From A Different Angle

I’m sure by now most of you have heard about Google+, right?
After trying and trying, and failing and failing to bring something on the market which could compete with Facebook and Twitter, they’ve come up with Google+. A Facebook clone with an extra feature called Circles or something like that in which you can create groups of your contacts to share specific things with, I think is how it works (though I think you can do something similar already in Facebook, too, so in the end it seems that Google just made something existing with a better and cleaner interface, and is probably going to fail again).

Anyway… I’ve written before about both Facebook and Google and their Terms and Conditions and along the way I’ve written a couple of other pieces in which I warn everyone to always read the small print before signing up and agreeing to anything.

Right now Google+ is still in the “invite-only” stage, and if you get your hands on it, I again stress that you read Google’s Terms and Conditions (which are by the way Google’s GENERAL Terms and Conditions and not only for Google+), because they’re having another go at building a nice little catalog free of use for them. You probably wouldn’t really notice it so much with google mail or using the search engine, but if Google+ is more like Facebook or Twitpic, they will get a handsome amount of imagery uploaded to their servers. And the below quote tells you exactly what they *COULD* do with that content:

11. Content license from you
11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license.

They do write that This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services, but you never know where this little bit is conveniently forgotten or overlooked.
So…. Once again, to all of you: READ THE SMALL PRINT BEFORE YOU AGREE!!!