WordPress Policy Primer

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TERMS OF SERVICE WordPress.COM

Transcript of WordPress Policy Primer

TERMS OF SERVICE WordPress.COM

A      guide  by  Hans  Dusink  

What  is                                                    ?        WordPress.com  is  a  blog  and  web  site  hos;ng  service  created  to  bring  the    “open  source  Wordpress  package  to  a  larger  audience”.  (WordPress.com,  2011)      Nearly  everything  on  WordPress.com  is  free,  but  they  offer  paid  upgrades  for  custom  design  and  custom  domains.    WordPress  is  owned  by  AutomaIc  Inc.  A  company  “passionate  about  making  the  web  a  beKer  place”  (AutomaIc,  n.d.)  

hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeycouture/324356997/    CC  BY-­‐NC-­‐ND  2.0  

How  many  ;mes  have  you    Read    

the  Terms  of  Service    (TOS)  agreement  before  accessing  or  signing  

up  to  a  website?  

A  website’s  Terms  of  Service  apply  whether  you  sign  up  for  a  service  or  just  visit.  

Did  You  Know……..?  

Please  read  this  Agreement  

carefully  before  accessing  or  using  

this  website.  By  accessing  or  using  

any  part  of  the  website  ,  you  agree  

to  become  bound  by  the  terms  and  

condi;ons  of  this  agreement.  (WordPress.com,  2011)  

Lets  have  a  look  at  what  you  have  agreed  to  at    

The  Terms  of  Service  are  usually  more  than  one  document.    

The  WordPress.com  

Agreement  includes    

AutomaIc’s  Privacy  

Policy  as  well  as  all  

other  opera;ng  rules,  

policies  and  procedures  

that  may  be  published  

from  ;me  to  ;me.  

is  only  available  to  individuals  older  than    

You  are  en;rely  

responsible  for  

the  content    and  

the  harm  

caused  by  

content  

published  on  

YOUR  blog    

That  means  that  WordPress.com  

will  NOT  be  liable  for  any  

consequences  from  material  that  

appears  under  your  account  

•  must  not  contain  any  viruses,  worms,  malware,  Trojan  horses  or  other  harmful  or  destruc;ve  content  

•  must  not  be  pornographic  nor  contain  threats  or  incite  violence  towards  individuals  or  en;;es,  and  does  not  violate  the  privacy  or  publicity  right  of  any  third  party.  

•  must  not  be  named  in  a  manner  that  misleads  your  readers  into  thinking  that  you  are  another  person  or  company.

 

(WordPress.com,  2011)    

Among  other  things  your  content  :  

hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/elmorsa/4607566698/    CC  BY  NC  SA  2.0  

 You  also  undertake  that  content  appearing  in  your  blog  does  not  infringe  the  proprietary  rights  of  any  third  party.    You  warrant  that  you  have  the  appropriate  permission  to  use  that  content.

AutomaIc  has  the  right  (though  not  the  obliga;on)  to,  in  AutomaIc’s    sole  discre;on  :    1.  Refuse  or  remove  any  content  that  violates  

any  AutomaIc  policy  or  is  harmful  or  objec;onable,  or  

 2.  Terminate  or  deny  access  to  and  use  of  the  

Website  to  any  individual  or  en;ty  for  any  reason,  in  AutomaIc’s  sole  discre;on.  

(WordPress.com,  2011)    

AutomaIc  has  no  obliga;on  to  refund  any  amounts  of  money  that  you  may  have  paid  to  them.  

And  by  the  way  

hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/benhusmann/4133651889/  CC  BY  2.0  

If  this  sounds  like  AutomaIc  is  all  care  and  no  responsibility            ……….THINK  AGAIN  

The  website  is  provided  “as  is”.  Automa6c  and  its  suppliers  and  licensors  hereby  disclaim  all  warran;es  of  any  kind,  express  or  implied,  including,  without  limita;on,  the  warran;es  of  merchantability,  fitness  for  a  par;cular  purpose  and  non-­‐infringement. Neither  do  they  warrant  that  the  website  will  be  free  of  errors  or  that  access  will  be  con;nuous  or  uninterrupted.  

(WordPress.com,  2011)  

If  you  have  any  issues  with  any  of  the  condi;ons  your  only  remedy  is  to    

using  the  services  provided.  

PRIVACY  

According  to  AutomaIc’s  Privacy  Policy  preamble  “Your  Privacy  is  important  to  us.”    They  only  collect  personal  informa;on  that  is  needed.      They  do  not  share  informa;on  with  anyone  except  to  comply  with  the  law.    They  do  not  store  personal  informa;on  on  their  servers  unless  required  for  the  on-­‐going  opera;on    of  your  service.        (AutomaIc,  n.d)  

WordPress.com  does  not  ask  for  much  informaLon  to  set  up  a  blog  

(WordPress.com,  2011)  

•  AutomaIc  uses  cookies  to  help  iden;fy  and  track  visitors,  their  usage  and  their  website  access  preferences.

 •  certain  features  of  

AutomaIc’s  websites  may  not  func;on  properly  without  the  aid  of  cookies  (AutomaIc,  n.d).  

PRIVACY  

But  be  aware  that  

A  cookie  is  a  string  of  informa;on  that  a  website  stores  on  a  visitor’s  computer,  and  that  the  visitor’s  browser  provides  to  the  website  each  ;me  the  visitor  returns.  This  informa;on  may  include  login  or  registra;on  data.  

hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/klara/403856634/    CC  BY-­‐NC-­‐SA  2.0  

PRIVACY  Cookies  

One  Last  Thing:  

Your  agreement  with  AutomaIc  can  change  at  any;me.          IT  IS  YOUR  RESPONSIBILITY  TO  CHECK  THE  WEBSITE  FOR  ANY  CHANGES  

So  now  will  you  check  the  TOS  before  visiLng  or  

signing  up  for  services  on  the  Web?  

References  a2gemma.  [Image].  (2007).  Point!  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/a2gemma/1448178195/  ArleKe.  [Image].  (2005).  Recycled  stop  sign.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/arleKe/3260468/  AutomaIc.(n.d-­‐a).  About  Us.  Retrieved  from  hKp://automaIc.com/about/  AutomaIc.(n.d-­‐b).  Privacy  Policy.  Retrieved  from  hKp://automaIc.com/privacy/  chrisdejabet.  [Image].  (2006).  License  Agreement.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/cdejabet/250997918/  Ed.Ward.  [Image].  (2007).  Break  the  rules!  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/king-­‐edward/2177819899/  elmorsa.  [Image].  (2010).  copyrightsymbol.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/elmorsa/4607566698/  Hancock,  J.  [Image].  (2009).  1984  Just  Visi;ng  This  Planet  Pin.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3541741424/  Husmann,  B.  [Image].  (2009).  No  refunds  beyond  this  point!  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/benhusmann/4133651889/      

Klara  Kim.  [Image].  (2007).  Cookies  do  not  always  wish  to  remain  stacked.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/klara/403856634/  Kullez.  [Image].  (2011).  Tonåring!  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/kullez/6145184908/  Macfričkins,  F.  [Image].  (2008).  Agreements.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/macfrickins/3063571076/  Mikeycouture.  [Image].  (2006).  Who?  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeycouture/324356997/  Mr.  Mystery.  [Image].  (2009).  Prohibited.  Retrieved  from  hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/mrmystery/3217500408/  WordPress.com.(2011a).  About  Us.  Retrieved  from  hKp://en.wordpress.com/about/  WordPress.com.(2011b).  Terms  of  Service.  Retrieved  from  hKp://en.wordpress.com/tos/    

References