Comment by efitz
3 years ago
Why don’t lawmakers pass a law enacting two or three sets of terms of service that companies can choose from, or a set of a la carte terms. E.g. “who owns user data” could be “we do” or “the user does but licenses it to us” or “the user does”. Etc.
With home purchases (for example), the terms are usually standard in the state. Why the heck does every single web site need its own terms?
When I purchased my house, we used the standard form...with half the paragraphs crossed out and about five pages of riders attached. I guess it gives a good starting place for the negotiation, but it sure felt silly.
sorry, doesn't work... having been on the other side a number of times, different services really do need different terms.
also, residential real estate ain't the example you want to use! True, 99% of it is standard, but every freestanding home differs substantially in: - what's included/excluded, e.g. furniture - seller disclosures including the history of maintenance, special needs, etc. - title search and property maps - environmental issues (soil, etc) - hyperlocal regulations affecting that property, incl HOA rules (apartments are simpler but then HOA rules are more complex)
what might work is to start with a gigantic-but-standard ToS, and then the per-service ToS is just the diffs and additions. Many legal docs use this method, including residential real estate.