Nowadays all these sites have "Terms of Service" that you are supposed to read and agree to. It is possible to register without ever setting eyes on them or checking a box called "I agree" hmmmm.

My question is: Do these things actually hold some kind of legal precedence? If it says I can't hack their site and I do, can repercussions come in the real world? Or are these things useless bullshit like I always suspected?

I believe they should just stop my packets if they don't like them rather than trying to sue me because they blindly accepted them. Unfortunately the pathetic "government" disagrees with me on many things these days. I am actually looking for an answer (probably depends on location too?) because I really have no clue.

Would using a proxy in north korea fix this up for most situations? Or do you need to fly there, do the mask thing and infect a whole internet cafe with viruses that do your preprogrammed bidding?

Terms of service usually constitute a legal agreement between the site owner and the viewer, which most often can be held up in a court of law. Different sites use different terms that suit their business. Pornographic sites use the terms required to legally view explicit material, and to ward off underage children attempting to view the material that might cause a parent to take legal action against them. Supremacist sites also use an agreement that frees them of any legal trouble that may arise from hateful content, or content being passed through their servers via a third party. Beastiality sites generally refer to terms similar to pornographic sites, but are generally more strict about the area the viewer is from.
It's important to be stringent on your own site's T.O.S. if you're providing questionable content that could present some form of a legal issue. I've read several states are looking to force website owners to record the real names, addresses, and other information of their viewers and keep them


Awesome AnDrEw - That's The Sound Of Your Brain Crackin'
http://www.awesomeandrew.net/

on file in the event the viewer's state government decides to follow up on their online activity. Most notably New Jersey representatives are continually pushing for legislation to attempt to keep NJ residents from posting anonymously on the internet. Either way if you break a website's TOS they reserve the right to cancel your services, or pursue legal action. I know as I've been hit by threats of legal action several times for programs I've written in the past.


Awesome AnDrEw - That's The Sound Of Your Brain Crackin'
http://www.awesomeandrew.net/

Ok what if you setup a content filter that removes all references to "TOS", "Terms Of Service" etc...legally then you can say 'uh I didnt know I couldn't do that' since you never saw the Terms and link or textarea to the TOS was filtered out. Don't know if it will hold in court but worth a try =oP

Usually those sort of instances fail in court as they fall under ignorance of the law. It's like if I went out and murdered the first two people I saw, was apprehended, and claimed I didn't know that I could be jailed for the acts. Either way there's generally a clause in the T.O.S. which specifically point out that by viewing the material you accept the terms even if you aren't necessarily aware of them, and that any future changes to the terms can be done without your explicit and actual knowledge, but that you still agree to them. As my site's TOS state on the initial page, "The use of this site after such changes are implemented constitutes my acknowledgment and acceptance of the changes."


Awesome AnDrEw - That's The Sound Of Your Brain Crackin'
http://www.awesomeandrew.net/