Boredom pays in a way that crime really doesn't
Because my uni e-mail account, which I use for all official purposes, will expire when I, y'know, leave uni (gulp), I finally got round to setting up a googlemail account so I can start transferring everything over and can put an e-mail address on job applications that doesn't highlight more than absolutely necessary the fact that I'm still a student. And I'm bored, so I decided to actually read the Ts&Cs for once, instead of just blindly agreeing to them. And, buried somewhere about halfway through, I found this gem of a paragraph:
... under no circumstances shall Google or its licensors be held liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from acts of nature, forces, or causes beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, Internet failures, computer equipment failures, telecommunication equipment failures, other equipment failures, electrical power failures, strikes, labor disputes, riots, insurrections, civil disturbances, shortages of labor or materials, fires, floods, storms, explosions, acts of God, war, governmental actions, orders of domestic or foreign courts or tribunals, non-performance of third parties, or loss of or fluctuations in heat, light, or air conditioning.
What exactly counts as an act of God? Because I think they've pretty much got every unlikely improbability as to why the delivery of an e-mail may potentially be delayed listed there already... God really doesn't need to get involved. Maybe "act of God" is just legalese for "anything else you can come up with that we're not going to take responsibility for". I'm also kind of curious as to how "riots, insurrections and civil disturbances" are going to steal my e-mails. It's not like the postman has to battle through the protesters to deliver them, because, well, it's e-mail, and as far as I know there's no electronic postman and certainly no electronic protesters... but hey, I'm not bored any more. I could spend hours trying to figure out a link (direct or indirect) between a riot and me not getting my e-mail. Or I could do something productive... nah, never mind. It's the end of term!
... under no circumstances shall Google or its licensors be held liable for any delay or failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from acts of nature, forces, or causes beyond its reasonable control, including, without limitation, Internet failures, computer equipment failures, telecommunication equipment failures, other equipment failures, electrical power failures, strikes, labor disputes, riots, insurrections, civil disturbances, shortages of labor or materials, fires, floods, storms, explosions, acts of God, war, governmental actions, orders of domestic or foreign courts or tribunals, non-performance of third parties, or loss of or fluctuations in heat, light, or air conditioning.
What exactly counts as an act of God? Because I think they've pretty much got every unlikely improbability as to why the delivery of an e-mail may potentially be delayed listed there already... God really doesn't need to get involved. Maybe "act of God" is just legalese for "anything else you can come up with that we're not going to take responsibility for". I'm also kind of curious as to how "riots, insurrections and civil disturbances" are going to steal my e-mails. It's not like the postman has to battle through the protesters to deliver them, because, well, it's e-mail, and as far as I know there's no electronic postman and certainly no electronic protesters... but hey, I'm not bored any more. I could spend hours trying to figure out a link (direct or indirect) between a riot and me not getting my e-mail. Or I could do something productive... nah, never mind. It's the end of term!