One cannot go online today without eventually being asked to accept a set of so-called Terms of Service (or TOS). Such TOS agreements have become ubiquitous to websites and other online services in the same way End User License Agreements (EULAs) have become the mainstay of the software industry. Yet while we are often aware that such Terms of Service exist, very few of us know and understand what they actually say.

The time has come to shed light on what these Terms of Service agreements contain, and what it means for users. In conjunction with our TOSBack project, EFF is proud to announce Terms of (Ab)Use: a source for news and updates on TOS issues around the Web. We also will be periodically publishing a series of white papers that will provide the average Internet user a general background on many of the legal issues that surround Terms of Service agreements.