For those that haven't been checking the ACOM Terms and Conditions on a weekly basis..

In Feb 2012 (effective Mar 2012) ACOM introduced a new Limited Use License. To say the least the Feb 2012 Limited Use License terms and conditions were draconian. Prior terms and conditions allowed using “unique data elements” in published works for example on a website or in a book. The new T&Cs specifically prohibited (re)publication of _any_ ACOM content. An AMT with attached citations, from a census for example, would have ACOM “content” in the tree that upon export would end up in the GEDCOM. Items like names, dates, ages, places would have come from an ACOM database - the product of transcription, extraction and indexing. Using an exported GEDCOM to publish a tree would be in violation of the Feb 2012 LUL. Basically you can browse A.COM and download to your PC “using authorized Ancestry software”. Forget publishing the tree in a book or on the family website.

A new Limited Use License was put in place on 26 Apr 2012 (effective 28 May 2012). It appears the (re)publication prohibition has been removed – that’s a plus. What remains is still not all that great. For example “Content may be downloaded [] through the use of authorized Ancestry software” – I wonder when the AMT export option will disappear forcing all of us to purchase FTM..

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6 Oct 2010

Limited Use LICENSE
You are licensed to use the Content only for personal or professional family history research, and may download Content only as search results relevant to that research. The download of the whole or significant portions of any work or database is prohibited. Resale of a work or database or portion thereof, except as specific results relevant to specific research for an individual, is prohibited. Online or other republication of Content is prohibited except as unique data elements that are part of a unique family history or genealogy. Violation of this License may result in immediate termination of your membership and may result in legal action for injunction, damages or both. You may use access software provided on the Service only while on line and may not download, copy, reuse or distribute that software, except where it is clearly stated in connection with software that it is made available for offline use and a license for that use is provided in connection with that software.

Feb 22 2012, effective Mar 24 2012

3. Limited Use License

You may access the Website, use the graphics, information, data, editorial and other Content only for personal family history research. Republication or resale of any of the Content or other protected data is prohibited. The Content may be downloaded onto mobile devices or desktop through the use of authorized Ancestry software. When downloaded, the Content remains subject to the limited use license contained in this Agreement. You may use the software provided on the Website only while online and may not download, copy, reuse or distribute that software, except where it is clearly stated that such software is made available for offline use. Ancestry and its licensors retain title, ownership and all other rights and interests in and to all information and Content on the Website. Bots, crawlers, spiders, data miners, scraping and any other automatic access tool are expressly prohibited. Violation of this limited use license may result in immediate termination of your membership and may result in legal action against you.

April 26 2012, effective May 28 2012

3. Limited Use License

You may access the Website, use the graphics, information, data, editorial and other Content only for personal or professional family history research, and download Content only as search results relevant to that research. The Content may be downloaded onto mobile devices or desktop through the use of authorized Ancestry software. When downloaded, the Content remains subject to the limited use license contained in this Agreement. You may use the software provided on the Website only while online and may not download, copy, reuse or distribute that software, except where it is clearly stated that such software is made available for offline use. Ancestry and its licensors retain title, ownership and all other rights and interests in and to all information and Content on the Website. Bots, crawlers, spiders, data miners, scraping and any other automatic access tool are expressly prohibited. Violation of this limited use license may result in immediate termination of your membership and may result in legal action against you.