Is it a sin to click a box saying that you have read the TOS if you haven't

  • Thread starter Thread starter Catholig
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
KofC660 said:
Like I said, because it is anonymous it has no legality. In order to “bear false witness” the witness must be known. If he is unknown, he is no “witness”, thus can not bear falsely.
Click to expand...
There are still two parties, You and whoever the provider of the TOS.
 
Syele said:
So if it’s not a sin to say you read them when you didn’t, Does that also mean it’s not a sin for me to include in them language in one that ensures everyone who says they read them owes me lots of money? Cause I could use some extra cash…😉
Click to expand...
It’s OK, I think Bill Gates has already done that. Based on all the stuff I have to sign to get Microsoft products working, there is no doubt some language in there making us all his indentured servants for life. But then, the product does that anyway.
 
KofC660,

I don’t think ALL possible sins are necessarily covered in the 10 commandments anyway…
 
KofC660 said:
Actually, I have the answer! …

The English word “lie” is not a good translation of the mortal sin we find in the 10 Commandments.

Exodus 20:16 says:
Click to expand...
How about Matthew 5:37 (the Sermon on the Mount),
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.
Click to expand...
and James 5:12?
let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No,” that you may not incur condemnation
Click to expand...
 
I think you should at least skim through them to make sure there aren’t any “Rumplestiltskin clauses” - I don’t think anyone expects you to remember what you read, though.

With regard to the Forum, I’ve noticed that people will mention it if they think you’ve broken a rule, and they are generally pretty lenient, unless you go ahead and break it again, and again, and again, ad infinitum, after someone has mentioned it to you.

Most EULAs say the same thing - you are leasing the software, not buying it, and only the original developer has the right to make changes to it, or to sell new versions of it.

Some EULAs permit you to make changes to the software for your own use, but ask that you document any changes you make, along with the effects of the changes on how the software functions, and send the report back to the original developer.

Once you figure out which one you’ve got, it’s not necessary to get into the fine print until or unless you decide to muck about with the inner workings of the software. For most people, this isn’t an issue - they don’t have the programming skills to do this, anyway.

Obviously, making copies of the software and selling them or giving them away would be “theft,” and definitely goes against the Ten Commandments.
 
isn’t it dangerous to sign things you haven’t at least glanced over or tried to understand? What if you accidentally make a Rumplestiltskin bargain or something?
Click to expand...
Sometimes I wish I had clicked on one of those Rumplestilskin bargains. The thought of someone coming along and claiming my firstborn out of the blue would make me giddy. (She’s a 17 year old female teenager.) 😃

(No comments from anyone who has never had a female teenager.)
 
It just seems to me making this into a “sin” issue smacks a little bit of scrupulosity or pharisaism. It’s rather like those who accused Jesus of breaking the mosaic law by healing someone on the sabbath. I don’t think he would have said to one of the scribes, “oh, but it’s only a venial sin, just a little healing on the sabbath.” A more apt reply might be, as one or my co-workers used to say to me on occasion–“get a grip.”
 
Syele said:
I’m shocked at how many here say it’s not lying. just because something is not face to face doesn’t mean it isn’t deceptive… For an example:

**I have read, and agree to abide by the Catholic Answers Forums rules.
**
You had to check that to get into this forum. If you didn’t read the rules how can you justify promising to abide by them?? Why do you think the rules were put there?
Click to expand...
Good question. I merely assumed that the rules are pretty obvious - no obscenity, no demeaning language, don’t use the forum to sell stuff. Nobody’s told me that I broke any rule yet…
 
JimG said:
It just seems to me making this into a “sin” issue smacks a little bit of scrupulosity or pharisaism. It’s rather like those who accused Jesus of breaking the mosaic law by healing someone on the sabbath. I don’t think he would have said to one of the scribes, “oh, but it’s only a venial sin, just a little healing on the sabbath.” A more apt reply might be, as one or my co-workers used to say to me on occasion–“get a grip.”
Click to expand...
I don’t get how lying about reading a TOS is the same as healing on the Sabbath. Jesus was doing something that honored God. Lying about reading TOS can’t even be twisted in some way to make it honorable. Typical of the average person, maybe, but not honorable.
 
Syele said:
I don’t get how lying about reading a TOS is the same as healing on the Sabbath. Jesus was doing something that honored God. Lying about reading TOS can’t even be twisted in some way to make it honorable. Typical of the average person, maybe, but not honorable.
Click to expand...
Well, He was breaking the Sabbath laws, according to the bureaucrats of the day–the scribes and pharisees. At another point he even tells his disciples to do everything that the scribes and pharisees prescribe, just don’t follow their example.

