WordPress Policy Primer

WordPress.COM
TERMS OF SERVICE

A

guide
by
Hans
Dusink

What
is

?

WordPress.com
is
a
blog
and
web
site
hos;ng
service

created
to
bring
the

“open
source
Wordpress
package
to
a

larger
audience”.
(WordPress.com,
2011)

Nearly
everything
on
WordPress.com
is
free,
but
they
oﬀer

paid
upgrades
for
custom
design
and
custom
domains.

WordPress
is
owned
by
AutomaIc
Inc.
A
company

“passionate
about
making
the
web
a
beKer

place”
(AutomaIc,
n.d.)

How
many
;mes
have
you

Read

the
Terms
of
Service

(TOS)

agreement
before
accessing
or
signing

up
to
a
website?

hKp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/mikeycouture/324356997/

CC
BY-‐NC-‐ND
2.0

Did
You
Know……..?

A
website’s
Terms
of
Service
apply
whether

you
sign
up
for
a
service
or
just
visit.

Please
read
this
Agreement

carefully
before
accessing
or
using

this
website.
By
accessing
or
using

any
part
of
the
website
,
you
agree

to
become
bound
by
the
terms
and

condi;ons
of
this
agreement.

(WordPress.com,
2011)

Lets
have
a
look
at
what
you
have
agreed
to
at

The
Terms
of
Service
are
usually
more

than
one
document.

The
WordPress.com

Agreement
includes

AutomaIc’s
Privacy

Policy
as
well
as
all

other
opera;ng
rules,

policies
and
procedures

that
may
be
published

from
;me
to
;me.

is
only
available
to
individuals
older
than

You
are

en;rely

responsible
for

the
content

and

the
harm

caused
by

content

published
on

YOUR
blog

That
means
that
WordPress.com

will
NOT
be
liable
for
any

consequences
from
material
that

appears
under
your
account

Among
other
things
your
content
:

•  must
not
contain
any
viruses,
worms,
malware,
Trojan

horses
or
other
harmful
or
destruc;ve
content

•  must
not
be
pornographic
nor
contain
threats
or
incite

violence
towards
individuals
or
en;;es,
and
does
not

violate
the
privacy
or
publicity
right
of
any
third
party.

•  must
not
be
named
in
a
manner
that
misleads
your
readers

into
thinking
that
you
are
another
person
or
company.

(WordPress.com,
2011)

You
also

undertake
that

content

appearing
in

your
blog
does

not
infringe
the

proprietary

rights
of
any

third
party.

You
warrant

that
you
have

the
appropriate

permission
to

hKp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/elmorsa/4607566698/

CC
BY
NC
SA
2.0
use
that

content.

AutomaIc
has
the
right
(though
not
the

obliga;on)
to,
in
AutomaIc’s

sole
discre;on
:

1.  Refuse
or
remove
any
content
that
violates

any
AutomaIc
policy
or
is
harmful
or

objec;onable,
or

2.  Terminate
or
deny
access
to
and
use
of
the

Website
to
any
individual
or
en;ty
for
any

reason,
in
AutomaIc’s
sole
discre;on.

(WordPress.com,
2011)

And
by
the
way

hKp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/benhusmann/4133651889/
CC
BY
2.0

AutomaIc
has
no
obliga;on
to

refund
any
amounts
of
money
that

you
may
have
paid
to
them.

If
this
sounds
like
AutomaIc
is
all
care
and
no

responsibility

……….THINK
AGAIN

The
website
is
provided
“as
is”.
Automa6c

and
its
suppliers
and
licensors
hereby
disclaim

all
warran;es
of
any
kind,
express
or
implied,

including,
without
limita;on,
the
warran;es
of

merchantability,
ﬁtness
for
a
par;cular

purpose
and
non-‐infringement.
(WordPress.com,
2011)

Neither
do
they
warrant
that
the
website
will

be
free
of
errors
or
that
access
will
be

con;nuous
or
uninterrupted.

If
you
have
any
issues
with
any
of
the
condi;ons
your
only

remedy
is
to

using
the
services
provided.

