Lawyers vs. Logic

This example taken from CNet

[chameleon]

Here is a great example of deceptive advertising and how lawyers try to legislate against logic. This is taken from promotional materials for the $99 pay-for-submission section of CNet's Download.com:

• Unlimited edits and updates for your product listing**

Followed by this in the fine print at the end:

**You may not update your product listing more than four times per month.

In the world of laywers, I guess "unlimited" equals "less than four". :(

[lawman]

chameleon:

I scanned your post, then read it for effect. I can now state with much certainty that 'unlimited' means less than five, not four. You see, we're not so bad. :)

lawman

[victor]

I'm not a lawyer, but it is possible to parse the sentences so they are consistent.

Unlimited edits -- means you can edit as often as you like;

and updates for your product listing -- means you can update after editing; but

you not update your product listing more than four times per month -- so no matter how many edits, they only get published four times a month (maximum).

Sneaky, possibly so sneaky that it transgresses advertising codes of practice, but not actually inconsistent.