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    I upvoted for the insightful anecdone in the first half of your answer, but IMO the second half kind of undermines it. It's a nice idea, but I have a question I'd like you to consider: If the unnamed organization you wrote about had had an arbitration clause with an annual opportunity to opt-out, would you really have taken that opportunity before it was too late? Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:18
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    I certainly don't know the legal standing of it, but it seems reasonable to me that if one could allow opt-out of arbitration for any issue happening after the opt-out date, you'd avoid the day-before-lawsuit problem. Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:19
  • I can't really think of any way to implement such an opt-out that would be both broad enough to protect legitimate users if SE turns evil and, at the same time, narrow enough to prevent bad actors from using it too, which is what SE seems to fear. In fact, most approaches I can think of would make things easier for bad actors, since they could first opt out and then manufacture an excuse to sue. Most people with a legitimate grievance, on the other hand, presumably wouldn't even think of opting out before they were harmed. Of course, if anyone knows a way around that, I'd like to hear it. Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:21
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    You're never opting out of your right to seek arbitration later. You don't lose anything by opting out, and not opting out doesn't necessarily benefit us in any way, unless you're secretly an evil mega corp. Just because you opt out doesn't mean you have to go right to court if you've got an issue, you're still equally entitled to arbitration, you just don't have to start there. In most cases where people might be upset with us, we're pretty sure it could be settled even without arbitration to begin with. This catches when stuff starts going downhill, or was always meant to. Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:28
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    To be clear: If you opt out of arbitration now, and in a year from now have an issue with us that we couldn't settle without a mediator, you can totally still go to an arbitrator, and we're cool with that. Opting out just means you don't have to, you can go right to court if you want. Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:30
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    @TimPost I'm coming at it from a different direction. I don't want to be part of the problem (especially as an "ugly American" with our frivolous-litigation problems). I'd rather do what's legally beneficial for you; I just can't forecast the future. If you're saying that us users opting out doesn't actually hurt anything on your end, then that's different. Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:52
  • @IlmariKaronen there were signs of problems about a year before things went south, so yes in that case. That said, I just have the one anecdote, not data; I don't know what typical timescales are. For example, how long after an acquisition does a company under new management tend to turn evil? (An acquisition would definitely prompt me to opt out.) Commented May 10, 2018 at 16:54
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    It's rather common for contracts to give an opportunity or resolution in case of mergers and acquisitions, for one. Commented May 10, 2018 at 17:05
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    “I don't mean an open-ended thing where anybody can opt out the day before filing a lawsuit; that would defeat the purpose.” Under French law, you could do that: arbitration clauses are not binding towards individuals (except maybe in contracts with other individuals). Stack Overflow is exploiting the weakness of the US legal system (why have class actions if a company can essentially opt out of class actions? It feels to me like such a clause is against public policy.) Commented May 10, 2018 at 22:08
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    Monica looking almost prescient here... Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 19:01
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    @Meg indeed. Now I'm glad I opted out back then. Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 19:12