Source: http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu/twiki/bin/rdiff/CompPrivConst/JoseEnriqueFriasFirstPaper
Timestamp: 2019-09-18 14:50:40
Document Index: 515126408

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6700', '§ 6701', '§ 6710', '§ 43', '§ 44', '§ 227', '§ 6700', '§ 6701', '§ 6710', '§ 43', '§ 44', '§ 227']

JoseEnriqueFriasFirstPaper (1 vs. 4) - TWiki
JoseEnriqueFriasFirstPaper 4 - 26 Jun 2015 - Main.MarkDrake
JoseEnriqueFriasFirstPaper 3 - 01 May 2015 - Main.JoseEnriqueFrias
Minors and their iPhones
> Minors and their Smartphones
< -- By JoseEnriqueFrias - 06 Mar 2015
< Minors have always been subject to special protection in every country of the world.
> Minors and their (supposed) protection:
Nonsense. There is no more exploited and repressed group of people in the world than children. Name me one country where children are accorded the same civil rights that are accorded to adults.
> Theoretically, minors have always been subject to special protection in every country of the world. They are supposed to be looked as a vulnerable sector of society that is in a weak position when dealing with third parties and, hence, need to be provided with a special safeguard that, in some way, aim to balance this natural disequilibrium. Therefore, in most of modern societies minors are considered as citizens with limited capacity of enjoying their rights and obligations.
> Generally, minors can’t buy and/or consume certain products, read certain books, watch certain movies, attend certain places, or live by themselves without the watch of a tutor or guardian. Moreover, they can’t be punished as adults for the commission of felonies, travel abroad alone, get married, or apply for public positions. Despite for arms length transactions, minors are not entitled to enter into binding agreements, or, at least, they are not compelled to comply with them if they don’t want to.
< They are looked as a vulnerable sector of society that is in a weak position when dealing with third parties and, hence, need to be provided with a special safeguard that, in some way, aim to balance this natural disequilibrium.
> Some authors consider this “special protection” to be part of a political discourse that does not have a correlation in reality. In fact, they state that minors are permanently abused and that this type of positive discrimination is, indeed, a rights denial. Being one thing or the other, the truth is that, currently, minors have a different treatment than adults and, for good or for bad, are subject to a special legal frame.
Baloney. In every country in the world children are systematically worked, demeaned, hit, fucked, and otherwise exploited by adults in ways. "Special protection" is usually a matter of rights denial.
> Most states have their own minor’s protection laws and, even more, there are binding international treaties that protect them. Generally, these legal dispositions state that the contracts entered into with minors are not enforceable. However, they also go beyond the enforceability, and also prohibit the execution of certain agreements with underage people, punishing those who go against this rule (e.g. sale of alcohol or cigarettes).
> Smartphones and their software programs:
< Therefore, in most of modern societies minors are considered as citizens with limited capacity of enjoying their rights and obligations.
> Smartphones are sold all over the world, and are used by adults and also minors. Since the Internet era, cellphones became “smart” and stopped being just artifacts that permitted wireless phone conversations, converting into multipurpose goods. A smartphone can be used as a GPS, as a payment device, as a videoconference device, as a photo camera, as a video camera, as a search device, etc. Nowadays, these are not only mobile devices that allow users to communicate among them, but are also gadgets through which users can execute contracts with third parties.
< Generally, minors can’t buy and/or consume certain products, read certain books, watch certain movies, attend certain places, or live by themselves without the watch of a tutor or guardian.
> By connecting a smartphone to Internet, its users are enabled to access to an immense amount of information. However, by connecting an iPhone to Internet, its users also enable third parties to access to an immense amount of their personal information, and they are not always as aware as they should be about it. To list a few, an average smartphone user publics not only the images that he/she may upload in social networks, but also share his/her location, music preferences, correspondence, among others.
> Every smartphone works with a specific operating system (“OS”). For example, Apple phones can only be operated with iOS, Samsung Galaxy with Android, Blackberry with Blackberry, etc. By obligation, every smartphone user is, at the same time, a user of the applicable OS, and, therefore, is compulsory required to agree with its terms and conditions in order to use its mobile device. Commonly, OS require users to authorize them to: (i) collect, maintain, process, and use users personal information derived from the phone usage; (ii) access to their locations and use it for their own purposes; and, (iii) share users’ personal information with third parties.
> Minors and OS terms and conditions:
< Moreover, they can’t be punished as adults for the commission of felonies, travel abroad alone, get married, or apply for public positions. Despite for specific exceptions, minors are not entitled to enter into binding agreements, or at least, they are not compelled to comply with them if they don’t want to.
> As we have mentioned before, smartphones are not only used by adults, but also by minors. Although minors can’t sign binding service agreements with cellphone companies, they are able to buy smartphones at general stores and operate them through Wi-Fi Internet. Therefore, they are required to accept OS’ terms and conditions, and, consequently, they individually grant relevant rights to mobile services providers, without taking into consideration their special legal condition.