I don’t think that honor has anything to do with it. If you want to use any particular website, you have to abide by their terms of service, whether you read them or not. That’s just a given.

But I can think of cases wherein this sort of overattention to detail could be burdensome or have unfair results. Suppose a young family goes into a government office to apply for some type of benefit which they desperately need. The office worker puts numerous forms in front of the applicant for signature, and says, “Now, you are not to sign this until you have read and understood everything in them.”

And the applicant is thinking, well, I can’t honestly sign that because these papers are written in language that makes little sense to me, and I can’t honestly say that I understand everything in them. So this family will never get benefits that they have coming and need.

Another example, do you think that everyone who signs a tax return, prepared by someone else, certifying it to be accurate and complete, fully understands how all the numbers were arrived at?
 
Until they give me an option that says “I don’t care what the 4,000 pages of teeny font says, just sign me up and send me to the next screen. I don’t have a week to waste on this stuff.” I will click on the “yes” box.
 
I really cant believe anyone would say this is a sin. I will never ever ever read the stupid TOS. It’s a waste of time. Reading the TOS and not reading the TOS is such a nuatral thing, you not give glory nor honor to God either way.
 
I am also of the opinion that end user agreements should only take 30 seconds to read, and be written in clear, plain English. I have no idea what’s up with all the “lawyer-ese” out there.
 
MCS7474 said:
I really cant believe anyone would say this is a sin. I will never ever ever read the stupid TOS. It’s a waste of time.
Click to expand...
Right, we all need the time we could spend following a Commandment of God to instead do really important things like read this thread.

When I ask myself whether Jesus would have clicked on a TOS, the answer I get is, why would Jesus have been logging on to some stupid website? How is that advancing the Kingdom of God?

But if there was some “I have read the TOS” box which stood between Him and some important Divine work, I have no doubt whatsoever that He would have read the Terms of Service before clicking to say that He did so. Because in Him there was no guile. And He would have offered those 30 minutes of trudging through legalese to honor His Father, just like He offered the 30 years He spent hidden in Nazareth before the start of His public ministry as a holy and acceptable sacrifice, part of His Cross.

But we want to take shortcuts.

Well, if we are faithless in small things, we aren’t going to be trusted with big things. Jesus has said so.
 
jmj603 said:
Right, we all need the time we could spend following a Commandment of God to instead do really important things like read this thread.
Click to expand...
If they were readable, it probably wouldn’t be an issue.

All most TOS need to say is:

If you disassemble this software to make your own version of it, we will sue your pants off.

We will sue you out of your entire wardrobe if you attempt to sell your new version of it, passing it off as your own work.

If you link to our pictures, or download and use any of the media in this presentation for other purposes without our permission, we will take your shirt, your shoes, and your socks.

If you hack into our web site and change its appearance or message in any way, we will take away your house and all of your cars.

For best results, keep your eyeballs in your head, and your arms and legs attached to your body.

If using our product crashes your computer, it’s not our problem, so please back up all of your data before installing it for the first time.
 
Faithless in clicking on the Yes box means I’ll betray God in all the big ways? That is funny, my friend. 😃

Again, if they gave us honest options, I would click the honest option. How about a “No, I don’t care to read it, and I’ll just put up with being an ignorant slob and take my legal chances so I can hurry this up.”

I’d even click on that too.

God knows I’m faithful in the big stuff. If this is your test for fidelity, I’m glad He’s God and you’re not. 😉
 
This is so ridicoulus. How can you even defend your position jmj603? Do you really read the TOS that you click yes on? Seems like a few people have scurpulous problems here.
 
MCS7474 said:
This is so ridicoulus.
Click to expand...
Moral theology isn’t for the faint of heart.
MCS7474 said:
How can you even defend your position jmj603?
Click to expand...
As proven by this thread, the alternative, that it is okay to lie, is indefensible.
MCS7474 said:
Do you really read the TOS that you click yes on?
Click to expand...
Especially now, I’d better, right? Hypocrisy is a sin against the Holy Spirit.
MCS7474 said:
Seems like a few people have scurpulous problems here.
Click to expand...
It is of great importance to be able to make a correct diagnosis of this disease. Hence especially guides of consciences should be familiar with the symptoms that betray its presence as well as with the causes which commonly give rise to it. For one thing, the confessor should not confound a delicate with a scrupulous conscience, neither should he interpret the reasonable solicitude sometimes discernible in those who are trying to emerge from a life of sin as a sign of scrupulosity. Then, too, ordinarily he ought not to hastily reach this conclusion on the very first experience of his penitent.
Click to expand...
Question: Why is it of great importance?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top