For most people (including me), privacy policies fall into the same category as “terms of service” documents–they contain important information, but are usually so long and impenetrably written that they’re not worth the effort of reading. AT&T says it’s trying to take a different approach with a draft privacy policy that it published this morning, one that’s actually comprehensible to your average reader.

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In recent months, YouTube has set off some jangled nerves among several of its more popular content producers. The company issued written notifications to several producers who have inked branded integration deals directly with advertisers, gently reminding them that according to its Terms of Service, users are not to post commercial videos on YouTube without permission.

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You’ve probably heard how much the microblogging service Twitter can help your business, or that being on social-networking site Facebook can boost your company’s profile. But what you might not have considered is the potential danger in over-relying on these start-ups that could go out of business, get bought out, or close your account if you aren’t familiar with their Terms of Service.

In terms of growth, both Twitter and Facebook are booming, with Twitter growing by 600 percent and Facebook nearly tripling in users in the past year. Both companies rely on venture funding to survive. Facebook has been bringing in revenues from advertising; Twitter hasn’t yet clarified how it will bring in money.

The brand value of both companies is rising, as you could see on TV during the inauguration when stations such as CNN were touting Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. But as more newbies pour their time and attention into these online services, can they be certain that the services will survive in the long haul?

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Yesterday’s flare-up about the Terms of Service for Google’s new browser Chrome, followed by the company’s rapid backtracking on the demands it was making of users, left many people wondering about Google ToS in general.

Is it OK for service providers to require that they be exempt from the copyright norm of no re-use without explicit permission? We don’t think it is.

Chrome’s original ToS made far-reaching claims to rights for promotional re-use and sharing with partner companies of any data sent through the Google browser. When users cried foul, the company apologized and said that this standard condition for all Google services wasn’t appropriate for a browser. It’s not uncommon for services online to make such demands–but we argue that there’s a better way for this to be done.

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Ariel Waldman says she’s been harassed over Twitter for close to a year and the company has refused to do anything about it, despite the fact that it violates their own terms of service.
Waldman, a community manager at Pownce, says a longtime stalker launched a campaign against her over Twitter in June 2007. When she contacted the company about the tweets, somebody said they took them down from the public time line. As the tweets continued to stream in, Waldman says she periodically reported them to Twitter.

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