(It seems to me that honesty means not only obeying law, but *reading & understanding* contracts, even on the internet, before we sign or click "I agree".)

• (And writing them in a reasonable way that lends itself to actual understanding by the target audience, and ability to comply, and that you would also comply.)
• Those contracts are legally binding, at least in the USA, as has been found in courts multiple times.
• So, often I choose not to do business with entities whose contracts are too long, have terms I don't like, include other documents by reference, etc.
• It also seems like we should not *write* contracts that specify, nor *agree* to do things, that we know almost no one will do, and which we ourselves do not.
• Common examples include words like "you agree to re-check the terms every time you use the site, since we modify them from time to time".
• Or using words like "indemnify", which are unfriendly and any attorney should know are not understood by the laypersons they want to agree to this.
• If an attorney responds "But it just means ...", then I wish they would say *that* simpler thing instead, or state it clearly in non-expert (8th grade?) terms.
• Who are your customers? Attorneys only? Those who mastered a minimum of high school language plus legal-specific terms? Do you want to be honest and kind?
• Would you use the same level of language difficulty in your sales materials, as you do in the terms to which you legally ask customers to agree?
• Site operators and executives, I wish, would not simply defer to their lawyers, but care about honesty and the Golden Rule and remember who works for whom.
• I think terms like that violate both honesty and the Golden Rule of treating others the way we (or they) would want to be treated...
• ...because we know practically no one reads or follows them, including the lawyers who write these things, which again, seems less than honest of them.
• Sometimes, it might be enough for terms to say "I have had the opportunity to read and understand", rather than "I have read", to let us more easily be honest!
• (It would also be nice, surely it could be possible with some careful thought, to make them shorter (yet clear)! Wouldn't that be more friendly and kind?)
• (And it would also be a good Golden Rule improvement to consistently make it easy for someone to save a copy from the browser. Often it seems this is impeded.)
• (Maybe later we all could come up with some more standardized agreements for these situations so we know what is in it and don't have to read it every time.)
• I welcome discussion on this topic, especially if you can make clear that you understand, then explain where I am mistaken. See the page footer to contact.
• A related discussion on Hacker News (aka HN), mentioning resources to check on licenses and agreements, or diff them (see changes over time).
• A related discussion on slashdot.org where a minority of comments are somewhat interesting, like the one with "IAAL" in its text.
• Another related HN discussion, that includes links to yet others on this (Ctrl+F for lcall), and links to sites about contract summarization to save time.
• Should public servants obey the law? Yes. Should you and I? Yes. Please consider the SPEED LIMIT, and TURN SIGNALING in advance! Etc.
• (Suggestions/questions welcome! More information is planned or available on request. Page footer has contact info.)