[SML] PayPal

[Pat Kight]

Michael Sauder via Stagecraft wrote:
> Obligatory IANAL.
>
> To my knowledge, this is standard language. Basically, it gives Paypal
> permission to use content that you post. That might be a review of a
> service, or their new Facebook clone (I have no knowledge of such a new
> feature, but everyone wants to do it, so...).
>
> If you post it to Paypal (or Facebook, or Twitter, or indeed this very
> Stagecraft Mailing List), you are agreeing that that company is allowed
> to use the content. If you DON'T make that agreement, then those
> companies are not allowed to use the content. In the case of the SML,
> that means that you could send emails to the SML server, but the SML
> server would not be permitted to pass your message on to everyone else
> on the mailing list. Which of course makes the mailing list useless.
>
> If you post any information anywhere on a public website, chances are
> very VERY good that you no longer own exclusive rights to that content.
> The only way to retain exclusive rights is to host content on your own
> website.
>
> Michael S.

IANA lawyer, either, but someone who is (and who specializes in 
intellectual property rights) explained these sorts of ToS to me exactly 
as Michael describes. If you read the fine print in almost any online 
contract rather than clicking through and hitting "OK," you'll see very 
similar language.

In part, they're covering their ass in case YOU use the service to claim 
someone else's property as your own on a PayPal-enabled sales site, and 
that owner tries to sue PayPal; they company can wave that language at 
them and send them after you instead.

It also allows them to use your stuff when advertising their own 
services ("These companies/people use PayPal, you should, too!") which 
is annoying, but fairly standard. You could see it as them giving you 
free advertising...

The Internet periodically gets all up in arms when somebody notices that 
Google or Facebook or Amazon has similar language in their ToS, but as 
far as I know it's never been shown to be any more nefarious than 
legalese always is ...

-- 
Pat Kight
kightp at peak.org