Gift Ecology - Terms of Service

Gift Ecology Terms of Service

Revised July 20, 2007

Welcome to Gift Ecology, owned and operated by Toliwaga LLC. Gift Ecology is a website that facilitates the digital annotation of physical objects, sharing of these objects between people, and tracking objects’ travels. The Terms of Service (“Terms of Service“ or “Agreement”) contains important information regarding your rights, obligations and restrictions in connection with your use of the Gift Ecology Service and the Gift Ecology.com website. By visiting or using the Gift Ecology.com website you accept and agree to be bound by the Agreement whether or not you register as a Gift Ecology.com member (“Member”). If you do not agree to the Terms of Service you may not use Gift Ecology and you may not register as a Member.

You agree that we may modify this Agreement from time to time in our sole discretion and without prior notice. Any modification of this Agreement will be posted on the Gift Ecology.com website (“Website”). The modified Agreement will become effective upon such posting. Your continued use of the Website and Service after posting of the amended Agreement indicates your acceptance of and agreement to be bound by the amended Agreement.

The Service

The Service offered by Gift Ecology includes the Website and any other services provided by Gift Ecology or Gift Ecology's affiliates from time to time in connection with the Gift Ecology.com website (the "Service"). The Terms of Service apply to all Services and all uses of the Website.

To use this Service, you understand and agree to the following: (a) as part of the registration process, you must submit your name, a password, and a valid email address; (b) you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, and all uses of your account -- whether or not you've authorized such use; (c) you agree to notify Gift Ecology immediately of any unauthorized use of your account; and (d) you are at least 13 years of age. Gift Ecology will not be held liable for any loss or damage for non-compliance. Gift Ecology reserves the right to refuse the Service to any user.

In addition, you understand and agree that Gift Ecology will use aggregated data collected from you and other users for statistical and analytical reporting purposes. You understand, and agree that, unless expressly stated, Gift Ecology in no way controls, verifies, or endorses any of the information contained on or in the Gift Ecology Service, including links, events, messages, posts and member profiles.

Registration

In order to use some of the Services on the Website you will have to register with Gift Ecology as a Member. As part of the registration process, you agree to: (a) provide certain limited information about you as prompted to do so by the Service (such information to be current, complete and accurate); and (b) maintain and update this information as required to keep it current, complete and accurate. The information requested upon original sign-up shall be referred to as registration data ("Registration Data"). Gift Ecology reserves the right to delete accounts created by users who appropriate the name, likeness, email address, or other personally identifiable information of another individual. You may not register for a Member account on behalf of an individual other than yourself or register for a Member account on behalf of any group or entity.

Eligibility

You must be thirteen (13) years of age or older to register as a Member of Gift Ecology or use the Website or Service. By using the Website or registering for the Service, you represent and warrant that you are thirteen (13) years of age or older and that you have the right, authority, and capacity to agree to, and abide by, this Agreement. Gift Ecology reserves the right to cancel the account of and delete the profile and any content or information posted by any user under the age of thirteen (13).

Membership in Gift Ecology is void where prohibited by law.

Term and Termination

This Agreement will remain in full force and effect as long as you use the Service and/or are a Member. You may request a cancellation of your Gift Ecology membership at any time by sending a request to admin@toliwaga.com. Gift Ecology may terminate your membership (1) automatically without notice upon any violation or alleged violation of this Agreement or Gift Ecology's Privacy Policy posted at http://giftecology.com/privacy, in Gift Ecology's sole discretion; (2) for any reason, at any time without notice to Member, including, upon Gift Ecology blocking Member's access to the Website or Service, discontinuance of Member's account, or notification to Member at the email address provided in Member's registration. Upon any termination by Gift Ecology, Member shall discontinue all efforts to access the Website or the Services.

Non Commercial Use by Members

The Website is for the personal use of individual Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors. Organizations, companies, and/or businesses may not become Members and should not use the Service or the Website for any purpose. Illegal and/or unauthorized uses of the Website, including collecting names, and/or email addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email and unauthorized framing of or linking to the Website will be investigated, and appropriate legal action will be taken, including, without limitation, civil, criminal, and injunctive redress and Member account termination.

Proprietary Rights in Content on Gift Ecology

Gift Ecology owns and retains all proprietary rights in the Website and our Service. The Website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, and other proprietary information of Gift Ecology and its licensors. Except for that information which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, modify, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any such proprietary information.