Minors’ Protection Laws:
> As of today, this situation has been assumed as normal, and users and mobile services providers consider these agreements as binding and enforceable. However, how does this situation work under the special minors’ protection laws? Can the authorization of permanently sharing ones’ location be considered an arms length transaction? Can the authorization of been permanently monitored be understood as a regular activity of an underage? Do we, as a society, consider that minors can allow third parties to “collect, maintain, process and use” their private conversations/pictures/videos? Is the right of disaffirming such obligations enough for protecting this vulnerable and defenseless sector of society?
< California’s Family Code (§ 6700, § 6701, § 6710) states that a minor can only make binding contracts when such don’t involve the delegation or powers, the disposition of real property, or a matter different to an arms length transaction. However, minors are allowed to disaffirm (i.e. repudiate, or declare it void) such binding agreements at any point of their underage situation or in a “reasonable” period after they become adults.
< Moreover, Peruvian Civil Code (§ 43, § 44, and § 227) proclaims that when not dealing with arms length transactions, minors under 16 years old are absolutely incapable of binding themselves through any agreement, being any contract that they enter into null and void. Likewise, it asserts that acts of minors between 16 and 18 years old can be disaffirmed at any point without further reason.
> Technology has aggressively evolved and nowadays we face certain situations that are not yet regulated by the law. Although the minors segment is a great target from the mobile services providers’ business perspective, the truth is that there is a contradiction between minors’ protections laws purposes and the current situation of the usage of smartphones by underage people. Systematically revelation of personal information and renunciation to privacy are serious decisions that, according to the current applicable law, minors should not be taken, and therefore this must be banned.
< Each state has its own minor’s protection laws and, even more, there are binding international treaties that protect them.
iPhones and iOS:
iPhones are sold in the U.S. (and, hence, in California), in Peru, and in most of the countries of the world. iPhones are used worldwide by adults, and also by minors. iPhones are not only mobile devices that allow users to communicate among them, but are also devices by means of which users make contracts with third parties.
Since the Internet era, cellphones became “smart” and stopped being just artifacts that permitted wireless phone conversations, converting into multipurpose goods. An iPhone can be used as a GPS, as a payment device, as a videoconference device, as a photo camera, as a video camera, as a search device, etc. By connecting an iPhone to Internet, its users are enabled to access to an immense amount of information. However, by connecting an iPhone to Internet, its users also enable third parties to access to an immense amount of their personal information, and they are not always as aware as they should about it.
iOS is iPhone’s operating system and it is developed and exclusively used by Apple Inc. By obligation, every iPhone user is, at the same time, an iOS user, and, therefore, is required to agree with its terms and conditions in order to use its mobile device. iOS 8.1’s terms and conditions (http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iOS81.pdf) state, among other things that, by using their iPhones, users grant Apple Inc. the following rights (the “Rights”):
-	Collect, maintain, process and use, diagnostic, technical, usage and related information; -	Access to their locations (whenever they enable such option in their phones); -	Share users’ personal information with third parties (partners, developers, content providers, etc.); -	Use users’ location data; and, -	In general, access, collect, maintain, process and use all your conversations, pictures, videos, messages, among other things related to the iPhone’s use.
These terms and conditions don’t only have to be accepted before the iPhone’s first use, but also every time the iOS system is updated (something which has happened frequently since its release in 2007).
Why are you pretending that any of these elements are unique to Apple, its phones, or its operating system? What are the relevant differences of these terms to all the other terms of service for hardware and software products and telecommunications and computing services in the global market?
Minors and iOS terms and conditions:
As we have mentioned before, iPhones are not only used by adults, but also by minors. Although minors can’t sign service agreements with cellphone companies, they are able to buy iPhones at iStores and operate them through Wi-Fi Internet. Therefore, they are required to accept iOS’ terms and conditions (at the first use and also when updates are released), and, consequently, they individually grant their Rights to Apple Inc.
As of today, this situation has been assumed as normal, and users and Apple Inc. consider these agreements as binding and enforceable. However, how does this situation work under the Californian and Peruvian minors’ protection laws? How does this situation work and under the other minor’s protection laws that exist all over the world?
Can the authorization of permanently sharing ones’ location be considered an arms length transaction? Can the authorization of been permanently monitored be understood as a regular activity of an underage? Do we, as a society, consider that minors can allow third parties to “collect, maintain, process and use” their private conversations/pictures/videos? Is the right of disaffirming such obligations enough for protecting this vulnerable and defenseless sector of society?
Is Apple Inc. or any other company that make contracts with minors through smartphones aware of this situation? Do they have filters and procedures that help to confirm that their contract counterparties are citizens with full capacity to bind them? What if a minor that is an iPhone user disaffirms the granting of Rights? Will Apple Inc. delete all the minor’s personal information that was stored while their iOS terms and conditions were in full effect? Will this minor be able to use her iPhone without agreeing with iOS terms and conditions?
California’s Family Code and the Peruvian Civil Code are from 1993 and 1984, respectively. A lot of water (and data) has passed under the bridge since that moments, and regulations need to be updated. If one of the main purposes of societies is to protect minors, something needs to be done… and soon.
