EXPATGROUPS.COM
TERMS OF SERVICE
ExpatGroups.com
is accessible worldwide to anyone with Internet access. Access to and
use of ExpatGroups.com Websites and Services are
subject to the Terms of Service ("TOS") as described below and all applicable
laws and regulations. PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING
THE WEB SITE OR ANY SERVICES OFFERED BY EXPATGROUPS.COM. BY ACCESSING
ANY SERVICE OR WEBSITE OF EXPATGROUPS.COM, YOU ACCEPT, WITHOUT LIMITATION
OR QUALIFICATION, ALL OF THE TOS AS STATED BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO
BE BOUND BY THE TOS, YOU SHOULD NOT ACCESS OR USE ANY WEB SITE OR SERVICE
OFFERED BY EXPATGROUPS.COM. ExpatGroups.com reserves the right to change
the TOS at any time. The changes will appear on this screen. By using
the Services and the Websites of ExpatGroups.com, you agree in advance
to accept any changes.
Your use of
ExpatGroups.com is at your own risk. If you are dissatisfied with any
of the Websites, Services, Materials or other contents of ExpatGroups.com
or with the TOS, ExpatGroups.com's Privacy Policy, or other policies,
your sole remedy is to discontinue use of ExpatGroups.com.
SERVICES
ExpatGroups.com contains
discussion forums, photo galleries and other interactive features (collectively, the "Service").
You acknowledge and agree that all information, code, data, text, software,
music, sound, photographs, pictures, graphics, video, chat, messages,
files, links and other materials (collectively, "Content"), whether posted
publicly or privately, are the sole responsibility of the person from
which such Content originated. This means that you, and not ExpatGroups.com,
are entirely responsible for all Content that you publish, post, upload,
distribute, disseminate or otherwise transmit (collectively, "Post") via
the Service.
EXPATGROUPS.COM DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO MONITOR THE ENTIRE CONTENT OF THE
SERVICE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE DISCUSSION FORUMS) AND TAKES
NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH CONTENT. INSTEAD, EXPATGROUPS.COM MERELY PROVIDES
ACCESS TO SUCH CONTENT AS A SERVICE TO YOU.
By its very nature, the Content Posted on the Service (including but not
limited to the discussion forums) may carry offensive, indecent, harmful,
inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate material, or in some cases, postings
that have been mislabeled or are otherwise deceptive. Under no circumstances
will ExpatGroups.com be liable in any way for any Content, including,
but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any Content, or for
any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any
Content Posted via the Service. You agree that you must evaluate, and
bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any
reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content.
No Endorsement. ExpatGroups.com does not endorse, support, represent
or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any communications
or Content Posted via the Service. These communications and Posts express
the views of the author and not necessarily the views of ExpatGroups.com.
You acknowledge that any reliance on Content Posted via the Service (including
but not limited to the discussion forums) will be at your own risk.
No Obligation to Monitor. ExpatGroups.com does not control the
information delivered via the Service, and ExpatGroups.com has no obligation
to monitor the Content of the Service. However, ExpatGroups.com reserves
the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy
any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request,
or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials,
in whole or in part, for any reason whatsoever, in ExpatGroups.com's sole
discretion.
Any user who feels any Content of the Service is objectionable is encouraged
to contact us immediately by visiting the 'contact
us' section. In particular, Members are encouraged to report objectionable Content on the Forums
by use of the Report feature (a link to the Report feature is below each Post
in the Forums). We have the ability to remove objectionable Content and
we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if
we determine that removal is necessary.
Registration. When you register to the Service, you must: (1) personally
provide true, accurate and complete registration information on the registration
form (collectively, the "Registration Data"), (2) maintain and promptly
update the Registration Data as necessary to keep it true, accurate, current
and complete, (3) fully read and agree to the entire TOS for ExpatGroups.com,
and (4) confirm and validate your email address as part of the registration
process. As part of the registration process, you will be asked to select
a username and password and you will be responsible for all activities
occurring under your username and for keeping your password secure. If
you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or
incomplete, or ExpatGroups.com has reasonable grounds to suspect that
such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, ExpatGroups
has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and
all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof). You may only register
one account with the following exception: You may register a second account to Post information
on the Forums that you perceive as personal and prefer not to be
publicly associated with your first account. Registering additional accounts with the
purpose of violating the TOS will result in the appropriate administrative action being
applied to all registered accounts (as well as all duplicate accounts being terminated).
