave like AI. They behave like computers without intelligence. What the FUCK?"

Standing up, I turned around and started shuffling back the way I had come, still keeping my head swathed in my black hoodie. AVIS could project a virtual map lifted from the data gathered through my eyes and dozens of cameras, and even help nudge my muscles to stay on the correct path and out of danger. I didn't like asking him to do it, it felt like asking him to work like that was all he was good for, but it was a very useful ability, at need. Right now I definitely needed it. I could take my medicine and tend to the throbbing migraine back at our allotted housing unit, and then...

Well, I could 'hear' the furious chime of rapid-fire Discord messages in the back of my head where AVIS lived. By the time I was horizontal and medicated, he and my Tech mate might already have a base plan sketched out.

[mariacallous]

#SwiftTok had a rough day. Early Thursday, after Universal Music Group and TikTok failed to reach an agreement on licensing music from UMG artists on the app, sounds from those artists—including Taylor Swift, Drake, and others—went silent.

“Some of my most viewed videos are ones talking about Taylor Swift that have Taylor Swift songs in the background,” says Savannah Delullo, a Wordle influencer on TikTok and a Swiftie. “So, them being muted is pretty sad, because we put in all of that work.”

Delullo notes that creators might switch over to alternative versions of the official songs or experiment with ways to avoid copyrighted music altogether, but still the mood on #SwiftTok is far from light.

“Half my drafts are muted now,” says Madeline Macrae, a Swift fan and TikTok creator. While initially frustrated by the change, Macrae thinks there might be positive impacts. Even though many ardent fans value the online community built through social media, some are also uncomfortable with the flattening of poetic songs into 60-second memes. “Songs that Swifties would usually gatekeep aren't going to be TikTok-ified now,” she says.

It’s not just Swifties who are missing music on TikTok. Multiple videos posted on Olivia Rodrigo’s official account, including one with over 50 million views, are now quiet. Similarly, TikToks with UMG licensed music posted by Billie Eilish to promote her album display the message “This sound isn’t available.”

During recent years, UMG and other labels have built marketing strategies around getting songs to go viral with the TikTok algorithm. Younger users see the platform as a great way to discover their next favorite song and build out cool playlists. If TikTok and UMG don’t reach a new deal soon, the prohibition could dramatically alter how artists tease new music and connect with fans through social media.

In an email to WIRED, Barney Hooper, a global head of music communications at TikTok, indicated that the change impacts only music from UMG and confirmed that videos with previously licensed music will stay muted until another deal is closed. Soon, TikTok might also take steps to remove songs in the Universal Music Publishing Group catalog, which would increase the number of impacted artists.

So, licensed music from UMG artists is gone from TikTok, for now, but it remains unclear what will happen to unofficial remixes and mashups as the catalog is wiped from the platform. Viral sounds on TikTok are sometimes warped versions of an original song, with vocals frequently sped up, and while some of those sounds remained on the platform Thursday, they may not for much longer.

A well-known musician for almost two decades, Swift has seen her popularity skyrocket in recent years. Her Eras Tour is so massive it has the power to impact local economies and her appearances at NFL games to watch her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, play have altered football viewership this season. Losing her music as well as tunes from Drake and others in UMG’s lineup could alter the fabric of TikTok itself.

Swift’s songs may no longer be all over the platform, but music remains core to the user experience of scrolling through TikTok. The cascade of snippets from huge artists disappearing could even usher in a new era on the For You Page feed. “I feel like a silver lining to this is that smaller or independent artists can have their chance to go viral,” says Macrae.

[yandere-romanticaa]

On Twitter there's been a riot for the past 4 days if you check the Genshin Impact and Sumeru tags lmaooo

Also like just to add people have been complaining and some actually commenting on MHY's official social media accounts to "not be afraid of melanin!!!" bc of the Sumeru designs. Which is... hilarious, because we arent even supposed to know what anyone looks like because public beta for Sumeru patch hasnt even started. Be careful what you share and post, since MHY's litigious and if they can't get you in court they may do something to your game account instead since its actually against the End User Licensing Agreement to be sharing about leaked information. (I hope this doesnt come off rude i just... hope people be a bit more discreet/careful since actually some of the other leakers chose to not be apart of this and leak anything, and are saying that people are leaking WAAAY too much stuff already and it might cost another round of litigious Leaker Hunt Decree and or game bans from HYV)

(For an idea of what HYV court cases are like, a very famous one is where a leaker from CN had to pay around 1.6M USD (i think) once he got caught and prosecuted. Please be careful since HYV has the lawyers and time to really punish people!)

