New Twitter ToS

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TheMadBlackHatter

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I guess the Terms of Service have been updated on Twitter (http://twitter.com/tos). Has anyone looked at it? I didn't see much regarding spam and advertisement.
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Too lazy to complete read by your self? :D I didn't find anything about spam either, Just minor edits I guess
 
Spanic said:
Too lazy to complete read by your self? :D I didn't find anything about spam either, Just minor edits I guess
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It's a mixture of laziness while making sure I didn't miss anything. I read through and it looks more like Twitter's just covering their asses. They spend about 90% of the ToS disclaiming liability.
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yeah if someone find something regarding spam or links being published let me know lol dont feel like going through it again, but all i use it for is to update my followers when a new blog is published :D
 
TOS

only to be read when the sh1t hits the fan

Seek forgiveness not permission !!!
 
Well, there is something in there that hurts software developers who want to do things outside of the api:

(iii) access or search or attempt to access or search the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces that are provided by Twitter (and only pursuant to those terms and conditions), unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in a separate agreement with Twitter
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This outlaws all applications that don't work within the Twitter API, but instead automate the browser interface (all copies of Hummingbird are theoretically outlawed by this, for example). Developers could be sued for "Tortious Contractual Interference" - basically enabling Twitter users to violate the TOS.
 
thefish2010 said:
This outlaws all applications that don't work within the Twitter API, but instead automate the browser interface (all copies of Hummingbird are theoretically outlawed by this, for example).
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Not quite. The ToS says:
You may not do any of the following while accessing or using the Services ... access or search or attempt to access or search the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces that are provided by Twitter
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When they speak of "published interfaces" they refer to everything publicly available to users, not limiting to the APIs (note the "automated or otherwise").
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What I don't understand is Twitter has no ads or anything. Why? They are making no money off of the site. Maybe they are going to try and sale the whole thing, I dunno. I really was expecting them to outline advertisements in this tos.
 
AngelsN said:
Did you miss this part? "that are provided by Twitter"

Kinda the biggest point in that entire sentence.
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You know, it helps to read entire sentences. You're able to access Twitter through their published interfaces (web, api, etc.). If that point were to limit users exclusively to accessing Twitter directly through the browser, you wouldn't have access to any desktop clients, RevTwt, or any other 3rd-party service.

patrick6411 said:
What I don't understand is Twitter has no ads or anything. Why? They are making no money off of the site. Maybe they are going to try and sale the whole thing, I dunno. I really was expecting them to outline advertisements in this tos.
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Yeah, it's almost a mystery what Twitter plans on doing with their service. I suppose eventually, they'll come out with some paid features and start accepting advertisers.
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Looking at it more carefully, TheMadBlackHatter is probably correct, although it would probably be up to interpretation in court if you pissed twitter off enough. My initial reaction was because there is a clause in there that specifically bars you from searching through automated means or crawling the site other than in accordance with their robots.txt, which implies that they are limiting all automated use. The problem with these documents is that they refer to and include several external policy documents (like privacy policies, acceptable use policies, and even the robots.txt). I haven't read all of those yet.


TheMadBlackHatter said:
Not quite. The ToS says:
When they speak of "published interfaces" they refer to everything publicly available to users, not limiting to the APIs (note the "automated or otherwise").
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thefish2010 said:
Looking at it more carefully, TheMadBlackHatter is probably correct, although it would probably be up to interpretation in court if you pissed twitter off enough. My initial reaction was because there is a clause in there that specifically bars you from searching through automated means or crawling the site other than in accordance with their robots.txt, which implies that they are limiting all automated use. The problem with these documents is that they refer to and include several external policy documents (like privacy policies, acceptable use policies, and even the robots.txt). I haven't read all of those yet.
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Law is a confusing mess. =P
Also, sorry about the condescending asshole remark, "not quite."
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