Members. The term member refers to a user of the site who has completed
Registration and has obtained a username. A member is in no way affiliated,
paid by, or otherwise compensated by ExpatGroups.com. Members have no
control over the operation or presentation of ExpatGroups.com other than
the ability to Post and in some cases move Content in discussion forums. These limited abilities should
in no way imply a relationship or affiliation with ExpatGroups.com. Their
actions and liabilities are fully bound by the TOS. Any opinions or statements
made by a member do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of
ExpatGroups.com.
Moderators. The term moderator refers to a member at ExpatGroups.com
that has the following additional "moderation" abilities to interact on the discussion forums
compared to non-moderator members: Closing Topics, Moving Topics, Temporarily
Removing Topics or Posts from Public View and Temporarily Limiting Access to the discussion forums
by other members. These additional abilities are only used
when when a Moderator believes that a member's activity or Posted content on the discussion forums does not
comply with the ExpatGroups.com TOS. ExpatGroups.com does not actively monitor
the use of these "moderation" abilities by Moderators, however if a member disagrees with a
Moderators use of these "moderation" abilities they may
contact ExpatGroups.com
and request that the Moderators actions be reviewed. The final decision on whether to reverse or alter
a Moderator's action(s) will be decided at the sole discretion of ExpatGroups.com.
A moderator, being a MEMBER of ExpatGroups.com,
is in no way affiliated, paid by, or otherwise compensated by ExpatGroups.com.
Moderators have no control over the operation or presentation of ExpatGroups.com
other than their existing member and "moderation" abilties on the discussion forums.
These limited abilities should in no way imply a relationship or affiliation
with ExpatGroups.com beyond any other member of the board. Their actions
and liabilities are fully bound by the TOS. Any opinions or statements
made by a moderator do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs
of ExpatGroups.com. Moderators receive no compensation of any kind from
ExpatGroups.com.
ExpatGroups.com’s Rights. If ExpatGroups.com discovers Content
or communications that allegedly do not conform to any term of the TOS,
ExpatGroups.com may investigate the allegation and determine in good faith
and in its sole discretion whether to remove or request the removal of
the communication or Content. ExpatGroups.com will have no liability or
responsibility for performance or non-performance of such activities.
ExpatGroups.com reserves the right to terminate or restrict your access
to any or all of the Service at any time without notice for any reason
whatsoever.
Termination and Suspension. You agree that ExpatGroups.com may,
without prior notice and for any reason whatsoever, immediately Terminate
or Suspend (for a period of time determined at the sole discretion of
ExpatGroups.com) your Member account and access to the Service. Cause
for such termination may include, but not be limited to, (a) breaches
or violations of the TOS or other incorporated agreements or guidelines,
(b) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies, (c) a request
by you, (d) discontinuance or material modification to the Service (or
any part thereof), (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems,
(f) extended periods of inactivity, and/or (g) you have engaged in fraudulent
or illegal activities. Termination or Suspension of your Member account
may include, but not be limited to, (a) removal of access to the Service,
(b) deletion of your password and all related information, files and content
associated with or inside your Member account (or any part thereof), and
(c) barring further use of the Service (or any part thereof). Further,
you agree that all terminations and suspensions shall be made at ExpatGroups.com's
sole discretion and that ExpatGroups.com shall not be liable to you or
any third-party for any Suspension or Termination of your account or access
to the Service (or any part thereof). You agree that if your Member account
is Terminated or Suspended that you will not attempt to bypass the Termination
or Suspension by any method including, but not limited to, registering
additional Member accounts.
Privacy. You acknowledge that the Service contains public and not
private communications and Content, and that therefore others may read
your communications and Content you Posted without your knowledge. Always
use caution when Posting any personally identifying Content about yourself,
your children or anyone else via the Service. Generally, any communication
or Content that you post to the Service is considered to be non-confidential.