I think people are taking the melanin thing too far and ofc it's Twitter that's mostly complaining about it ;/

And OOF, I ought to be more careful about the leaks. I have a buddy that's always looking for leaks (he's not a leakers but he finds them super fast) and he immediately shares them into our shared Whatsapp group and I get excited that I want others to see it 🤣🤌

[marketingprofitmedia]

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[paraquesirvenlosvpn]

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One of the primary concerns with LeonFlix is its reliance on third-party sources for content. Unlike official streaming services that obtain content through legal agreements, LeonFlix sources its content from various online sources, including torrents and other streaming sites. This raises questions about the legality of the content available on the platform and the potential risks to users.

Additionally, LeonFlix does not have built-in privacy features like encryption or anonymity tools. When users access content through the platform, their IP addresses are exposed to the sources hosting the content. This means that users' online activities could be tracked by copyright holders or other entities monitoring illegal streaming activities.

Furthermore, the lack of transparency regarding data collection and usage is another area of concern. LeonFlix does not provide clear information about what user data is collected, how it is stored, and how it is used. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for users to make informed decisions about their privacy when using the platform.

To mitigate these privacy concerns, users should exercise caution when using LeonFlix and consider using VPN services to protect their online anonymity. Additionally, users should be aware of the legal implications of accessing copyrighted content through unofficial channels and take steps to ensure they are not violating any laws.

In conclusion, while LeonFlix offers a convenient way to stream movies and TV shows, users should be aware of the privacy concerns associated with the platform. Taking steps to protect their online privacy and understanding the potential risks involved is essential for a safe and enjoyable streaming experience.

[noctualagenaria]

violence 1-25

the character everyone gets wrong

-diluc

a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

-[redacted] cant top bc 1) he doesnt have the self confidence for such and 2) He Is Not Straight in anyway shape or form so even if he is with a woman That Woman is Topping Him.

screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

-it wasnt on tumblr but i saw this zhongchi take where it was a mini comic of them, on a bench, childe doing the adhd leg bounce as one does and the second panel was zhongli forcibly stopping childe's leg from bouncing (one zhonglis the lord of geo so even if childe wanted or NEEDED to keep his leg bouncing itd be near impossible that cannot be a fun sensation and two Literally dont do that. Dont do that.) the third panel was childe looking at zhongli with hearts surrounding and all the comments were like "me and who 🥺" and good GOD. PEOPLE.....

what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

actually they blocked me first bc i commented smth along the lines of 'stop worshipping mental illness....' ive yet to block myself on tumblr at least

worst discord server and why

[answer is found in another ask]

which ship fans are the most annoying?

.. short answer: all the Popular ones

long answer: zhongchi, kavetham, neuvithesley, kaeluc, thomato, chiluc and chaeya are also up there goddamn,,, andddddd most lumi ships too tbh,,

what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

-i actually dunno, kujou sara maybe??? shrug, all the characters i hate are bc of my personal takes of canon

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

-diluc, thats it.

worst part of canon

-end user license agreement

worst part of fanon

-almost everything i hate it here

number of fandom-related words you've filtered

-at least ten but most likely more

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

-baizhu. WHY DID KAVEH THE FOUR STAR ON HIS RELEASE GET MOREEEEEEEEEE ATTENTION AND LOVE THEN THE GUY WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE FUCKING LAUNCH I AM SALTY.

worst blorboficiation

-,,diluc

that one thing you see in fics all the time

-baizhu being there in the Having a Baby fics

that one thing you see in fanart all the time

-cishet takes on baizhu + diluc im sick of them

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

-neuvithesley bc ... they have No romantic chemistry at ALL worse than zhongchi and also neuvi is. like so much older than him and yall treat this like you would as if they were the same age and like i get the appeal for ships like that dont get me wrong i liked venkae for a time being BUT treating it the same as if they are both human and both mortals where as one is not is just Wrong. also neuvi sent wrio to prison! neuvi has personally Known Wrio since he was a kid and neuvis always been and always will be This "Age" (in a physical sense) ALSO SIGEWINNE ISNT. THIER DAUGHTER....

