Big Tech Terms of Service are Void

anti-social media, Big Tech,

Terms of Service (TOS), user agreements, and other purported contracts between Big Tech corporations and end users are invalid and void. Neither clicking buttons Sign up or I Agree next to these TOSes nor using their services creates a contract between the corporation and the user, at least on the terms written by these corporations, especially Big Tech Social Media Platforms (“BTP”).

The substance of the Big Tech TOS violates multiple conditions necessary to form a valid contract.

  • Exchange of value is a necessary condition of a contract: both sides must give (immediately or in the future) and receive something of value. Big Tech TOS promise nothing of value to the users because their services have value only if provided continuously and reliably, but the corporations reserve the “right” to discontinue the services to anybody, any time, for any or no reason. At the same time, they receive substantial value at the moment the user signs up, continue receiving value as the user interacts with the service, and keep most of the received value even after discontinuing the service to the user.
  • The purported agreements are neither executed nor delivered by Big Tech Platforms. The texts are referred to by a URL on the platforms’ websites and can be modified at any time, even while the user reads them. On top of that, they incorporate other documents by reference, sometimes conditionally (“if you use feature F, terms Z11 and V102 apply to you”), which incorporate more documents and so on.
  • Those are contracts of adhesion. They are choke-full of clauses that no reasonable (or even sane) user would voluntarily accept if she or he knew of them.
  • These contracts are too long to read, even with notice. Furthermore, even if the users are given notice of TOS, they are likely not given the notice of other documents incorporated by reference from the TOS.
  • BTP deceive users about many aspects of their services, especially the nature, value (both to the Platform and the user), and the intended use of the private data they collect from the user.
  • Most content used by BTP is created by the uncompensated labor of their users. BTP TOS allow them to coerce their users to give them forced labor, in violation of the XIII Amendment and 18 U.S. Code CHAPTER 77 — PEONAGE, SLAVERY, AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS.

The forum selection clause, attempting to drag users to Big Tech home courts, is void, too.

The Kings are naked!

The article is Big Tech TOS are Void.pdf Continue reading Big Tech Terms of Service are Void →

Biden-Burisma, Brennan, Bandera – Which is the Reason for Confronting Russia Now?

#spygate, 18 USC Ch. 115, Dem Putsch, dems, Ukraine,

Russia did not interfere in the 2016 US presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. It was the other way around: Russia opposed Trump’s election. From an article in RT.com (May 6, 2016): “Donald Trump: More Caligula than Augustus … America’s answer to Mussolini, and just like the Italian fascist dictator”. Democrats should be happy now. Republicans do not need to prove to anyone that they are not soft on Russia. Continue reading Biden-Burisma, Brennan, Bandera – Which is the Reason for Confronting Russia Now? →

Ukraine Language Law

#spygate, Ukraine, ,

Are you sure that the Kyiv regime is democratic? Are you sure that accusations of Nazism have no merit whatsoever? We might be not even on the side of good guys.

The Ukraine Language Law of 2019 is so shocking that you need to read it to believe. The linked document contains excerpts from it with English translation.

The previous administration, which passed this anomalous law, lost in a landslide to Vladimir Zelensky, who promised to apply it only in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution (i.e., not to apply).

But the defeated regime, using its agents in the US (including Burisma network, Eric Ciaramella, Alexander Vindman, not sure about Sean Misco and Alexandra Chalupa), undermined Zelensky on the main front – his administration’ relations with the US. Remember “whistleblower” hoax after the phone call between Trump and Zelensky in July 2019? That and the following impeachment hearing made it impossible for Trump to provide more aid to Ukraine, such as brokering the best possible peace deal with Russia.

Those hoax and impeachment hearing in the US have undermined Zelensky’s positions in Ukraine in favor of the ultranationalists and outright neo-nazis. One might guess that outside PR, Zelensky has very few powers now.

Social Media Censorship is not Speech

anti-social media, Big Tech,

(updated) My Amicus Brief filing in 5th Court of Appeals Docket # 21-51178 NetChoice v. Paxton Appeal by TX AG Paxton of preliminary injunction against Texas anti-social medial censorship bill H.B.20.