Content Posted by Members on the Website

You are solely responsible for the content that you publish or display (hereinafter "Post") on the Website or transmit to other Members, including but not limited to photos, profiles, messages, comments, text, information, music, and videos ("Member Content").

You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind submitted by you or otherwise posted or shared by you through the Service will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights or contain libelous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful material, or violate any other laws or regulations.

You understand and agree that Gift Ecology may, but is not obligated to, review and delete any Member Content that, in the sole judgment of Gift Ecology, violate this Agreement or which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of Gift Ecology, Gift Ecology's Members or users, or the public, without notice. Gift Ecology assumes no responsibility for monitoring the content posted on the Website by Members, or the conduct of its Members.

Your profile must describe you, an individual person. Examples of inappropriate profiles include, but are not limited to, profiles that purport to represent a real individual who is not you.

You retain all ownership rights in your Member Content. However, by posting Member Content to the Website, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Gift Ecology (and its successors), an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, assignable, royalty free, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, distribute and to prepare derivative works of such content in connection with the Website and the Service, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

You may not republish other members' Member Content outside of Gift Ecology.

The following is a partial list of the kind of content that is illegal or prohibited on the Website. Gift Ecology reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision including, without limitation, removing the offending communication from the Website and terminating the membership of such violators and reporting you to law enforcement authorities. It includes content that:

is patently offensive to the online community, such as content that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters" or unsolicited mass mailing or "spamming";
promotes information that you know is false, misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;
contains restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
displays pornographic or sexually explicit material of any kind;
provides material that exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner, or solicits personal information from anyone under 18;
provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses or would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international laws;
solicits passwords or personally-identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users;
engages in commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising and pyramid schemes; and
impersonates any person or entity, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with any person or entity;
contains the private information of any third party including without limitation, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers;
contains in the sole judgment of Gift Ecology, matter that is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Gift Ecology website or which may expose Gift Ecology or its Members or users to any harm or liability of any type.

Even though all of this is strictly prohibited, there is a small chance that you might become exposed to such items from other Members or Member Content. Gift Ecology is not responsible for the content that Members submit and you hereby waive any legal or equitable rights or remedies you may have against Gift Ecology related to such exposure.

You must use the Service in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

You may not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, other Members to buy or sell any commercial products or commercial services through the Service. Although Gift Ecology cannot monitor the conduct of its Members off the Website, it is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the Service in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent.

You may not solicit a member to perform an online transfer of an object which is not legitimately in your physical possession.

Copyright Policy

If you believe that any Member Content or other material on the Website infringes upon any copyright that you own or control, you may submit a notification to Gift Ecology pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing our Designated Copyright Agent with the following information in writing: (1) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest that is allegedly infringed; (2) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (3) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Website; (4) your address, telephone number, and email address; (5) a written 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 by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

Please send your notification to the attention of our Designated Copyright Agent to receive notification of infringement claims at:

By mail:
Copyright Agent
Toliwaga LLC
PO Box 88
Hanover, NH 03755

By email:
admin@toliwaga.com

Termination of Repeat Infringers

Gift Ecology, in appropriate circumstances and at Gift Ecology's sole discretion, will terminate Members who are deemed to be repeat infringers. Gift Ecology may also at its sole discretion limit access to the Website and/or terminate the memberships of any Members who infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.

Member Disputes

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Gift Ecology Members or third parties. Gift Ecology reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Members or third parties.

Links to Third Party Sites

Any links included within the Website that take users out of the Gift Ecology.com website are not owned by or under the control of Gift Ecology and Gift Ecology assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party website. Use of such third party sites shall be at your own risk and is subject to the policies and procedures of the owner of such site. We encourage you to read those policies and know your rights.

Transactions with Organizations or Individuals

Gift Ecology shall not be liable for your interactions with any organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Service. This includes, but is not limited to, payment and delivery of goods and services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings. These dealings are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You agree that Gift Ecology is not responsible for any damage or loss incurred as a result of any such dealings. Gift Ecology is under no obligation to become involved in disputes between participants on the site, or between participants on the site and any third party. In the event of a dispute, you release Gift Ecology, its officers, employees, agents and successors in rights from claims, damages and demands of every kind, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and our Service.

