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One Thing Will Void Amazon's Terms of Service: Zombie Apocalypse

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on February 10, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

We know, we know: no one actually reads the terms of service. Well, someone must've read through Amazon's terms of service for its game-development software, because it turns out those terms can be disregarded in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Does this mean Amazon Prime members can finally get drone delivery if society collapses because reanimated human corpses are transmitting a widespread viral infection by feeding on living flesh?

My TOS Brings All the Gamers to the Lumberyard

The terms of service in question apply to Lumberyard, free open-source software that is part of Amazon's web-hosting service. Lumberyard caters to game developers who want to host their games online using Amazon's servers. The platform is also integrated with Amazon's live-streaming site, Twitch.

Perhaps that's why they included this little Easter egg in section 57.10, warning users that the software is "not intended for use with life-critical or safety-critical systems." There is, however, one important exception:

"...this restriction will not apply in the event of the occurrence (certified by the United States Centers for Disease Control or successor body) of a widespread viral infection transmitted via bites or contact with bodily fluids that causes human corpses to reanimate and seek to consume living human flesh, blood, brain or nerve tissue and is likely to result in the fall of organized civilization."

Good to know.

Don't Worry About the Lawyers (We Can Survive Anything)

This is really just one more example of Amazon looking to the future. An apocalyptic one, sure, but a future nonetheless. You see, when the rest of humanity is overrun by flesh-eating zombies, gamers might need to mess around with cloud-based software operating "medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, aircraft or air traffic control, nuclear facilities, manned spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat."

And they'll need to access that software without worrying about Amazon (which is presumably still a company) suing them (in courts which presumably still exist). Just gotta confirm that the CDC certified the outbreak, though.

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