Since QoS/ToS is a primarly unenforceable contract meant for a global market, a service that points out the different kinds of unenforceable contracts is a praiseworthy service, but with somewhat limited use.
>You cannot get away from a contract by simply not reading it
Well, in Swedish law, quite a lot weight is given to the circumstances around the contract, and if it was made in good faith. Take people who sends out false bills, relying on people who do not read the letter fully and see that it actually was not a bill but an "offer of service". That is still fraud, and people who pay those bills without reading it can still get away from the "contract". This might be different in UK, Germany, any of the state laws in US and so on. Maybe some of the 27,000 pages of federal law has something about it, but I am not a US lawyer. The laws are so old that what exactly can nullify a contract in one country will likely be different from an other.
> The courts and the legislature have to balance between interfering with the freedom of contract and the notion of fairness.
This is an area where laws are likely to be very different between countries. It touches on consumer protection, as well as contract law. The Swedish law is very unspecific here, and just generically defines that unjust terms are grounds enough to nullify a contract either in parts or in full. The consumer protection laws goes a bit further, and declares that the party offering a service must make sure that the consumer is fully informed about the terms, and must also make sure that the consumer is benefited from agreeing to the contracts and all its terms. If not, then the consumer has a right to nullify the contract and get back any money already paid. For the bank example, this mean that the bank must make sure the consumer is aware of the costs involved before signing, and the the rates are within reasonable levels. If they tried to get someone to agree to a 1000% interest loan, the contract would be almost guaranteed to be nullified in court if challenged.
Interestingly, consumer protection aspect you talk about is very similar. Stronger protection is given to consumers through legislation - eg: Sales of Goods Act in UK. The word "reasonable" is ingrained into common law and a 1000% interest loan would certainly not be reasonable.
>You cannot get away from a contract by simply not reading it
All circumstances around the contract would be considered in common law. I believe the courts would rather void the term on the basis of unfairness rather than putting weight on the fact that the person did not read it.
Contract is binding even if you have not read the contract is a very important cornerstone of contract law. Almost everyone that signs the contract does not read the contract - even contract that exceeds billions of dollars. They turn to their lawyers to read and negotiate the terms. Complex and specific terms are required to specify the rights and obligation of each side. If we are forced to read the contract before we sign them, our society would not be able to operate and many disputes would arise over overly broad terms that can be interpreted in many different ways.
> a 1000% interest loan would certainly not be reasonable.
Some payday loans calculated APR is in the high hundreds of percentages (like 600%+). Lenders are often required by law to report the APR even though the terms of the loan may only be for a few weeks worth of time, causing the inflated APR.
Payday loans, however, are generally held to be enforceable contracts.
>You cannot get away from a contract by simply not reading it
Well, in Swedish law, quite a lot weight is given to the circumstances around the contract, and if it was made in good faith. Take people who sends out false bills, relying on people who do not read the letter fully and see that it actually was not a bill but an "offer of service". That is still fraud, and people who pay those bills without reading it can still get away from the "contract". This might be different in UK, Germany, any of the state laws in US and so on. Maybe some of the 27,000 pages of federal law has something about it, but I am not a US lawyer. The laws are so old that what exactly can nullify a contract in one country will likely be different from an other.
> The courts and the legislature have to balance between interfering with the freedom of contract and the notion of fairness.
This is an area where laws are likely to be very different between countries. It touches on consumer protection, as well as contract law. The Swedish law is very unspecific here, and just generically defines that unjust terms are grounds enough to nullify a contract either in parts or in full. The consumer protection laws goes a bit further, and declares that the party offering a service must make sure that the consumer is fully informed about the terms, and must also make sure that the consumer is benefited from agreeing to the contracts and all its terms. If not, then the consumer has a right to nullify the contract and get back any money already paid. For the bank example, this mean that the bank must make sure the consumer is aware of the costs involved before signing, and the the rates are within reasonable levels. If they tried to get someone to agree to a 1000% interest loan, the contract would be almost guaranteed to be nullified in court if challenged.