Expert: Michael Troy - 7/9/2009

Question
The following is the Terms of Service page for the online game Mousehunt.  Are the restrictions they place on speech legal?  They are a Canadian company.

MouseHunt Terms of Service

Game Policies

MouseHunt (by HitGrab Inc.) is intended to be a family-friendly game. Users are asked to use language and actions (in the message board, and via any other MouseHunt related medium) which respect other players and which are suitable for a general audience. HitGrab Inc. reserves the right to remove players who violate these guidelines of conduct at their own discretion.
Scripting and/or Cheating

MouseHunt users are prohibited from using scripts and/or any other performance enhancing methods to catch mice or otherwise give them any advantage in the game. We currently track Facebook users and their auto-refreshing/auto-reloading. This includes any and all Firefox plug-ins. If a MouseHunt player is suspected of utilizing duplicitous methods to catch mice/gain gold/get points/win prizes the developers and/or administrators of the game retain the right to remove these players at will and/or forfeit any prizes these duplicitous players might win.

Additionally, MouseHunt users are not to knowingly exploit a flaw or bug in the game. If a user discovers an unexpected behavior in the game that can be abused to give themselves or another player an advantage in the game they are to immediately contact the developers to notify them of the exploit and agree to cease in re-creating the unexpected behavior in question. Players who knowingly exploit bugs will have their accounts disabled.
Multiple Accounts

MouseHunt forbids the use of multiple accounts to gain an unfair advantage over other players. Facebook has a policy against multiple accounts and those found using more than one account to play MouseHunt will be removed from the game and reported to Facebook.
Updates and Improvements

MouseHunt users can expect updates and improvements to the game on a regular basis (at the discretion of HitGrab Inc.). Updates can sometimes alter certain elements of the game. You agree not to be a complete loser or whiner if an update occurs which you do not enjoy or has (in your opinion) a negative impact on your instance of the MouseHunt game. It is most likely for the betterment of the community at large.
Friend Invites

MouseHunt players cannot invite other Facebook users by force or spam other Facebook users for any reason. Violating this guideline will lead to immediate removal from the MouseHunt game.
Discussion Boards / Forums / Cork Boards / Chat / Tournament Team Info

MouseHunt players agree to act in a respectful manner and conduct themselves in a way appropriate for a "Family Friendly" setting. Posts on the discussion boards should generally pertain to MouseHunt; Users are to avoid creating excessive amounts of off-topic/non-MouseHunt releated threads.

Players are forbidden to:

   * use profanity
   * use racist or derogatory terms
   * discuss topics of an illegal or sexual nature
   * create excessive amount of meaningless or repetitive threads, or any other content considered as spam
   * show prejudice or discriminate against others
     (towards an individual, a people, a race/ethnic group, a religion/belief, etc.)
   * advertise products or services, including Facebook applications

Violation of these terms is grounds for removal from MouseHunt and a report to Facebook.

By accessing the MouseHunt application users agree to accept that game administators and moderators may remove or censor any player submitted content for any reason whatsoever.

MouseHunt is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites
The content on any external link is beyond our control, click at your own risk.
Prizes

HitGrab Inc. provides prizes to MouseHunt players to enhance the game experience. Prizes vary widely in size and value. HitGrab Inc. reserves the right to hold back any prize for any reason at their own discretion.
Indemnification

Users who install the MouseHunt application agree to these terms of services and indemnify HitGrab Inc. from any damages of any sort which MouseHunt may cause in any way and agree not to hold HitGrab Inc. liable for any reason in all the world through all eternity.
On matters of Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech is not absolute. The only true place you have full Freedom of Speech is in a public place, when it does not conflict with the values or rights of others, and when you are the only speaker. Within an open forum, the rights of others must be observed. Every place has its own rules. It would be rude to walk into a library and begin shouting at the top of your lungs. Freedom of Speech (or Freedom of Expression) must not infringe on the rights of others.

The MouseHunt boards are privately owned, and these terms of service must be agreed to before users can post or use the application. No one enjoys the concept of censorship, but realistically, we need censorship in order to protect ourselves and, more importantly, our players. These terms are here for the benefit of the players.


Answer
Hi Jerod,

Free speech rights only apply to government censorship of speech.  Private companies, whether foreign or domestic, are free to restrict the rights of members, who voluntarily agree to act by certain standards as a condition of being a member.  Since this a private company and not an entity of the government, the First Amendment would not apply.

I hope this answers your question.
- Mike