Legal Opinion
The Anti-Deficiency Act Implications of Consent by Government Employees to Online Terms of Service Agreements Containing Open-Ended Indemnification Clauses
Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel
Decided March 27, 2012Published
1Opinion of the Court
The Anti-Deficiency Act Implications of Consent by Government Employees to Online Terms of Service Agreements Containing Open-Ended Indemnification Clauses Traditional principles of contract law govern the standard for consent to an online terms of service agreement, and, as a result, consent to such an agreement turns on whether the web user had reasonable notice of and manifested assent to the online agreement. A government employee with actual authority to contract on behalf of the United States violates the Anti-Deficiency Act by entering into an unrestricted, open-ended indemnification…
2Cases cited27 opinions
- Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. MerrillSupreme Court of the United States · 1947
- Office of Personnel Management v. RichmondSupreme Court of the United States · 1990
- Hercules, Inc. v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1996
- Trauma Service Group v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit · 1997
- Rick's Mishroom Service, Inc. v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit · 2008
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