Roku users across the country turned on their TVs this week to find an unpleasant surprise: The company required them to agree to new dispute resolution terms in order to access their devices. Devices are not usable until the user consents.
Users (at least this one) received an email the other day saying “We have made changes to our Dispute Resolution Terms, which describe how you can resolve disputes with Roku. We encourage you to read the updated Dispute Resolution Terms. By continuing to use our products or services You agree to these updated terms.
The terms, of course, include a forced arbitration agreement that prevents the user from filing a lawsuit or participating in lawsuits against Roku. It's common these days as a way to limit liability, and users often have little or no recourse. They only find out later, when the company does something heinous and the consequences are minimal. Tech companies love this dirty trick to save millions!
But what's actually new when looking at the terminology is an entire section titled “Informal Dispute Resolution.” This requires anyone with legal complaints to refer them to Roku's attorneys first, who will make a “meet and consult” call, then “make a fair and fact-based offer of a resolution” that will undoubtedly be generous and thoughtful. So they added a pre-arbitrator to keep legal threats at bay. The change was actually made last fall but only recently went into effect, and now, a few weeks later, users are being notified this way.
I try to unsubscribe when I can, and after reading the terms (of course, by “continuing to use” the TV I had already agreed to) I found that you can only do this by mailing written notice to their lawyers – something I fully intended to do today . In fact, since arbitration was apparently already required, this provided an opportunity to opt out of something I didn't know I was already subject to.
But yesterday I turned on the TV and saw the notification again, as did countless others (some saw it a few days ago), who rushed to the forums to complain. I accidentally agreed (again… I think) by pressing the star button and then back, as I intended to look for a way out, but there was none. There was no possibility of accessing the device without agreeing to the new terms.
Interestingly, the terminology itself has not changed for a long time. Whenever it is updated
This is how it looked to anyone trying to watch the new episode of Shōgun (so far great):
Image credits: Roku Forums/AJCxZ0
This is from forum user AJCxZ0, hope you don't mind.
Not that this is uncommon. After all, we are constantly using apps and games that bring us new End User License Agreements (EULAs) and terms and conditions. I've probably ignored dozens of people and exposed myself to countless risks here. But there's really something a bit despicable about completely disabling a user's device until they consent, and having anything the user do counts as consent. Many phones, apps, and services let you keep using them for a while or limit you to the current version until you agree.
Unfortunately this is not the case here. As of now, I am committed to this new agreement. I'll still unsubscribe, and you should too – but you'll have to act quickly. You can only do this within 30 days of the new terms taking effect on you. That could be when you were notified, but it could also be on 20 March, 30 days after it nominally (and silently) came into force, on 20 February. So, grab a pen and paper and write down the following information:
The name of the person choosing Contact information (address and phone number, most likely) The email used to register a Roku account if applicable The model of the product, software, or service “at issue” — for example, the model number of your TV or streaming device. It may also list Roku OS as well. If you have a receipt, you can include it but it appears that is not necessary
Although they already have it. Put it in an envelope and send it to…
Stephen Kay, General Counsel, Roku, Inc.
1701 Junction Court, Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95112
Thanks in advance, Stephen. Although I, as well as every user of your company's services, would have preferred to cancel the electronic subscription directly rather than this dishonest ploy to increase friction and continue coercion to adopt these terms.
Don't delay, or, when people sue them over how they're holding devices hostage to force them into anti-consumer dispute resolution terms, you won't be able to join in the fun. It will only be the 35 or so of us who still have pens, paper and envelopes on hand who will reap the benefits.
Update: My mistake is that the arbitration terms were already in place, but the informal dispute resolution terms were not. But the devices weren't actually accessible until users agreed to the terms, which silently went into effect two weeks ago. I've updated the post throughout to reflect this.
Roku declined to provide an official statement, though it noted that arbitration is already in the terms. I've asked some follow-up questions and will update again if I hear back.