If a particular feature of the Service permits the submission of communications
that will be treated by ExpatGroups.com as confidential, that fact will
be explicitly stated on those pages. For more information on ExpatGroups.com’s
approach to privacy in general, see ExpatGroups.com's Privacy
Policy.
Storage. Many features of the Service store information on behalf
of users. Examples include, but are not limited to, email messages, personal
messages, images, profile information, chat, web pages, calendar functions,
timelines and Posts. ExpatGroups.com reserves the right, in its sole discretion,
to limit the amount of storage space available per user or to delete materials
stored for an excessive period while the user's account has been inactive.
Nuking and Archiving. You may request removal of Content that you
have Posted yourself. In contrast, you agree to resolve directly and exclusively
with third parties any disputes you may have about messages that they
Posted. In this regard, you understand that ExpatGroups.com does not monitor
or control the Content or communications Posted by others, and instead
simply provides a service by allowing users to access Content via the
Service that has been made publicly available.
Member Disputes. You are solely responsible for your interactions
with other Members. ExpatGroups.com reserves the right, but has no obligation,
to monitor disputes between you and other Members.
Permitted Uses. You agree that you are responsible for any Content
and communications that you Post and for any consequences thereof. You
agree to use the Service (including but not limited to the discussion
forums) only to send and receive messages, material, and in general Content
that is “in conformity with or permitted by law” (legal), proper and if
part of the discussion forums then also related to the particular subject
matter. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when
using the Service, you will not:
| • |
Violate the legal rights
of others. |
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Post so called SPAM. |
| • |
Abuse, harass, threaten or intimidate other Members to a degree that is not socially acceptable. Interpretation and enforcement of this clause shall be made by ExpatGroups.com Administration only. |
| • |
Post Content intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against members of a protected group. For instance, racist or sexist content may be considered hate speech. |
| • |
Publish, Post, upload, distribute or disseminate or offer to do the
same any inappropriate, defamatory, infringing, obscene, or unlawful
material, information, or in general, Content. |
| • |
Post any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, copyright,
trade secret or other proprietary right of any party (the "Rights"),
unless you are the owner of the Rights or have the permission of the
owner to Post or transmit Content. |
| • |
Post any files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other
similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's
computer.
|
| • |
Advertise or offer to sell any goods or services for any commercial
purpose, other than in areas of the Service that are intended for
such uses.
|
| • |
Conduct or forward surveys, contests, pyramid schemes or chain
letters, other than in areas of the Service intended for such uses.
|
| • |
Download any file Posted by another user that you know, or reasonably
should know, that cannot be legally distributed in such manner.
|
| • |
Impersonate another person or entity, or falsify or delete any
author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary
designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other
material contained in a file that is Posted.
|
| • |
Post any information obtained or originally transmitted in confidence
or with the implied belief that the message was to be kept in confidence
without the express permission of the original author of the communication.
Additionally any direct communication (with the exception of publicly
viewable Posts on the discussion forums) between administrators
or moderators and a member are strictly prohibited from being publicly retransmitted
or Posted to the discussion forums by a Moderator or Administrator.
|
| • |
Use any robot,
spider, site search/retrieval application, or other device to retrieve
or index any portion of the Service or collect information about users
for any unauthorized purpose |
| • |
Submit Content
that falsely expresses or implies that such Content is sponsored or
endorsed by ExpatGroups.com. |
| • |
Create user accounts
by automated means or under false or fraudulent pretenses. |
Member Content Ownership and Rights. ExpatGroups.com claims no ownership or control over any Content
submitted, Posted or displayed by you on or through the Service. You or a third
party licensor, as appropriate, retain all patent, trademark and copyright to any
Content you submit, Post or display on or through the Service and you are responsible
for protecting those rights, as appropriate.
License Grant. By Posting Content or communications on or through
the Service, you automatically grant ExpatGroups.com a royalty-free, perpetual,
irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, edit,
translate, distribute, perform, and display the Content or communication
alone or as part of other works in any form, media, or technology whether
now known or hereafter developed, and to sublicense such rights through
multiple tiers of sublicensees.
