Mac Forum / Country Specific / UK Mac Group / May 2008

[snip]

Have you read its licence agreement?  It contains a clause permitting
the rights holder to vary the agreement to be varied at the whim of
`whoever's runing the Vuze platform',

E.g.:

"When using the Vuze Platform, You will be subject to any additional
posted policies, guidelines or rules applicable to specific services and
features which may be posted from time to time (the "Policies"). All
such Policies are hereby incorporated by reference into these Terms."

Or even:

"4. Modification of these Terms; Modification of Fees.

Azureus reserves the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add,
or remove portions of these Terms at any time by posting the amended
Terms to the Vuze Platform. Please check these Terms and any Policies
periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Vuze Platform after
the posting of changes constitutes Your binding acceptance of such
changes. Except as stated elsewhere, such amended Terms or fees will
automatically be effective thirty (30) days after they are initially
posted on the Vuze Platform. Additionally, Azureus will notify You
through the Vuze Platform's messaging system.

Certain functions on the Vuze Platform have fees associated with them.
When You upload content or use a service that has a fee You have an
opportunity to review and accept the fees that You will be charged based
on our stated fees, which we may change from time to time. Azureus may
choose to temporarily change the fees for Azureus' services for
promotional events or new services, and such changes are immediately
effective when Azureus posts the temporary promotional event or new
service on the Vuze Platform. Any changes to fees for Azureus' services
that are not temporary or promotional will be effective thirty (30) days
after we provide You with notice by posting such changes on the Vuze
Platform. Unless otherwise stated, all fees are quoted in U.S. Dollars."

I.e., they can decided to charge you for anything they like, and you've
agreed to pay for it in advance without knowing a thing about it.

I'm not stupid enough to sign up to anything like that.

Also: you agree to various terms and conditions that aren't even in the
agreement you hit `yes' to sign up to:

"2. Incorporation by Reference.

Your privacy is important to Azureus. Azureus's Privacy Policy is hereby
incorporated into these Terms by reference. Please read this policy
carefully for information relating to Azureus's collection, use, and
disclosure of Your personal information.

Users who purchase any content or service on the Vuze Platform are bound
by the Vuze Terms of Purchase. The Vuze Terms of Purchase is hereby
incorporated into these Terms by reference.

Users who distribute content through the Vuze Platform for a fee or
through ad-supported distribution to other Users are also bound by the
Vuze Terms of Sale. The Vuze Terms of Sale is hereby incorporated into
these Terms by reference.
 
In the case of any inconsistency between these Terms of Service and any
other document that has been incorporated by reference herein, these
Terms of Service shall control."

Yeah, right...

Avoid Azureus.  Seriously.  There's a very very /very/ dodgy bunch in
charge.

[snip]

Rowland.

Some people seem to use the work 'leech' to mean download, even while
uploading, I think. If you're uploading, you're either seeding (if you have
the whole file) or leeching (if you only have part of it). Though I agree,
this seems an odd use of a word with negative connotations.

Brilliant - just what I was looking for. Many thanks.

MST