this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
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It's legal because people agree to it as part of entering a contract. And as scummy as you or I may believe it to be, people still enter into such contracts, and courts have not ruled them unconscionable.
Hardly an agreement if it's predicated on access to a service, particularly if the service is a utility, a monopoly, or a cartel.
If every vendor uses uniform language as a means of mitigating their own collective liability, the agreement is functionally coerced.
I agree, but I also think we need to be aware of what we agree to when entering service agreements. Certainly for something like an ISP for which there is often a monopoly there may not be much of a choice, but even when you do have a choice, how often do you actually read what you're agreeing to? We have the option to try to vote with our wallets, but instead we've collectively just continued to sign up for services that have arbitration agreements. If companies see only token resistance to such contracts then they're not going to be deterred.
You don't bother precisely because it's an enormous amount of work for no discernable benefit.
What are you doing to do? Not rent a car or fly on a plane? Not own any electronics or motorized vehicles? Not rent an apartment? Not use software?
Do we? What good is money if we can't spend it?
I suppose you're right. We are powerless and griping on the internet is the only catharsis available to us!
It's helpful to understand what you actually have control over, rather than confusing good fortune for savvy decision making.
It's also helpful to understand when you're not completely powerless, rather than confusing complacency for inevitability.
Very important to know the difference and be clear eyed about it