Technology

I wish they'd do that in the US for the stupid TOS nonsense they pull. I'm guessing a lot of it wouldn't hold up in court, but it's unlikely to get challenged because an individual just doesn't have the resources to do so, so it chills people into going along with it.

For example:

• forced arbitration is on all the things now
• Motorola's sketchy forfeiture of rights if you flash your phone's bootloader
• "warranty stickers" - the FTC has actually cracked down a bit, but companies still try to do it

A lot of this is hidden behind dozens of pages of TOS that pretty much nobody reads. A general, "massive TOS isn't real consent" law could do wonders to improve consumer protections. Specifically, this is what I'd like to see:

• any contract must be reasonably understood by an individual with an 8th grade education
• contracts stay in force unless both parties agree to a change, and service may not be interrupted just because of a failure to agree to new terms
• no forced arbitration, though private arbitration may be used if both parties consent
• anything more than an average person can read in 5 minutes requires a formal contract, not a TOS

Or something along those lines. Consumer protections suck here, and I think this could solve a lot of the problems. Airing dirty laundry can solve a lot of problems.