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Terms of Service

Terms of service (abbreviated as "ToS" or "TOS") are rules by which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Usually, such terms are legally binding.

Certain website

Website

A Web site is a collection of related Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are hosted on one Web server, usually accessible via the Internet....
s are noted for having carefully designed terms of service, particularly eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an United States Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide....
and PayPal

PayPal

PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. PayPal serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as Cheque and money orders....
which need to maintain a high level of community

Community

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment .In human communities, intention, belief, Natural resource, preferences, Need assessment, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the Identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness....
trust

Trust (sociology)

Trust is a relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policy, ethics codes, law and their previous promises.Trust does not need to involve belief in the good character, vices, or morals of the other party....
because of transactions involving money

Money

Money is anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts. The main uses of money are as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value....
. Terms of service can cover a range of issues, including acceptable user behavior online, a company's marketing policies, and copyright notices. Some organizations, such as Yahoo!, can change their terms of service without notice to the user base.

Internet service provider

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that offers its customers access to the Internet. The ISP connects to its customers using a data transmission technology appropriate for delivering Internet Protocol datagrams, such as dial-up, DSL, cable modem or dedicated high-speed interconnects....
s have terms of service—notably AOL LLC—which many have perceived to be very strict. Many users do not read the terms of service.

ideo 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

Client (computing)

A client is an Application software or system that accesses a remote service on another computer system, known as a Server , by way of a Computer network....
.

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Encyclopedia

Terms of service (abbreviated as "ToS" or "TOS") are rules by which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Usually, such terms are legally binding.

Certain website

Website

EBay

PayPal

Community

Trust (sociology)

Money

Internet service providers

Most Internet service provider

Internet service provider

Video Games

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

Client (computing)

A client is an Application software or system that accesses a remote service on another computer system, known as a Server , by way of a Computer network....
. These Terms of Service generally specify behavior

Behavior

Behavior or behaviour refers to the action s or reactions of an object or organism, usually in Relational theory to the environment. Behavior can be conscious or Unconscious mind, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary....
s that are disallowed within the video game's virtual world

Virtual world

A virtual world is a computer simulation intended for its user to inhabit and interact via Avatar s. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or 3D computer graphics representations, although other forms are possible ....
, 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

Communication

Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs...",, 1: an act or instance of transmitting and 3 a: "a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or beha...
channels provided by the game. Many MMORPG

MMORPG

A massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a large number of player interact with one another in a virtual world....
s also disallow the trading

Trade

Tradeis the willing exchange of goods, Service , or both. Trade is also called commerce. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter , the direct exchange of goods and services....
of in-game items for "real world" money.

Violation

A ToS violation can result in myriad consequences towards those who are guilty depending on the service and the severity of the violation. Most organizations reserve the right to restrict a user's access to the service if they violate the terms in the agreement, an action referred to as "ToSing the user". In more serious cases, the user will have their account terminated without any warning.