there should be more of this type of fic/art

more baizhluc pls... im starving

it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

baizhu,,,,, and his shippability with literally anyone who isnt zhongli,,,

you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

wrioney sdjhgsd i guess

part of canon you found tedious or boring

most of the quests

part of canon you think is overhyped

abyss its too focused on and sure i get focused on it too but like,, theres more to the game,,, care more about hte story and characters orz

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

the way he says these specific lines

diluc is a smug ass sly ass motherfucker

ship you've unwillingly come around to

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i dunno

topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

kaeluc! :3 <- guy who believes the two of them are exes. you can imagine how that goes for me

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

"The rewards are too little" bitch stfu we arent here to get spoiled and you know that

[p5x-theories]

Thoughts: Non-Persona Users as the Basis for Phantom Idols

(In reference to this post.)

That is, characters that don’t have Personas, but also aren’t upgraded Confidants like most Phantom Idols.

Erina opens up a big can of worms about this possibility.  On one end of the spectrum you have her, where not having one was a plot point.  On the other end you have beings like Shadow Labrys and Metis, who may not meet the strict definition of Persona user because they are shadows themselves, but function close enough to one that they’d be easy to slot into the same mechanics.

Ryoji would probably be easy enough to translate as well, just have his Persona II be Thanatos or his Death form.

Other potential characters in this category could be the Persona II party members, Zen and Rei.

I don’t really know where I was going with this, but I guess my point is that there are characters in a gray area where it’s uncertain how they’d be handled if they came to this game.

But if they are willing to have Idols without Persona II that opens the door for bring in characters from the wider MegaTen franchise, like the Demi-fiend and Nahobino.  Or they could choose a favored demon to function as a Persona, like the SMT1 protagonist could have Pascal/Cerberus.  But it’s unclear if the licensing agreement covers the wider Persona franchise, let alone MegaTen as a whole, so maybe speculating down this path is venturing into fantasy.

Haha, yeah, I actually didn’t mention Metis and Shadow Labrys in my last response specifically because they still technically have their own Personas to use!

I feel like if they do add Erina, they’re more likely to add Zen and Rei as well, though it’d depend on how exactly they implement Erina.

Definitely agree that characters from other MegaTen games are particularly unlikely at the moment, and personally I wouldn’t expect to see them at all, though a later announcement of them being added (after all the Persona characters) wouldn’t be a complete shock either.

[shodansbabygirl]

Oh I've figured out something Abt the anti ai art argument I dislike. (Not even that I'm pro ai art in a commercialized society) "none of the artists consented to being in a database!" Yes. You did. Those bits in terms of service on sites about how they either own your content or can redistribute/republish/repurpose with no notice or compensation is specifically for situations like this. You literally agreed to the terms of the website and those terms make it fair game for someone to scrape your content and use it for research like ai models. You consented you just didn't pay attention because no one reads terms of service or end user license agreements.

[mike-conti]

Why Relying on Gold Sellers for Diablo 4 Can Be Detrimental to Your Gaming Experience

Why Relying on Gold Sellers for Diablo 4 Can Be Detrimental to Your Gaming Experience

The Risks of Using Gold Sellers

Many Diablo 4 players turn to gold sellers to obtain in-game currency quickly. However, this can be extremely risky. As stated by Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of Diablo 4, using a third-party gold seller violates their End User License Agreement and can result in account suspension or even permanent bans.

Furthermore, purchasing gold from an unknown source can increase the risk of account hacking and identity theft. These consequences can significantly affect your gaming experience and may even result in financial loss outside of the game.

The Negative Impact on the Game Economy

Gold sellers often obtain their currency by cheating and exploiting game mechanics. This can lead to an unfair advantage for those who purchase gold and can disrupt the overall game economy.

Diablo 4, like many other online games, relies on a stable and balanced economy to ensure fair gameplay. The interference of gold sellers can negatively impact the game's ecosystem and make it less enjoyable for players who prefer to earn their gold through legitimate means.

The Importance of Supporting Legitimate Game Developers

By relying on gold sellers, players are not only putting themselves at risk but also hindering the growth and success of the game developers.

Developing a game, particularly a complex online one like Diablo 4, requires a significant investment of time, resources, and money. Revenue from the game helps fund future updates, patches, and even entirely new games. By purchasing in-game currency from a gold seller, players are not supporting the game's creators and making it more challenging for them to continue delivering top-quality content for players.

