¶ … Internet revolution has touched the lives of almost everyone on the world regardless of their nationality and geographical location. Anybody with a phone connection can access the entire network of the globe and stay connected with the rest of the world. The free service providers and the search engine providers play a great part in giving the much-needed services of free web-based mail and other services. Yahoo has been one of the pioneers in the area. While the Internet is accessible to anyone, the service provided by yahoo attracts both bona fide and male fide consumers. The terms of service under which Yahoo agrees to provide their help in the internet make it clear to all the honorable intentions with which they provide the service and require the consumers also to agree to these terms before embarking upon the use of the service. This is a paper on the terms of service for Yahoo, providing the details about the important rules and regulations, the addressing of the users' grievances, the laws that govern them and the information about the jurisdiction that addresses the grievances of the users. The salient points in the terms of service cover almost all the possibilities of use and misuse that can be envisaged and seek to provide solutions for any queries or grievances the user may encounter. At the outset itself, Yahoo gives out its Terms of Service ("TOS") to the users to accept and agree to abide by them when they decide to become a member or consumer of the Yahoo services. Moreover, the links to the TOS are found in every page to guide the uninformed user to the relevant page. An extensive page can be accessed at the constantly updated. (Terms Of Service, 2003) Yahoo, with its network of assets, gives its users access to many useful resources on the Internet by the services of Yahoo such as tools for communications, contents that suit individual preferences, avenues for the users to shop online and forums to share their views. This function of Yahoo service is governed by the term, 'Service'.

The user should agree to the inclusion of advertisements in the Yahoo service, as they are needed to generate revenue out of running the service and to the inclusion of announcements pertaining to the service and administration that cannot be refused by the user. The user should agree that the terms of the service is, in legal parlance 'AS-IS' and therefore, Yahoo will not be liable for any action for such happenings as the removal of the settings done by the user, loss of data, timely delivery or failure to deliver. Yahoo will not accept responsibility for the accessing process and it rests solely with the user to pay the fees to the Internet service provider and for the telephone services. They also notify that the content of some areas in the Yahoo service are meant for adults and so, the user should be above the legal age of 18 years to see those sites.

When registering for the service, the users acquiesce to give only full, true, precise and the latest information about themselves under the data required for the registration and agree to maintain the same constantly by updating the data. If they provide any data that is not true or latest or with incomplete or inexact information and Yahoo has reasons to infer the trustworthiness of the data, then Yahoo has the right to defer the users' right to access their account and turn down their claim to future use. The parents are urged to create a 'Yahoo! Family Account' if they have children under the age of 13 years who wish to access the Service so that they can permit the children to use all the facilities provided by the services of Yahoo, as a part of Yahoo's concern for the privacy of all its users. Thus the parents, as the legal guardian can decide whether the content or...

The information provided by the users is governed by the Yahoo Privacy Policy, which can be accessed at the site. (Yahoo Privacy Policy, 2003)
When the users complete the process of registration they get a password and information about the account and thereafter, they are responsible for the use of the particular accounts under their name and they will be solely responsible for any loss or misuse arising out of the accounts. Therefore, the users should take care to prevent any unlawful use of their Yahoo accounts by signing out after each use and such illegitimate use, if any, should be brought to the notice of Yahoo. The users are urged to understand that all the data and contents exchanged through the Yahoo service belong only to the originator of those contents and Yahoo will not take on the responsibility for the uploading, emailing, posting or transmitting of any data the users handle through their accounts for which they are only responsible.

Yahoo does not vouchsafe to the veracity, truth or worth of the contents posted through its service. Yahoo will not be liable for any damage arising out of any licentious, obnoxious or abusive nature of contents. The users are asked to agree to all the terms given and are requested to abide by the rules. The users agree to the discretionary rights, but not commitment, of Yahoo and its authorized persons to turn down or shift any content that passes through the Service. In addition, Yahoo has the right to delete any Content that go against the TOS or are offensive. (Spam Policy, 2003) Yahoo has the right to keep or divulge the contents to assist legal processes, activate the TOS react to the claims or to safeguard the rights of Yahoo, its users and the public.

Yahoo also specifies guidelines for international use by asking the users to abide by the acceptable code of conduct for online users and acknowledge the fact that Yahoo does not own any of the contents posted in its service but give Yahoo the license, for the content posted in sites such as 'Yahoo! Message Boards', some parts of 'Yahoo! Clubs' and 'Yahoo! Groups' that are open to the public, to be used as tools for promotional exercises. The users should accept to indemnify Yahoo and its subsidiaries and its authorized personnel from any demand or claims arising out of their failure to abide by the TOS and the content posted by them. The users should not sell or utilize the Yahoo Service or its access for any commercial purposes. Yahoo reserves the right to decide the rules governing the storage and use of the email services, postings on the message boards and other contents that are uploaded, including the size, duration and number of times they are accessed and the right to change these rules anytime at its discretion and Yahoo shall not be liable for anyone for any claims, arising out of the termination.

The transactions between advertisers and the users and any claims arising out of the business done with them in the Yahoo sites or through other linked sites are not the responsibilities of Yahoo. The TOS requires the user to recognize that the software, used in the Service for necessary activities to provide the service, have classified information with intellectual value, protected by laws and any unauthorized person or persons should not use them in any form. Yahoo gives the user who has signed up the TOS agreement personal rights that are not transferable and not exclusive, to utilize the object code in their computer within the specified conditions and stipulations and only through the authorized interface, to access Yahoo services. Yahoo sends the notices via email or even regular mail or through links to the TOS.

Yahoo also requires the user to…