User:R4microds/sandbox

Restriction Breaking Terms of Service

Acknowledging terms of use, adhering to terms and agreements, or even accepting the terms of service is often the first step users MUST go through before consuming digital media. The act of doing so often is only in place as a legal failsafe should anything go wrong such as loss of data or illegal distribution of said media. With that said, terms of use are often long winded and at times never read by the user.

The ideology of Restriction Breaking ToS grants the USER ground to argue specific elements of ToS that appear unfair or restrictive. For example a company offering a subscription of a piece of entertainment such as a video game requires the users pay X amount monthly to keep their account active and subscribed. In the case of ToS, many video game companies constantly ‘patch’ and update the game on a monthly basis essentially changing the initial product from what it once was into something different.

With this in mind, the user who accepted the ToS at the initial purchase and activation of their account for said media quite literally accepted the conditions for the game AS IT WERE when it was released. 12 months or even 12 years later it is no longer the same product HOWEVER restrictions exist that legally bind the user from hosting or playing an older ‘unpatched’ versions of said game. Arguably it is the same game, same branding, etc… But from the users perspective it no longer is.

The same can be said for auditory and visual media. If a portion of a movie on a streaming service is cut or edited out and then updated on the service’s server it would be considered ILLIGAL to gain access, share or distribute an older un-edited version of the movie. However why should it be when that version is NO-LONGER accessible on the service therefore it is no longer being monetized meaning no revenue is lost from said content?

Restriction Breaking ToS ensures both a company or developer can retain the integrity of their exisiting IP while releasing the rights of older content to the community on the grounds they REFUSE to maintain older versions of original content. This means the community has the right to host, share and distribute digital media that otherwise cannot be accessed anywhere else under the presumption it will continue to be preserved a long period of time until either

1) The original company or developer is able to host content as it were

OR

2) The community is no longer capable of hosting said content

This ensures older digital media still continues to have a place on the web for people to see for historical, educational, or even nostalgic purposes.