If, in fact, the new AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) Terms of Service (TOS) include some privacy-busting clauses like …
… by posting Content on an AIM Product, you grant AOL, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, assigns, agents and licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote this Content in any medium. You waive any right to privacy.
… then does AOL have to take responsibility for what’s there? They say they can use it, they say it’s not private, that means they have control over it.
Is that really the course that AOL wants to take? Most ISP and similar service providers have followed (with some difficulty) the “common carrier” route, which means that they serve as “a mere conduit” to what others say and do, meaning they can’t (and won’t) control or restrict it, and cannot be held responsible for it.
By essentially taking ownership of the content, rather than just its distribution, AOL seems to be inadvertently setting itself up for some uncomfortable legal times ahead.
(via BoingBoing)
AOL backs down.