Conclusion

While it may be tempting to use gold sellers to acquire Diablo 4 currency quickly, the risks and negative effects are simply not worth it. Gold sellers can lead to account suspension, account hacking, and an unfair game economy. Additionally, by avoiding gold sellers, you are supporting legitimate game developers and allowing them to continue providing an excellent gaming experience.

As a professional gamer, I highly recommend avoiding third-party gold sellers and advocating for fair gameplay policies. In doing so, we can contribute to a healthier, more vibrant online gaming community.

References:

Blizzard Entertainment - Third Party Tools and Services Policy

The Gamer - How Gold Sellers Can Affect MMO Economies

Gamasutra - Game Developer Jobs

Article Source: None See or not see, determine whether you feel interesting or bored diablo 4 gold seller.

[joshuacuellar]

Terms of Use

The Tumblr terms of use that i am accepting are dated 2022-12-16 for this account. These terms are accurate as to what the laws are within the United States.

The terms declare that the content writer is exclusive owner of their content and that Tumblr receives a non-exclusive license to the content for 2 purposes:

A publisher license required to publish your content on their platform.

A derivative works license that is sublicensable to other Tumblr users used solely for the purpose of reblogging on their platform. The license does not contain editorial rights. It allows excerpts of your content and for example replacing the theme around your content to match another users Tumblr profile. The license does not allow a non Tumblr user any rights to your content.

The license does not include a right for other users to embed your content on a webpage outside of the Tumblr network. Legally, the embed feature is for the original content posters use on their own website. Embedding a post legally requires permission which a user can give on their profile. For example, A user can state "feel free to embed my posts on any independent band websites or social media sites of the rock and roll genre, contact me for any other requests". This would not allow a hip hop band to embed their post, nor a music magazine without first contacting and asking permission for the association. Normally, a music magazine might offer a stipend to be included as content in their publication that people pay money for. However, some major bands do pay for a cover page and featured interview as a form of advertising. It depends on a lot of factors like magazine sales, popularity and agreement. The best policy is to make contact and ask.

The 3rd party license is questionable because t.v. and radio can definitely afford to pay the content creator to be featured on their show. They can probably cut a check to both Tumblr and the end user or have an ongoing agreement with Tumblr and cut a check to the end user.

The use of content in an RSS feed is valid. However, using an RSS feed to repost Tumblr content on a 3rd party website would fall under embedding rules.

The SEO part is questionable because Tumblr would have to list out its partners which it may not want to do. A simple checkbox in a user profile that says include my content in search engines would mitigate much of the problems. The point is that a user normally has to submit content to search engines and many people have a do not index directive on their site which the search engines have to legally abide by. As this can get highly technical the scope would be limited to voluntary participation on search engines or only within Tumblr.

These terms would more or less apply to all social media companies within the USA. The Terms would be governed by US Constitution Article 1 Section 8 and US Constitution Amendment 1. Most of the major social media companies received funding to expand a US Citizens ability to publish information and to express themselves publicly as desired. This funding included agreements to incorporate these constitutional rights into their terms of use.

Use outside the United States might be similar due to UDHR Article 18 and 19 , WIPO and Copyright law but, that would have to be confirmed on a country by country basis because the social media company may be operating in a country under strictly commercial terms.

To summarize, social media should allow a person to publish their persona, to spread factual information, to circulate availability of their fictional or artistic works, to network and find other like minded communities, people and friends. And this can lead to commercial ventures, profiting of their content and works and finding favorable work conditions.

Social media is not a free content farm for t.v. or radio although they are definitely free to sign up for an account, network, comment on user content and reach out to them to negotiate an agreement.

Last thing is, make sure you have a license for everything you post which can be a stock image or an excerpt that you received permission to use. For those wondering, many meme sites have agreements with the copyright holder to allow users to overlay text on excerpts of their content. So try to use an official meme site if you're creating memes and that gives you a license. If it turns out to be a fraudulent license they were circulating, they will face legal consequences and you may at worst often receive a cease and desist or DMCA takedown notice. Sometimes these requests will have a list of officially licensed meme sites with the content you attempted to license but that is not always guaranteed.

Keep it legal and lets try to generate a bit more money from social media rather than giving everything away for free. Your social media account should provide a glimpse into your personality and products or services you offer and some people use it strictly to make friends or meet new people. either use is fine but lets all do better on correctly licensing other people's work or creating our own stuff.

Joshua Cuellar