Ask HN: How important are terms and conditions?
A lot of websites seem to have "terms-and-conditions" upon getting an account. How important is it to have them? Many of these are very verbose, and I don't know anyone who actually reads them. Is it possible to get away with a simple set terms such as: -> You are limited to one account per person. -> We will send you a cheque if you have earned more than $50. If you have earned below this amount, we are not obligated to pay you. -> You, or we may choose to cancel your account at any time, without reason.
Thanks for your opinions.
I guess the issue with terms and conditions is that they're not important until they're important. Suddenly you act in good faith and get taken to court because a customer interprets something differently - precision leads to verbosity, particularly in the law.
An online TOS is not worth anything unless you can prove to a judge that the user did indeed read and agree to that exact version of the TOS.
For example, a user can edit the html, print it out, and claim that was what he agreed to when he signed up.
Or, after getting involved with a user legally, the website can alter the TOS on their site to better their own position.
Even if you register with a 3rd party (we get the police to date and verify with a signed document everytime we change ours by making them visit our website and printing off the TOS) - however that still is suspect to tampering.
The best way is to make the user print, sign and return the TOS.