In researching Xanga terms of service, (a blog site I use frequently, but of course have never actually taken the time to read this document previosuly, nor have I had the slightest thought as to whether I am abidding by these terms of use or whether Xanga itself is meeting their side of the agreement), I found it interesting, in outlining the rules for conduct and content that this is simply a list of unacceptable behaviour, rather then what is acceptable. It appears that how exactly they would like their Xanga community to behave is somewhat undefined (in reading this i was reminded of the infamous definition of child pornography- 'I don't know what it is but I know it when I see it').
According to xangas terms of use you may NOT:
-misrepresent yourself
-post material that is offensive, hateful or invades someone else privacy
-post anything that promotes or instructs anything illegal or harmful
-break the law of your present region
-upload viruses
-stalk people
etc etc
In regards to posting anything that promotes or instructs anything that may be illegal or harmful; the online community of Xanga features many niche clique communities around the themes of self harm, suicide, eating disorders and drug use. Many post feature inappropriate content, instructions in these various themes, or graphical pictorial representations of these themes. Xanga's terms of use later go on to explain that they do not monitor, nor are they responsible for the content posted on their website. But if Xanga is not responsible then who is? Many profiles featuring this sort of content are private, hence can only been seen by the users xanga friends and not the general public.
these two however seems important:
So you cannot post anything you do not own yourself. However xanga themselves later state that the site does not in anyway monitor content posted on their site, nor are they responsible for this content.
In terms of your rights, privacy and ownship of the content you create and publish to Xanga, the terms of use state:
CONTENT SUBMITTED TO XANGA.COM
(This section refers to Content that you create)
You retain all ownership rights to your Content. Except for its ownership of the collection of all content on Xanga, as described below, Xanga does not claim ownership of any Content you publish in your area of the Website (“Your Xanga Site”).
When you publish your Content on Xanga, you grant Xanga a temporary license to “rebroadcast” it. We need this license to be able to show your Content to other members and visitors. For more information about this temporary license, check out our Copyright FAQ.
By publishing Content on Your Xanga Site you grant Xanga a world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, distribute, transmit, publicly perform and publicly display the Content (as well as permit others - including without limitation Xanga’s co-brand, content and syndication partners - to do the same) solely for the following purposes:
- Displaying, distributing and promoting Your Xanga Site
- Promoting and marketing Xanga’s products and services and general operation of the Xanga Service
- Promoting and marketing the products and services of Xanga’s partners and affiliates
- Promoting and marketing products and services related to your Content.
According to the terms of service; anything you create and post on Xanga, you own... however you give Xanga the right to re-broadcast your material, however they wish, and to be used by any of the other sites/companies own by xanga.
As Xanga features a disclosure that they reserve the right to 're-broadcast' your material, this lends support to the theory that while they may not monitor all the content on their website, they must be at least aware of all of the inappropriate content.
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