Privacy Policy

Use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which can be viewed at http://giftecology.com/public/privacy_policy. By using the Service, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Disclaimers

Gift Ecology is not responsible or liable in any manner for any Member Content posted on the Website or in connection with the Gift Ecology Service, whether caused by users of the Website, Members or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Service. Although Gift Ecology provides rules for Member conduct and postings, we do not control and are not responsible for what Members post on the Website and are not responsible for any offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable content you may encounter on the Service, the Website or in connection with any Member Content. Gift Ecology is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user of the Website or Member of the Service. Gift Ecology assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, user or Member communications. Gift Ecology is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Website or combination thereof, including injury or damage to users and/or Members or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in connection with the Web and/or in connection with the Service. Under no circumstances will Gift Ecology be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from anyone's use of the Website or the Service, any content posted on the Website, including Member Content, or transmitted to Members, or any interactions between users of the Website, whether online or offline. THE WEBSITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND GIFT ECOLOGY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. GIFT ECOLOGY CANNOT GUARANTEE AND DOES NOT PROMISE ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS FROM USE OF THE WEBSITE AND/OR THE SERVICE. The Service may be temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reasons. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by Member or user from Gift Ecology or through or from the Service shall create any warranty not expressly stated herein.

Limitation on Liability

EXCEPT IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE SUCH PROVISIONS ARE RESTRICTED, IN NO EVENT WILL GIFT ECOLOGY OR ANY OF ITS CORPORATE PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, OR EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING ALSO LOST PROFITS AND LOST DATA ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THE GIFT ECOLOGY SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT OR OTHER MATERIALS ACCESSED THROUGH THE WEBSITE, EVEN IF GIFT ECOLOGY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, GIFT ECOLOGY'S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO GIFT ECOLOGY FOR THE SERVICE DURING THE TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.

Disputes

If there is any dispute about or involving this Agreement, the Website and/or the Service between you and Gift Ecology, you agree that the dispute will be governed by the laws of the State of Vermont without regard to its conflict of law rules.

You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or Gift Ecology will be filed only in the state or federal courts in and for Chittenden County, Vermont, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action.

Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Gift Ecology, its corporate parents and subsidiaries, officers, members, directors, employees and agents with respect to any and all costs, claims, demands, investigations, liabilities, losses, damages, judgments, settlements, costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees arising out of or in connection with any Member Content, your use of the Service or Website, your conduct in connection with the Services or Website or with other users or Members of the Services or the Website, or any breach of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Gift Ecology retains the exclusive right to settle, compromise and pay any and all claims, demands, proceedings, suits, actions or causes of actions which are brought against Gift Ecology herein under the terms and provisions of this Section and in no event shall you settle any such claim without Gift Ecology's prior written approval.

General Practices Regarding Use and Storage

You acknowledge that Gift Ecology may establish general practices and limits concerning use of the Service including, without limitation, the maximum number of days that messages or other uploaded content will be retained by the Service, the maximum number of messages that may be sent from or received by an account on the Service, the maximum size of any message that may be sent from or received by an account on the Service, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on Gift Ecology's servers on your behalf, and the maximum number of times (and the maximum duration for which) you may access the Service in a given period of time.

You agree that Gift Ecology has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any messages and other communications or other content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that Gift Ecology reserves the right to log off accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time. You further acknowledge that Gift Ecology reserves the right to modify these general practices and limits from time to time.

Preservation of Materials

You acknowledge and agree that Gift Ecology may preserve any materials submitted or posted by you (including emails, profiles, postings, comments or other content) and may disclose such material if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (1) comply with legal process; (2) enforce this Agreement; (3) respond to claims that any material violates the rights of third parties; or (4) in our sole judgment, protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Gift Ecology, its Members, employees or the public.

No Agency

The terms and provisions of this Agreement shall not be interpreted as creating an agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchisor-franchisee relationship between Gift Ecology and any user of the Service. A Member may not bind or obligate Gift Ecology without Gift Ecology's prior written consent.

Special Admonitions for International Use

As a consequence of the global nature of the Internet, you agree to comply with all local rules regarding user conduct on the Internet and acceptable content. Specifically, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.

Miscellaneous

This Agreement contains the entire agreement between you and Gift Ecology regarding the use of the Website and/or the Service. The failure of Gift Ecology to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. This Agreement, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by Gift Ecology without restriction.

Please contact us with any questions regarding this Agreement.

Gift Ecology is a service mark of Toliwaga LLC.