New Discord TOS binds you to forced arbitration - Opt-Out Now (discord.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/17618684

Forced arbitration means any legal disputes you may have with Discord must be resolved through a single third party mediator, who 99% of the time is chosen by, and will rule in favor of, the corporation/Discord. This effectively removes all your legal rights as a consumer, because arbitration decisions are legally binding and non-appealable.

The new ToS goes into effect April 15th, 2024.

YOU CAN OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION. You must email [email protected] BEFORE MAY 15TH (30 days after ToS effective date) with your username stating that you wish to opt out of the arbitration clause. Once May 15th passes you are bound to arbitration with Discord forever.

Opt-out before it's too late.

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[-] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

A TOS isn't legally binding.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

That's false.

Any contract is legally binding... except for the parts that go against the law.

I'd suggest consulting a lawyer knowledgeable of your particular jurisdiction, before deciding which part may or may not be binding.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Any contract is legally binding

Exactly. And a TOS is not a contract.

If you go to law definitions, contracts have a number of requirements to be such, of which to my knowledge a TOS fails two (Negotiability and Certainty).

[-] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

IANAL, check with your local lawyer, but AFAIK...

ToS are a "generic contract", where a single entity proposes the same contract to multiple parties.

Negotiability, or more precisely offer and acceptance, are achieved by the simple "take it or leave it". The requirement is that there needs to be an option, it doesn't need to be one to change parts of the document.

Certainty is usually achieved by adding a partial nullifying clause, so any ambiguous parts get automatically trimmed.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Negotiability, or more precisely offer and acceptance, are achieved by the simple “take it or leave it”.

Maybe in the US, where that kind of this would honestly be expected. Here in more decent countries, Negotiability requires that both parties can exercise offer an acceptance to the contract. I consulted to our local digital ethics group about it and they are in accordance, at least to what pertains to my country.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

We need a Federated FOSS Discord alternative built to work with the activity pub protocol.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

We welcome anyone back to IRC

this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024

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