We all knew this would happen again sooner or later, what with all these new anti-consumer copyright laws either already enacted or pending legislation around the world.

For those who don't remember, ASCAP threatens to sue girl scouts for exactly the same thing: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/communications/ASCAP.html

No, what was pointless was actually trying to complain to a big company like Priceline. It's not like they cared if I was unhappy with those charges, or even if one customer who noticed what was going on wasn't going to return, as long as they got their commission for selling my information on top of what I already paid. I didn't even feel better after sitting on the phone for all that time, and my letter was most likely thrown away.

Yes, terms of use tend to be convoluted and obfuscated, but are not always impossible for a non-lawyer to understand. They're more long than anything usually, with only like 1 or 2 sentences that mean anything. In this case, it was pretty clear (to me, at least) they had my information and entering my e-mail address was "explicit authorization" to use it, while someone who didn't bother to read the terms (most people) wouldn't have known.

The only time I wanted to archive an ad was when I was complaining to the company that booked my flight about their shady behind-the-scenes sale of my credit card number. I got this ad in my itinerary promising me 20% cash back from my purchase if I signed onto a trial for this "Great Fun Site" (run by Trilegiant). Thing is, I'm pretty detail oriented (what most people call "weird") and I actually read the terms of use. Sure enough, although they ask for only my e-mail address, the terms of use said Priceline already handed them my credit card information before I even entered anything. The idea behind this company is that after the 1-month free trial (where I hear you don't really get any of the coupons they promise), they start billing you monthly and you have to call their customer service line to cancel (entering your e-mail address is formal agreement to their billing terms). Naturally, I didn't enter anything.

At the time, I had more important/productive things to do than complain about it. A few months later, I wound up with around $700 of international charges for Cyprus-based adult websites on that same credit card. It was a new card, and in protest to bad practices of banks I always pay with cash when possible, so Priceline was the only company I gave the information to. So, when I went to complain and show them the link, the ad was conveniently gone so I had no evidence. Priceline insisted they did not send anything to Trilegiant (even though the terms from the ad said they already had it) because I didn't enter my e-mail address nothing was sent, and their systems were "unbreakable" and had "never been hacked as long as Priceline existed".

I guess in summary, the only reason I would want to save an ad is for legal documentation when the advertiser oversteps his/her bounds.

To be fair, in this case it could go either way. The issuing bank, 5/3 Bank, has been careless and tried to pass the cost of fraud onto me several times in the past (this time by refusing to dispute the international transaction fees). I can narrow it down between 5/3 Bank or Priceline & Friends, but in my opinion they're both equally shady and equally likely to have had a data breach somewhere they're not telling anyone about.

From the summary:

You didn't even have to read the article for that information.