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Terms of service aren't legally binding. Theft is of course illegal.

It is legally binding. By accepting ToS, or using service with ToS, you are entering a legal contract. And as long as ToS isn't breaking laws (like Digital Services Act in EU, or Online Safety Act in the UK) it can be fully enforced.

Here is an example of ToS being enforced: https://kennedyslaw.com/en/thought-leadership/article/2023/n...

> By accepting ToS, or using service with ToS, you are entering a legal contract

Half right. Only if I accept them affirmatively with a clickwrap, like your article mentions. Implicitly accepted ones do not count. I’m not signed into youtube.com, so there is no acceptance of ToS.

Even browse-wrap is legally binding, if visible enough (and it is visible just under the confirmation button on that massive Cookie Acceptance modal dialog when you come to YouTube).

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