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Internet Users' Second-Party Exposure
Detailed Analysis - 4: Infinite

Version of 24 December 2010

Roger Clarke **

© Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 2010

This document is at http://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/IU-SPE-A4-Infinite.html

Detailed Analysis

The Terms grant Infinite a licence "to use and reproduce all Client Data". The constraint is that the purpose must be "to fulfill its obligations under this agreement".

Infinite asserts the right to change the Terms unilaterally and without notice, as that expression is generally understood. (The Terms only require the company to give "general notice on a page of the internet referred to on the home page of our website"). The user is purported to have consented to the change the next time they use the service, even if the change did not come to their attention. Only the current version of the Terms is visible; but it has been unchanged since late 2003.

Changes to Terms apply to all content, including content submitted under earlier Terms; and hence the assurances that exist can be withdrawn at any time, without notice.

Users are at risk of Infinite taking advantage of users' content under the following circumstances:

• Infinite unilaterally changes a relevant Term (including 'its obligations under the agreement') in a manner that expands its rights to use users' content; and
• users overlook the change made. This is highly likely, because:
  • detecting that a change has been made requires continual comparison of the date of the current copy of the Terms against an archived copy of the date of the old Terms
  • detecting what changes have been made requires search for the "general notice" that Infinite undertakes to place "on a page of the internet referred to on the home page of our website"; and
• Infinite exercises its new right in a manner that is harmful to the user

Extracts from the Terms of Service

Terms at http://www.infinite.net.au/support/terms-and-conditions/, dated 24 November 2003

Mirrored at http://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/IU-SPE-T-Infinite.html

Terms of 8 December 2010, mirror downloaded 14 January 2011

The only relevant Term appears to be:

9.1 The Client grants to Infinite Networks a license to use and reproduce all Client Data in order to fulfill its obligations under this agreement. In this agreement "Client Data" means all information, data, text, logos, images, audio, movie clips and/or content in any form that forms part of the Clients web sites or emails.

Infinite asserts the right to change Terms unilaterally and without notice:

1.2 We may vary these terms, ..., at any time by general notice on a page of the internet referred to on the home page of our website at http://www.infinite.net.au. The changes will become effective upon publication of the notice(s). ...

1.3 If you use the Service after that publication, your use will constitute an acceptance of the amended terms.

[No reference is made to the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2007.]

Author Affiliations

Roger Clarke is Principal of Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, Canberra. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre at the University of N.S.W., and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Australian National University.

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The content and infrastructure for these community service pages are provided by Roger Clarke through his consultancy company, Xamax. From the site's beginnings in August 1994 until February 2009, the infrastructure was provided by the Australian National University. During that time, the site accumulated close to 30 million hits. It passed 75 million in late 2024. Sponsored by the Gallery, Bunhybee Grasslands, the extended Clarke Family, Knights of the Spatchcock and their drummer

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd ACN: 002 360 456 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 2 6288 6916

Created: 9 December 2010 - Last Amended: 24 December 2010 by Roger Clarke - Site Last Verified: 15 February 2009
This document is at www.rogerclarke.com/EC/IU-SPE-A4-Infinite.html
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