PRIVACY

According
to
AutomaIc’s
Privacy
Policy
preamble

“Your
Privacy
is
important
to
us.”

They
only
collect
personal
informa;on
that
is
needed.

They
do
not
share
informa;on
with
anyone
except
to

comply
with
the
law.

They
do
not
store
personal
informa;on
on
their

servers
unless
required
for
the
on-‐going
opera;on

of

your
service.

(AutomaIc,
n.d)

WordPress.com
does
not
ask
for
much
informaLon

to
set
up
a
blog

(WordPress.com,
2011)

PRIVACY

But
be
aware
that

•  AutomaIc
uses
cookies
to

help
iden;fy
and
track

visitors,
their
usage
and
their

website
access
preferences.

•  certain
features
of

AutomaIc’s
websites
may

not
func;on
properly

without
the
aid
of
cookies

(AutomaIc,
n.d).

PRIVACY

Cookies

A
cookie
is
a
string
of
informa;on
that
a

website
stores
on
a
visitor’s
computer,
and

that
the
visitor’s
browser
provides
to
the

website
each
;me
the
visitor
returns.
This

informa;on
may
include
login
or
registra;on

data.

hKp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/klara/403856634/

CC
BY-‐NC-‐SA
2.0

One
Last
Thing:

Your
agreement
with
AutomaIc
can
change
at

any;me.

IT
IS
YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY
TO
CHECK
THE

WEBSITE
FOR
ANY
CHANGES

So
now
will
you
check
the
TOS
before
visiLng
or

signing
up
for
services
on
the
Web?

References

a2gemma.
[Image].
(2007).
Point!
Retrieved
from
hKp://www.flickr.com/
photos/a2gemma/1448178195/

ArleKe.
[Image].
(2005).
Recycled
stop
sign.
Retrieved
from
hKp://
www.flickr.com/photos/arleKe/3260468/

AutomaIc.(n.d-‐a).
About
Us.
Retrieved
from
hKp://automaIc.com/about/

AutomaIc.(n.d-‐b).
Privacy
Policy.
Retrieved
from
hKp://automaIc.com/
privacy/

chrisdejabet.
[Image].
(2006).
License
Agreement.
Retrieved
from
hKp://
www.flickr.com/photos/cdejabet/250997918/

Ed.Ward.
[Image].
(2007).
Break
the
rules!
Retrieved
from
hKp://
www.flickr.com/photos/king-‐edward/2177819899/

elmorsa.
[Image].
(2010).
copyrightsymbol.
Retrieved
from
hKp://
www.flickr.com/photos/elmorsa/4607566698/

Hancock,
J.
[Image].
(2009).
1984
Just
Visi;ng
This
Planet
Pin.
Retrieved

from
hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3541741424/

Husmann,
B.
[Image].
(2009).
No
refunds
beyond
this
point!
Retrieved
from

hKp://www.flickr.com/photos/benhusmann/4133651889/

References

Klara
Kim.
[Image].
(2007).
Cookies
do
not
always
wish
to
remain
stacked.

Retrieved
from
hKp://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/klara/403856634/

Kullez.
[Image].
(2011).
Tonåring!
Retrieved
from
photos/kullez/6145184908/

Macfričkins,
F.
[Image].
(2008).
Agreements.
Retrieved
from
hKp://
www.ﬂickr.com/photos/macfrickins/3063571076/

Mikeycouture.
[Image].
(2006).
Who?
Retrieved
from
photos/mikeycouture/324356997/

Mr.
Mystery.
[Image].
(2009).
Prohibited.
Retrieved
from
photos/mrmystery/3217500408/

WordPress.com.(2011a).
About
Us.
Retrieved
from
hKp://en.wordpress.com/
about/

WordPress.com.(2011b).
Terms
of
Service.
Retrieved
from
hKp://
en.wordpress.com/tos/

WordPress Policy Primer

More Related Content

Similar to WordPress Policy Primer (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

WordPress Policy Primer