Complexity of virtual worlds' terms of service

Abstract

This paper explores Terms of Service agreements of virtual worlds from the perspective of user complexity. We argue that these terms are too complicated for the average user to fully understand and manage because they exhibit a high technical or legal complexity. We also point out complexity problems that are grounded in size and readability of the texts, keeping track of changes when the terms evolve, and the scope of the terms. Based on these observations we identify approaches to reduce the complexity of Terms of Service agreements.© Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2010.