
Ask HN: Why do legal documents sometimes use caps? - chejazi
I often see sections of caps in legal documents, such as a Terms of Service. What are companies trying to achieve with this, and do you think they&#x27;re achieving it? eg:<p><i>12. Representations; Warranties; Disclaimers
You represent and warrant that (i) you have full power and authority to enter into the Agreement; (ii) you are the owner of, or are legally authorized to act on behalf of the owner of, each Property; (iii) you are the technical and editorial decision maker in relation to each Property on which the Services are implemented and that you have control over the way in which the Services are implemented on each Property; (iv) Google has never previously terminated or otherwise disabled an AdSense account created by you due to your breach of the Agreement or due to invalid activity; (v) entering into or performing under the Agreement will not violate any agreement you have with a third party or any third-party rights; and (vi) all of the information provided by you to Google is correct and current.
OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT IN THE AGREEMENT, WE DO NOT MAKE ANY PROMISES ABOUT THE SERVICES.  FOR EXAMPLE, WE DON’T MAKE ANY COMMITMENTS ABOUT THE CONTENT WITHIN THE SERVICES, THE SPECIFIC FUNCTION OF THE SERVICES, OR THEIR PROFITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, OR ABILITY TO MEET YOUR NEEDS. WE PROVIDE EACH SERVICE “AS IS”.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE EXCLUDE ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, STATUTORY OR IMPLIED.  WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM THE WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.</i>
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macmac
Caps are used to emphasise burdensome terms. It often reflects an attempt to
accommodate legal precedents requiring such emphasis for term(s) to be
enforceable.

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Someone
[http://www.shakelaw.com/blog/why-is-your-contract-yelling-
at...](http://www.shakelaw.com/blog/why-is-your-contract-yelling-at-you-all-
caps-in-contracts-explained/)

[http://lu.is/blog/2012/08/19/a-quick-note-on-conspicuous-
tex...](http://lu.is/blog/2012/08/19/a-quick-note-on-conspicuous-text-also-
known-as-all-caps/)

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midgetjones
I believe there's a US law that requires certain parts of the text be
'conspicuous' \- that could mean making it bold or bright pink, but if all you
have is plain text then I guess you end up with shouting :)

