[asterisk-biz] FW: "illusory" terms of service

[Drew Gibson]

Isn't the whole point of a contract to prevent the terms of an agreement 
being changed?

Sample Contract:
1. Consultant A agrees to configure 1 Asterisk server.
2. Customer B agrees to pay $100.
3. Consultant reserves right to change terms at any time.

Later....

Consultant A: "Dear Customer, payment of the sum of $100 is past due, 
please pay immediately.
Customer B: "But you haven't configured my phone system!"
Consultant A: "There was a slight change to change to the terms of the 
agreement. I just added "if he/she feels like it" to the end of the 
first line. You agreed to pay but I don't feel like doing the work. 
Please send $100 plus interest."

In this case I don't have much sympathy for Blockbuster.

Perhaps adding a "change terms with 30 days notice and customer has 
right to cancel contract (with full refund of outstanding services) if 
not acceptable" might make it stick.
I remember seeing something like that in my cell phone agreement.

regards,

Drew



Dean Collins wrote:
>
> While not restricted to online websites I'm wondering if some of the 
> people on this list running USA based ITSP's could be affected by this 
> court case.
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Regards,
>
> Dean Collins
> Cognation Inc
> dean at cognation.net
> <mailto:dean at cognation.net>+1-212-203-4357   New York
> +61-2-9016-5642   (Sydney in-dial).
> +44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* Dean Collins
> *Sent:* Monday, April 20, 2009 10:45 AM
> *Subject:* "illusory" terms of service
>
>  
>
> First posted at:  
> http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/illusory-terms-of-service.html
>
>
>       * *
>
>
>       * *
>
>
>       *"Illusory" terms of service
>       <http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/illusory-terms-of-service.html>
>       *
>
> Wow I'm not sure how many people caught this or understood the 
> ramifications of it.
>
> I'm trying to do some additional research to find out what this means 
> but this ruling at MediaPost.com 
> <http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=104357> 
> this morning caught my eye.
>
>
> //Lynn//// determined that Blockbuster's contract with users was 
> "illusory" because the agreement said that movie rental store could 
> change the terms and conditions at any time.///
> //A Blockbuster spokesperson declined to comment on the case or state 
> whether the company will appeal. ///
>
> //The decision is a blow to Blockbuster because individual consumers 
> would have had a difficult time bringing cases one-by-one against the 
> company. But the decision paves the way for attorneys to argue that 
> all consumers affected by Blockbuster's participation in Beacon should 
> be able to proceed as a class. //
>
> //Internet law expert Venkat Balasubramani said Lynn's decision 
> invalidating Blockbuster's user agreement was potentially far-reaching 
> because many Web companies reserve the right to make changes to their 
> terms of service. "It seems broad and could have impact on the terms 
> of service used by a lot of different companies," he said.///
> /
>
> I'm fairly sure this has to be appealed as couldn't this throw a lot 
> of User Agreements out the window? (I know it would affect my 
> agreement at www.LiveBaseballChat.com 
> <http://www.livebaseballchat.com/> out the window).
>
> Any thoughts about how this affects your business? Post below.
>
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Regards,
>
> Dean Collins
> Cognation Inc
> dean at cognation.net
> <mailto:dean at cognation.net>+1-212-203-4357   New York
> +61-2-9016-5642   (Sydney in-dial).
> +44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial).
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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