: VeriSign creates binding contracts on typos? I think not.

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
> Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:26:45 -0400
> From: James Grimmelmann <james.grimmelmann () yale edu>
> Subject: VeriSign creates binding contracts on typos? I think not.
> X-Sender: jtg27 () jtg27 mail yale edu (Unverified)
> To: dave () farber net
>
> Dave:
>
> Sparked by the discussion on IP yesterday, I wrote up at LawMeme my 
> thoughts about whether VeriSign's Terms of Service are now binding on 
> anyone who makes a mistake in typing a URL.  I don't think so; even the 
> Dread UCITA contains plenty of provisions to keep situations like this one 
> from creating contracts.
>
> James
>
> http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1210
>
> Features: VeriSign Hijacks DNS Typos . . . And Creates Binding Contracts?
>
> <snip>
>
> What're at stake here are typos. You know, mistakes. VeriSign itself is 
> claiming that people will only come to its site by accident. Everything on 
> SiteFinder starts from the premise that people made a mistake while typing 
> in a URL (or are quite likely to have made a mistake, which is just as 
> good). So when I load a page from SiteFinder after coming in off a typo 
> domain . . .
>
> *  I made a mistake, and
> *  VeriSign knows I made a mistake.
>
> There's not a court in the country that would uphold this "contract," 
> UCITA or no. We're talking first-semester Contracts doctrine. There's no 
> objective consent to be bound; it would be unreasonable for VeriSign to 
> conclude that people coming in in this way had agreed to its terms.
>
> We don't even need to reach the issue of whether people know about 
> VeriSign's Terms of Service before using DNS. Yes, knowledge of what 
> you're agreeing to is another prerequisite to a contract, and yes there's 
> a big issue over how constructive that knowledge can be (witness "click 
> here for our privacy policy" and "please read this tome carefully and in 
> great detail before continuing"), but it wouldn't matter if everyone in 
> the world knew that typos sent you to SiteFinder and that SiteFinder's 
> terms of service including selling your children into slavery. The 
> specific act at stake here remains a mistake. Precisely because VeriSign 
> hijacked all the unassigned domain queries, they're not allowed to 
> conclude anything from the fact that you tried to look one up.
>
> Even UCITA disclaims attempts to make contracts stretch this far.
>
> <snip>

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