Amicus-Brief-NetChoice-v-Paxton-2022-03-unofficial.pdf

Social media platforms are not media, but platforms used by the users to communication and to create media.  Platforms themselves are not media companies, but telecommunications services providers. The Platforms have never marketed themselves as media, press, or publishers.

Platforms operate under their contracts (which are to be constructed by courts in each separate case; their terms of service are illegal and invalid) with the users and consumer protection laws.

Platforms are state actors, and must respect the First Amendment rights of their users. Most of the censorship by the Platforms lacks necessary communicative elements to even claim the First Amendment protection. Continue reading Social Media Censorship is not Speech →

Bucha Massacre has NOT happened

L0, Ukraine,

Also, the Tochka-U missile with a cluster warhead, which hit the Kramatorsk train station on April 8, killing more than 50 , was likely launched by the Ukrainian military (thread 1, using source thread 2; 3).  The words  “for the children” (meaning “revenge for the children”) were written in Russian on the engine of the missile. – same day update

My article Was there really a massacre at Bucha? (the answer is NO) was published in the American Thinker yesterday.

The inaccurate translation of Russian “братские могилы” (“brotherly graves”) as “mass graves” contributed to the confusion. In Russia & Ukraine, brotherly graves are used in war time to bury dead honorably.

Vysotsky, Brotherly Graves (song):

Continue reading Bucha Massacre has NOT happened →

Google Business Model is IP Theft

Big Tech, google, L0,

Many wonder how Big Tech became so powerful, wealthy, and leftist. As someone with a technical and C-level management background in the tech business, I can explain. One of the sources of its wealth is wholesale theft of intellectual property by Google and Microsoft’s Bing. Here, the focus is on text-based, non-promotional content produced by “knowledge industries.” The term includes all sorts of publishing from news and commentary to scientific publications.

The main roles in publishing are AUTHOR, PUBLISHER (including editors), DISTRIBUTOR (from wholesalers to local bookstores or paper stands), and USER (buyer and reader).

Google Steals

Let us focus on Google. Google copies all web content that it can reach, then acts as a DISTRIBUTOR of that content, totally ignoring the copyright laws. In response to search words, Google provides links to Google-selected content. Typically, these links are topped by ads, for which Google is paid. Then come sources that Google owns or has business relationships with, such as YouTube, Twitter, or the fake news media. Then there are organic results (“the ten blue links”), also chosen by Google. Google promises its users it will deliver content that is the most useful, relevant, and helpful for them, but does not abide by this promise. However, this is off topic here. Continue reading Google Business Model is IP Theft →

The Rise of Punitive Epidemic Response — from Measles in a Small Jewish Community in NYC in 2019 to COVID-19 Nationwide

healthcare, L1,

This is an expanded version of the article Precedent for Punitive Epidemic Responses: New York City’s Response to Measles in 2019, published in the Trial Site News on February 28, 2022. Continue reading The Rise of Punitive Epidemic Response — from Measles in a Small Jewish Community in NYC in 2019 to COVID-19 Nationwide →

NYC 2019 Measles Outbreak in Vaccinated Population

healthcare, ,

Re-Analysis: New York City 2019 Measles Outbreak Happened in Sufficiently Vaccinated Population (preprint)

The 2019 measles outbreak in New York city and state resulted in 900 cases. Almost all cases occurred in “ultra”-Orthodox Jewish communities and 600 of the cases were in NYC.

The official stance that the unvaccinated or “anti-vaxxers” were driving this outbreak is not supported by the data. In 2019, the vaccination rate among school children in the affected communities was in the 97-99% range.

The same NYC government officials who, in 2019, turned a few imported measles cases into the largest measles outbreak in 25 years, also made New York the epicenter of COVID-19, in 2020.

Excessive emphasis on vaccination, withdrawing effective treatments, coercing physicians to follow government orders, and an unprecedented use of collective punishments, all played important roles in both cases.