Terms of Service Update 2018

[Ed C]

Just curious - why would anyone care about any of this crap if they never get to talk to one of the app developers or whatever other service provider thay may be attempting to contact in the first place? How would any customer know if they even need your service if they don't get to ask the provider a couple of simple questions up front? Beyond that, you need a law degree to be able to understand all the legal jargon anyway, and most people probably have no idea what they're agreeing to when they sign on. Why has Upwork made the task of searching for someone to create an app for them so complicated? I just want to ask Barton L. a couple of simple questions too see if he might be a good fit for the job I need done. Why no simple "Contact" option? My email address is **Edited for Community Guidelines** Thank you.

[Steven E. L]

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3.6 MARKETPLACE FEEDBACK:

You acknowledge and agree ... and you specifically request that Upwork post composite or compiled feedback about Users, including yourself, on User Profiles and elsewhere on the Site.

Where else is feedback posted?

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3.6 MARKETPLACE FEEDBACK:

You agree not to use the JSS to make any employment ... or other similar decision about any other User.

I fully understand Freelancers are not W-2 employees. With that said, the sole intent and purpose of the JSS *IS* to facilitate making "a similar decision."

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3.6 MARKETPLACE FEEDBACK:

You acknowledge and agree that you will notify Upwork of any error or inaccurate statement in your feedback results, including the JSS, and that if you do not do so, Upwork may rely on the accuracy of such information.

Wut? My brain just broke.

To preface, I personally don't care or dispute much of anything about the JSS as it currently stands. However, inquiries about JSS are generally shut down by Moderators to the effect, "We can't share that information."

Yet the onus lies with the Freelancer to report inaccuracies of a system we're not allowed to question or privy to understanding the mechanics in the first place?

• If a Freelancer questions JSS results, they're moderated or ignored.
• If a Freelancer doesn't question the JSS, they're responsible for the outcome.

This is a fantastic Mobius strip of legalese!

[Maria T]

Please, hire some translators and translate the TOS to other languages.
They are confusing in themselves. If you have to read them in another language that you do not master, the thing is already crazy.

Thanks @Jess C for being there always getting the point.
If it were not for you, I would not have known about Section 4.1.
Which seems stupid to me, by the way.

Edited to add:
By the way, has this update of the TOS been announced somewhere?
I found out by chance

[Jess C]

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@Maria T wrote:

Please, hire some translators and translate the TOS to other languages.
They are confusing in themselves. If you have to read them in another language that you do not master, the thing is already crazy.

@Thanks @Jess C for being there always getting the point.
If it were not for you, I would not have known about Section 4.1.
Which seems stupid to me, by the way.

Edited to add:
By the way, has this update of the TOS been announced somewhere?
I found out by chance

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Thank you for your kind words. :-)

The first post on this thread is the official announcement. This "Announcements" category is where to look, at least weekly, for any major platform changes (under "Official Upwork" at the top of each page). Theoretically we'll also get an email at some point, but I haven't seen one yet.

[Rene K]

I support the idea of keeping communication on Upwork. But Upwork has to build an infrastructure that actually operate 24/7. Also, the voice and video feature must actually work, which is not the case at all.

I used it successfully two times, but it seems that it has some flaws according to others. And Upwork is down so often that it is practically impossible to work without having each other's e-mails or Skype IDs.

So as far as I'm concerned, I intend to beautifully ignore this provision for now.

[Nichola L]

Lena, you wrote this: 

"Our updated Terms of Service will take effect on April 20, 2018  for new users and on May 20, 2018 for all other users. The updated User Agreement was posted on Upwork.com/legal#terms today."

Just to be clear. Everyone can obviously see the updated User Agreement new and old users right?

But only new users can see the updated Terms of Service now, and old users - us - will not be able to see them for another month? This could cause a certain amount of chaos here in the forums (well on the whole site) - why can new users see this and not old? Historically, it has been proved that very few new users actually read the ToS, and it is down to the veterans to point out the error of their ways!

Ah well... I daresay all those new shareholders might have their say in how everything should be run

[Valeria K]

Nichola,

Both previous and the new version of the ToS are available for anybody to view at the moment in the Legal Center. 

[Nichola L]

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@Valeria K wrote:

Nichola,

Both previous and the new version of the ToS are available for anybody to view at the moment in the Legal Center. 

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Well - first of all it was announced that the ToS could only be seen by newcomers and now, for some reason, they can be seen in the Legal Center. And of course, all of us should have been well aware of this and newcomers too.

Valeria please do not take me to task for questioning something that is not at all obvious - or should I say "more clear"?

I don't like being rapped over the knuckles for asking questions. 

[Alexei V]

Will the new version of user agreement be available in Russian like with previous? It's also had a signature by Upwork on the right English side at the bottom. Where can I get one?

[Lena E]

Hi Aliaksei,

Circling back to your question, the Russian version is now available. I've attached a copy to this post. 

-Lena