206
New Discord TOS binds you to forced arbitration - Opt-Out Now (discord.com)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/discordapp@lemmy.world
27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Forced arbitration means any legal disputes you may have with Discord must be resolved through a single third party mediator, who 99% of the time is chosen by, and will rule in favor of, the corporation/Discord. This effectively removes all your legal rights as a consumer, because arbitration decisions are legally binding and non-appealable.

The new ToS goes into effect April 15th, 2024.

YOU CAN OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION. You must email arbitration-opt-out@discord.com BEFORE MAY 15TH (30 days after ToS effective date) with your username stating that you wish to opt out of the arbitration clause. Once May 15th passes you are bound to arbitration with Discord forever.

Opt-out before it's too late.

all 28 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] ObviouslyNotBanana@lemmy.world 39 points 10 months ago

Well that's not binding in the EU. Lmao wtf

[-] melmi 29 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

They explicitly state that their arbitration clause only applies in the US, probably because the US is one of the few major markets that lets them get away with arbitration nonsense and don't want to get slapped by the EU.

[-] Splatterphace@lemm.ee 28 points 10 months ago

Well, they're forcing ads on the free version now, so maybe Teamspeak is the place to be 😉

[-] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

How's Mumble these days?

[-] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Unironically have wanted to spin up a murmur server for a few months now. Maybe I'll make that my project for the day.

[-] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Do it!

Last time it took me like a hr start to finish to setup one. Was pretty easy.

[-] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I did - biggest snag was permissions in docker container, then I couldn't figure out how admin configuration was setup (who calls an admin account "SuperUser"?!). I kept giving the general join password prompt the admin pass, thinking that was the only credential and it would bind my account with admin rights. It was only when I read the fourth tutorial (yes, the first three were outdated or wrong, and the official docs were as useful as a doorstop) and they mentioned specifically "SuperUser" as the account, did I try that. Oh look, a new password field!

silently rages

But after that, it was as expected.

[-] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Yes!!! I think I remember seeing that!

[-] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 months ago

Does Teamspeak has a chat that can be browsed later on? Else it's not useful for anything other than regular voice chat.
Rather I'd start renting a small vps and set up Matrix and if voice chat is not natively supported I'd also set up Teamspeak alongside.

[-] MajesticFlame@lemmy.one 1 points 10 months ago

Matrix is quite similar to (older) Discord and therefore a good (easy to switch to) alternative.

[-] eskimofry@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

This sounds extremely illegal bait and switch by many corps including roku and now this

[-] arquebus_x@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago

Very scummy, but neither illegal nor bait and switch. For the vast majority of people Discord is free; there’s no lock-in or purchase, which is the necessary element for something to be bait and switch. You can walk away at any time without losing anything of value (as defined by the market and by law).

[-] pop@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago

haven't been in lemmy much, have you? If you aren't giving away your life's work for free with commercial usage license, you are doing something illegal and it's perfectly fine to steal it. It doesn't matter if you're not a mega corp and want to make a living, if your work doesn't belong to us, you're not welcome.

[-] superfes@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

Guess they have a press release about compromised user data to release on May 30th...

Which undoubtedly already happened.

[-] Zugyuk@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Here's the email address to opt out: arbitration-opt-out@discord.com

[-] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Opt-out. You can decline this agreement to arbitrate by emailing an opt-out notice to arbitration-opt-out@discord.com within 30 days of April 15, 2024 or when you first register your Discord account, whichever is later; otherwise, you shall be bound to arbitrate disputes in accordance with the terms of these paragraphs. If you opt out of these arbitration provisions, Discord also will not be bound by them.

[-] jedibob5@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Seems the deadline is actually April 15th.

Edit: misinterpreted the date the ToS comes into effect as the deadline to opt out

[-] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The new ToS goes into effect April 15th. You have 30 days after the effective date to opt out. Edited post for clarity

[-] rem26_art@fedia.io 5 points 10 months ago

man i hate this kind of stuff. Etsy pulled the same thing last year too

[-] transientpunk@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

What is the opt out notice that we are supposed to send to them?

[-] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I'm pretty sure you just need to send them an email containing your discord username and registered email, as well as "I would like to opt-out of the arbitration clause in your terms of service." That's what I have done.

I have additionally emailed their help desk asking about what further details they may want from an opt-out request, we'll see if they respond. It is, of course, intentionally very vague.

[-] Ohi@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Can you update us with their response (if any). I'm very curious how this plays out. Part of me wants to opt-out but I'm nervous of any repercussions that may result from me not falling in line. My discord account is very precious, as I have loads of history I don't want to lose and I can very easily see Discord cutting ties with me just for opting out of their legal agenda.

[-] lemmytellyousomething@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 10 months ago

Hadn't used my account for months anyway, but this seems a good reason to delete it..

[-] Audalin@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Looks like the changes only apply to the US, right?

[-] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago

It's impossible to apply this globally; many countries operate under different laws to begin with. This is also stated on the ToS's Limit of Liability section; quoting:

WE DON’T EXCLUDE OR LIMIT OUR LIABILITY TO YOU WHERE IT WOULD BE ILLEGAL TO DO SO.

Your best bet is to read the changes and see if any of it is applicable to your country. The linked section pretty much covers it up.

As a reference, in my country it is impossible for companies to force you to a specific arbitrator. Discord can't push this term on me as it would be illegal.

[-] loxdogs@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Can someone explain me, what opt-out is?

[-] tyy 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

While I appreciate how worried everyone is about there being an arbitration clause, I am tired of how many people act like this is completely new and something that discord just started doing to make their platform even worse:

Discord has had an arbitration and due process waiver in their TOS since at least May 2020: https://discord.com/terms/terms-of-service-may-2020

This is nothing new, the only reason people assume it was just added is because they don't bother to check and because discord bumps the opt-out date every time they change the general TOS. Still go ahead and use your rights to opt out, but people need to understand that discord isn't getting worse in this regard, discord was just always like this.

this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024
206 points (100.0% liked)

Discord

551 readers
1 users here now

Discord is a voice, video, and text communication service to talk and hang out with your friends and communities.

Discord client

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
donuts@lemmy.world