NetZero Still Has Award-Winning Sneakwrap

Article was posted here first;

http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2005/1/17/03152/9173

NetZero Still Has Award-Winning Sneakwrap

By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Mon Jan 17th, 2005 at 12:31:52 AM PDT

In our never-ending search for the worst terms on the Internet, one reader recently spotted a new candidate. Well, not entirely new, because we looked at NetZero's terms quite a while ago. But, even for those who are willing to pay for their Internet service, NetZero's terms seem to have gotten worse.

The reader was interested in NetZero's paid services until he ran into this provision in the terms of service:

Software Downloads. As part of the NetZero Service, NetZero may from time to time download software owned by NetZero or third parties to your computer. Your use of the NetZero Service constitutes your consent to such downloads.

"Apparently even for the paid service, they still want control of your PC," commented the reader. "All I found was an automated 800 number, so I was not able to ask NetZero why they needed to download any third party software to my PC. Guess what, I will be looking elsewhere."

While the Software Downloads term alone ought to put off any customer who is willing to pay for an ISP, even those who figure there's nothing to lose in trying the nominally free NetZero service might want to look closely at all the NetZero "Rules" which apply. There's some scary stuff in the privacy policy rules, like how your "psychographic information" and a "database of the types of sites you visit while you are online" can be used to better serve you ... oh, and NetZero's advertisers and business partners as well.

But, as we saw over four years ago, the real problem with NetZero's terms is that they are the very epitome of the sneakwrap concept. As was the case back then, NetZero's "Rules" still incorporate a number of documents totaling over 10,000 words of legalese. And they say that NetZero customers free and paid, are supposed to check all those documents whenever they use the site as they can change at any time. In other words, not only are NetZero's terms bad, they can get much worse at a moment's notice. And we use the word "notice" advisedly, since "posting of the updated Rules at the NetZero Site will constitute notice to you" of any changes.

Of course, you've probably seen sneakwrap terms that even worse than NetZero's. If so, you could win the GripeLog Second Annual Worst Terms Spotter Award. And a fabulous prize awaits our winner: an official pair of GripeLog Fine Print reading spectacles. Now there's a free deal you won't want to pass up, so write me at Foster@gripe2ed.com with your entries.