Terms of Service

Terms of Service (often abbreviated as "TOS") are rules by which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service.

Certain websites are noted for having carefully designed terms of service, particularly eBay and PayPal which need to maintain a high level of community trust because of transactions involving money. However, to attract new members and maintain current members, the terms must be perceived as fair and must not be needlessly bureaucratic. For the sake of good public relations and effective community building, the organization should strive to form a social contract that balances the organization's interests with a set of rights granted to the membership.

Most Internet service providers have terms of serviceâ€"notably America Onlineâ€"which many perceive to be very strict.

As video games move online, many of them are also adopting a terms of service, separate from the End User License Agreement required to utilize the client software. These Terms of Service generally specify behaviors that are disallowed within the video game's virtual world, generally to prevent a player from disrupting another player's game experience. For example, many online games disallow the use of racist speech through communication channels provided by the game. Many MMORPGs also disallow the trading of in-game items for "real world" money.

See also

*Acceptable use policy
*Contract

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