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by sodality2 359 days ago
> the agreement you make with YouTube is that you watch an ad in exchange for the video

I never made that agreement. And if some software on my computer somehow gets YouTube to deliver me the content anyway, that's not my fault. In my view, it's a cat and mouse game, they can do whatever they want to try to stop me, and vice versa. If they win, I won't complain; but if I do, so be it.
1 comments
HDThoreaun 359 days ago
> I never made that agreement

By clicking on the video you did. It is in their terms of service.

How is you purposefully trying to block ads not your fault? Whose fault is it that you installed an Adblock? If you went to a grocery store and told the clerk you already paid and they let you leave would that not be your fault either?

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asadotzler 358 days ago
No, you didn't make that agreement.

TOS is a NOTICE, not a contract.

There's zero agreement happening when you visit a website.

Assuming you didn't do something actually illegal while using their service, without a contract the most they can do is ban you from the service, or try to.

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jiriknesl 357 days ago
It is legally binding. By accepting ToS, or using service with ToS, you are entering a legal contract. And as long as ToS isn't breaking laws (like Digital Services Act in EU, or Online Safety Act in the UK) it can be fully enforced.

Here is an example of ToS being enforced: https://kennedyslaw.com/en/thought-leadership/article/2023/n...

Another example https://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case392.cfm

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sodality2 359 days ago
Terms of service aren't legally binding. Theft is of course illegal.
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jiriknesl 357 days ago
It is legally binding. By accepting ToS, or using service with ToS, you are entering a legal contract. And as long as ToS isn't breaking laws (like Digital Services Act in EU, or Online Safety Act in the UK) it can be fully enforced.

Here is an example of ToS being enforced: https://kennedyslaw.com/en/thought-leadership/article/2023/n...

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sodality2 357 days ago
> By accepting ToS, or using service with ToS, you are entering a legal contract

Half right. Only if I accept them affirmatively with a clickwrap, like your article mentions. Implicitly accepted ones do not count. I’m not signed into youtube.com, so there is no acceptance of ToS.

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jiriknesl 357 days ago
Even browse-wrap is legally binding, if visible enough (and it is visible just under the confirmation button on that massive Cookie Acceptance modal dialog when you come to YouTube).
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