You might just as well start over, replacing the Apple-related nouns with those of other companies and service providers. You have not shown that they are any different than anyone else, or that the problem is ever really relevant. All consumer societies promote children to enter theoretically disclaimable contracts: disclaimer by minors is just another infinitesimal form of credit risk. The provider might not get paid, as it might not get paid in any number of other situations, but it doesn't care because the loss rate is not even measurable compared to the advantages of serving the market.
You haven't shown that will change, needs to change, or can be expected to change. The next draft should improve itself by wasting less time on statutory citations and extra recitation of evident facts, presenting the issue as economically as possible and applying itself to the analysis missing in this draft.
> Consequently, we consider that, as in the case of the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to minors, transacting with minors with regard to their privacy and intimacy have to be prohibited. Therefore, in situations like this, the consequences of executing such agreements should not only be its unenforceability, but also the punishment to those who are on the other side, by the imposition of fines or other legal measures. We know that this may cause certain business problems to the mobile service providers (and other technology companies that deal with minors), but we are sure that the will figure out a solution.
> Notwithstanding this may not be respected in all jurisdictions, minors are in fact a population that has to be protected, and measures like the proposed in this paper should be taken into consideration by the authorities in charge.
JoseEnriqueFriasFirstPaper 2 - 26 Apr 2015 - Main.EbenMoglen
< Minors and their iPhones
-- By JoseEnriqueFrias - 06 Mar 2015
< Minors:
< Minors have always been subject to special protection in every country of the world. They are looked as a vulnerable sector of society that is in a weak position when dealing with third parties and, hence, need to be provided with a special safeguard that, in some way, aim to balance this natural disequilibrium. Therefore, in most of modern societies minors are considered as citizens with limited capacity of enjoying their rights and obligations.
> Minors have always been subject to special protection in every country of the world.
< Generally, minors can’t buy and/or consume certain products, read certain books, watch certain movies, attend certain places, or live by themselves without the watch of a tutor or guardian. Moreover, they can’t be punished as adults for the commission of felonies, travel abroad alone, get married, or apply for public positions. Despite for specific exceptions, minors are not entitled to enter into binding agreements, or at least, they are not compelled to comply with them if they don’t want to.
< Minors’ Protection Laws:
> They are looked as a vulnerable sector of society that is in a weak position when dealing with third parties and, hence, need to be provided with a special safeguard that, in some way, aim to balance this natural disequilibrium.
Therefore, in most of modern societies minors are considered as citizens with limited capacity of enjoying their rights and obligations.
Generally, minors can’t buy and/or consume certain products, read certain books, watch certain movies, attend certain places, or live by themselves without the watch of a tutor or guardian.
Moreover, they can’t be punished as adults for the commission of felonies, travel abroad alone, get married, or apply for public positions. Despite for specific exceptions, minors are not entitled to enter into binding agreements, or at least, they are not compelled to comply with them if they don’t want to.
California’s Family Code (§ 6700, § 6701, § 6710) states that a minor can only make binding contracts when such don’t involve the delegation or powers, the disposition of real property, or a matter different to an arms length transaction. However, minors are allowed to disaffirm (i.e. repudiate, or declare it void) such binding agreements at any point of their underage situation or in a “reasonable” period after they become adults.
Line: 18 to 41
Each state has its own minor’s protection laws and, even more, there are binding international treaties that protect them.
< iPhones and iOS:
Line: 45 to 77
California’s Family Code and the Peruvian Civil Code are from 1993 and 1984, respectively. A lot of water (and data) has passed under the bridge since that moments, and regulations need to be updated. If one of the main purposes of societies is to protect minors, something needs to be done… and soon. \ No newline at end of file
JoseEnriqueFriasFirstPaper 1 - 06 Mar 2015 - Main.JoseEnriqueFrias
Minors have always been subject to special protection in every country of the world. They are looked as a vulnerable sector of society that is in a weak position when dealing with third parties and, hence, need to be provided with a special safeguard that, in some way, aim to balance this natural disequilibrium. Therefore, in most of modern societies minors are considered as citizens with limited capacity of enjoying their rights and obligations.
Generally, minors can’t buy and/or consume certain products, read certain books, watch certain movies, attend certain places, or live by themselves without the watch of a tutor or guardian. Moreover, they can’t be punished as adults for the commission of felonies, travel abroad alone, get married, or apply for public positions. Despite for specific exceptions, minors are not entitled to enter into binding agreements, or at least, they are not compelled to comply with them if they don’t want to.
Moreover, Peruvian Civil Code (§ 43, § 44, and § 227) proclaims that when not dealing with arms length transactions, minors under 16 years old are absolutely incapable of binding themselves through any agreement, being any contract that they enter into null and void. Likewise, it asserts that acts of minors between 16 and 18 years old can be disaffirmed at any point without further reason.
Revision 4 r4 - 26 Jun 2015 - 20:12:19 - MarkDrake
Revision 3 r3 - 01 May 2015 - 20:22:59 - JoseEnriqueFrias
Revision 2 r2 - 26 Apr 2015 - 19:20:46 - EbenMoglen
Revision 1 r1 - 06 Mar 2015 - 17:46:05 - JoseEnriqueFrias