Warning: Be careful what you tweet.
The new Twitter terms of service, which debuted Sept. 10, gives the microblogging site the right to re-distribute your tweets now or in the future using any medium necessary, for profit or not, without any compensation to you. This "worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license" also allows Twitter to sub-license your personal thoughts and ideas to others for their own uses.
The new terms "complement the spirit of Twitter," co-founder Biz Stone said in an email to users.
How this could effect you. Further down in the section entitled "Your Rights," users are also reminded they are responsible for the tweets you send, even if they include proprietary information and others juicy details you do not have permission to share in the first place.
Meanwhile, Twitter cannot be held responsible for the consequences of their use, re-broadcast or publishing of your tweets, nor can those companies that sub-license the material.
While this should be common knowledge in this day and age, Twitter is obviously taking a careful approach to these new terms of service to protect themselves.
So, if you authored a tweet containing company-held secrets, and you got away with it the first time, but then Twitter or a sub-licensee re-publishes the information and the boss finds out, you are on your own.
The new terms of service also allow Twitter to add advertisements to their site, not a huge surprise accounting for the site's popularity.
For more information, read more of the Twitter terms of service.
The new Twitter terms of service, which debuted Sept. 10, gives the microblogging site the right to re-distribute your tweets now or in the future using any medium necessary, for profit or not, without any compensation to you. This "worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license" also allows Twitter to sub-license your personal thoughts and ideas to others for their own uses.
The new terms "complement the spirit of Twitter," co-founder Biz Stone said in an email to users.
How this could effect you. Further down in the section entitled "Your Rights," users are also reminded they are responsible for the tweets you send, even if they include proprietary information and others juicy details you do not have permission to share in the first place.
Meanwhile, Twitter cannot be held responsible for the consequences of their use, re-broadcast or publishing of your tweets, nor can those companies that sub-license the material.
While this should be common knowledge in this day and age, Twitter is obviously taking a careful approach to these new terms of service to protect themselves.
So, if you authored a tweet containing company-held secrets, and you got away with it the first time, but then Twitter or a sub-licensee re-publishes the information and the boss finds out, you are on your own.
The new terms of service also allow Twitter to add advertisements to their site, not a huge surprise accounting for the site's popularity.
For more information, read more of the Twitter terms of service.