Terms of service

In computing and telecommunication networks (including of course the Internet) terms of service or ToS is an agreement under which a service provider agrees to provide services to the users of the service. It should include all responsibilities of both parties, and normally does.

The term is often seen in the phrase ToS violation, which means that a particular user has broken this agreement in some way, most usually but not always by violating an acceptable use policy which is part of that particular ToS. On many bulletin boards, chat areas, restricted email lists and similar services, this is grounds for banning a user.