No Solicitation. You shall not distribute on or through the Service
or to any persons or entities identified via ExpatGroups.com any Content
or material containing solicitations or advertising of any kind without
the express prior written permission of ExpatGroups.com. Lawyers and law
firms are prohibited from soliciting employment from prospective clients
through the Forums or any of its interactive features. In the discussion
forums you may discuss or recommend third-party Web sites, goods or services,
so long as you have no financial interest in and receive no direct or indirect
benefit from such Web sites, products or services, or the recommendation
of such.
NO RESALE OF SERVICE
You agree not to sell,
resell, or offer for any commercial purposes, any portion of the ExpatGroups.com
Website or Services,
use of the ExpatGroups.com Websites
and Services,
or access to the ExpatGroups.com Websites
and Services.
COPYRIGHT
INFRINGEMENT AND COPYRIGHT AGENT
ExpatGroups.com may,
in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, remove, or disable access
to, material on the ExpatGroups.com
Websites and Services
that infringes on the rights of others. Any unauthorized downloading and
distribution of any copyrighted material (other than for personal non-profit
use) from ExpatGroups.com or sites to which we link, without the copyright
owner's permission, is strictly prohibited.
If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on this
site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us
by providing the following information:
| 1 |
an
electronic signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized
to act on the owner's behalf; |
| 2 |
identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; |
| 3 |
identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and
information reasonably sufficient to permit ExpatGroups.com to locate
the material, including the full URL; |
| 4 |
your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
|
| 5 |
a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed
use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the
law;
|
| 6 |
a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information
in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner
or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
|
Please submit your claim of infringement here.
After receiving a claim of infringement, ExpatGroups.com will process and
investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions
under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA") and other applicable
intellectual property laws.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
The ExpatGroups.com
Websites and Services contain
links to third party web sites that are maintained by others. These links
are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement
by ExpatGroups.com of the contents on such third-party Web sites. ExpatGroups.com
is not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites and does
not make any representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials
on such third-party Web sites. If you decide to access linked third-party
Web sites, you do so at your own risk.
NO LEGAL ADVICE OR ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Information contained on or made available through ExpatGroups.com
Websites and Services
(including but not limited to the discussion forums) is not intended to
and does not constitute legal advice, recommendations, mediation or counseling
under any circumstance and no attorney-client relationship is formed.
Do not act on or rely on any information from ExpatGroups.com
Websites and Services
without consulting with a licensed attorney as this site is not a substitute
for obtaining appropriate legal advice from a competent, independent legal
counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Moreover, due to the rapidly changing
nature of the law and the reliance on information provided by outside
sources, we make no warranty or guarantee concerning the accuracy or reliability
of the Content on ExpatGroups.com
Websites and Services or
at other sites to which we link. Nothing submitted to this Web Site is
treated as is privileged or confidential with the exception of items listed
in ExpatGroups.com's Privacy
Policy. All communications and Content Posted via the Service (including
but not limited to the discussion forums) are NOT treated
as privileged or confidential.
ATTORNEY ETHICS NOTICE
If you are an attorney, participating in any aspect or using any Service
of ExpatGroups.com, including but not limited to, chat rooms or discussion
forums, you acknowledge that rules of professional conduct apply to all
aspects of your participation and that you will abide by such rules. The
rules include, but are not limited to, the rules relating to advertising,
solicitation of clients, unauthorized practice of law, and misrepresentations
of fact. ExpatGroups.com disclaims all responsibility for your compliance
with these rules. You further agree and acknowledge that when you use
any Service of ExpatGroups.com, including but not limited to the discussion
forums and chat rooms, you will not offer legal advice and will not solicit
employment from prospective clients.
ADVERTISERS
ExpatGroups.com may contain advertising and sponsorship. Advertisers and
sponsors are responsible for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion
on ExpatGroups.com is accurate and complies with applicable laws. ExpatGroups.com
will not be responsible for the illegality of or any error or inaccuracy
in any advertiser’s or sponsor’s materials.
THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
Third-party content may appear on ExpatGroups.com
Websites and Services
or may be accessible via links from ExpatGroups.com. ExpatGroups.com shall
not be responsible for and assumes no liability for any mistakes, misstatements
of law, defamation, omissions, falsehood, obscenity, pornography or profanity
in the statements, opinions, representations or any other form of content
contained in any third-party Content appearing on ExpatGroups.com. You
understand that the information and opinions in the third-party Content
represent solely the thoughts of the author and is neither endorsed by
nor does it reflect the beliefs of ExpatGroups.com.
DISCLAIMER
OF WARRANTIES
ExpatGroups.com Websites
and Services
(including but not limited to the discussion forums) and the information,
software and other Content available on or accessible via the Websites
and Services is
provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of
any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties
of title, noninfringement or implied warranties of merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose. ExpatGroups.com does not warrant that
the Website
and Services
will meet your requirements or expectations, be uninterrupted or error
free or that any information, software or other material available on
or accessible through the
Website and Services
is free of viruses, worms, trojan horses or other harmful components.
No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from
any Website or Service of ExpatGroups.com, including but not limited to
the discussion forums, shall create any warranty not expressly stated
in the TOS. ExpatGroups.com may make improvements and/or changes to its
features, functionality, Content or any other part of the
Websites and Services at
any time.
LIMITATION
OF LIABILITY / DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
IN NO EVENT SHALL EXPATGROUPS.COM OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO ANY USER
OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION,
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR LOST
PROFITS) RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE EXPATGROUPS.COM OR
THE MATERIAL, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER
LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT EXPATGROUPS IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF SUCH DAMAGES.
UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY
ExpatGroups.com reserves the right to investigate complaints or reported
violations of our TOS and to take any action we
deem appropriate, including but not limited to, reporting any suspected
unlawful activity to law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third
parties and disclosing any information necessary or appropriate to such
persons or entities relating to your profiles, e-mail addresses, usage
history, posted materials, IP addresses and traffic information.
INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to defend,
indemnify and hold ExpatGroups.com and its owners, administration, agents, information
providers, affiliates, and partners (collectively the "ExpatGroups.com
Parties") harmless from any and all liabilities, losses, costs and
expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, related to any violation
of the TOS by you (a "Claim"). In the event a Claim is brought against
any ExpatGroups.com Party or Parties, ExpatGroups.com shall provide notice to you
and shall have the right to retain counsel of its choosing to defend against
such a Claim. You agree to reimburse ExpatGroups.com for any costs (including
reasonable attorney fees) or damages awards incurred in association with
such defense. Furthermore, you agree to cooperate in good faith to assist
ExpatGroups.com in such defense and any settlement negotiations related
thereto, and to reimburse ExpatGroups.com for reasonable settlement amounts
if any.
VIOLATIONS
If you are aware of any violations of the TOS, please report them here.
REMEDIES FOR VIOLATIONS
ExpatGroups.com reserves the right to pursue any and all legal and equitable
remedies for violations of the TOS, including but not limited to terminating
any and all Member accounts you may have and blocking access from a particular
Internet address (or range of addresses) to any of ExpatGroups.com's Websites
and Services.
PRIVACY
Your use of ExpatGroups.com is also subject to ExpatGroups.com's Privacy
Policy, which you link to by clicking here: Privacy
Policy.
SEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS
The TOS incorporates by reference
all notices and disclaimers contained on ExpatGroups.com and constitutes
the entire agreement between you and Provider with respect to access to
and use ExpatGroups.com. If any provision of the TOS is found unlawful, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall
be deemed severable from the remaining provisions and shall not affect
their validity and enforceability.
NON-WAIVER
The failure of either party to enforce any rights hereunder shall not
constitute a waiver of any terms or conditions of the TOS.
GENERAL
Except as expressly
provided in a particular "Legal Notice" on particular web pages, the TOS
and its referenced parts constitutes the entire agreement between you
and ExpatGroups.com with respect to the use of ExpatGroups.com Websites
and Services, superseding any prior agreements. The section titles in
this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual
effect. The TOS is accepted upon your use of the Websites and Services
and is further affirmed by you becoming a Member. |