Usage AgreementImportant: This is a binding legal agreement (this "Agreement"). Please read these terms and conditions of use carefully before using this site. This Agreement is by and between you and ExpertBee.com (referred to herein as "EB", "we", "us", or "our") and sets forth the terms and conditions governing your use of EB's Web site currently located at the URL www.expertbee.com and any successor site (the “Site”), as well as our privacy policy and practices. BY CHECKING THE “I ACCEPT” BOX OR ACCESSING THE SITE, YOU ACCEPT, WITHOUT LIMITATION OR QUALIFICATION, ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT. If you do not accept all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, do not use the Site. From time to time, changes in law or in the EB business may require EB to update this Agreement. We appreciate your use of the Site and respect your choice of whether to accept such changes. Upon each such change, you will be required to accept the modified version of this Agreement before re-entering the Site or else your access to the Site shall be suspended. Please print and retain a copy of this Agreement, as it may be changed from time to time, for your records. EB, in its sole discretion, may also add, delete or change some or all of the features of the Site or EB’s services at any time. This Agreement applies to all countries EB services. The terms "you" and "your" as used herein refer to all individuals and/or entities accessing the Site for any reason. Restrictions on Use of MaterialsOther than materials submitted by you and other users of the Site (collectively, “Users”), which materials remain the property of such Users, all materials contained in the Site are the copyrighted property of EB, or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies and/or third party licensors. No material from the Site or any Internet site owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by us or our affiliates may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way. For purposes of this Agreement, the use of any such material on any other Web, Internet, intranet, extranet or other site or computer environment is prohibited. All trademarks, service marks, trade names and trade dress used in connection with the Site are proprietary to us. You may not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any of our trademarks, logos, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) without our prior express written consent. You may not use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing our name, trademarks or other proprietary information without our prior express written consent. Expert Questions and AnswersWhile we pride ourselves on the breadth and quality of our experts, we cannot guarantee the qualifications of our experts or the effectiveness or quality of the advice the provider to you and our Users. You may always refer to the feedback section on the Site to see the opinions of other Users with respect to our experts and their advice. Your use of the Site and its services should not be viewed as a substitute for obtaining professional advice on health, legal, financial and other professional matters. Your use of the information and advice you receive through the use of the Site is purely at your own risk, and EB shall not be responsible for any consequence of such reliance whatsoever, as further discussed below. EB does not review any of the advice that an expert may provide to you, and specifically disclaims any warranties that might otherwise be associated therewith. If you are an expert on our Site and you feel that a User is using the Site to harass you or otherwise communicate with you in a manner inconsistent with this Usage Agreement, please notify us using the contact information set forth below. Upon satisfactory verification of your complaint, we shall suspend or terminate such User’s access to the Site, and this shall constitute your sole and exclusive remedy against us in this respect. Service Requests and Services ProvidedWhile we pride ourselves on the breadth and quality of our service providers, we cannot guarantee the qualifications of our service providers or the effectiveness or quality of the service provided to you and our Users. You may always refer to the feedback section on the Site to see the opinions of other Users with respect to our service providers and their services. Your use of the Site and its services should not be viewed as a substitute for obtaining professional services on health, legal, financial and other professional matters. Your utilization of the services you receive through the use of the Site is purely at your own risk, and EB shall not be responsible for any consequence of such usage whatsoever, as further discussed below. EB does not review any of the services that a service provider may provide to you, and specifically disclaims any warranties that might otherwise be associated therewith. If you are a service provider on our Site and you feel that a User is using the Site to harass you or otherwise communicate with you in a manner inconsistent with this Usage Agreement, please notify us using the contact information set forth below. Upon satisfactory verification of your complaint, we shall suspend or terminate such User’s access to the Site, and this shall constitute your sole and exclusive remedy against us in this respect. Other SubmissionsWhile we do value your feedback on the Site and the services and products offered in connection therewith, we request that you be specific in your comments with respect to the same, and not submit any creative ideas, suggestions, or materials (unless specifically requested by us). If, at our request, you send certain specific submissions or, despite our request, you send us creative suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts, or other information (collectively, the "Submissions"), the Submissions shall be deemed, and shall remain, our property. None of the Submissions shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on our part and we shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Submissions. Without limitation of the foregoing, we shall exclusively own all now known or hereafter existing rights to the Submissions of every kind and nature throughout the universe and shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the Submissions for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the provider of the Submissions. Your ContentYour “Content” includes any information, questions, responses or other materials you provide to us in any public message area (including, without limitation, the message boards). You are solely responsible for your Content. We act as a passive conduit for the online distribution and publication of your Content. However, we may take any action we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion if we believe your Content creates a risk of liability to EB. EB may, in appropriate circumstances and at its sole discretion, remove or disable access to material on the Site that infringes on the rights of third parties or is otherwise harmful to EB. EB may also, at its sole discretion, terminate your access to the Site for posting material that infringes upon the rights of third parties. If you believe that your Content, or any other information or content owned by you, has been used on the Site in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide EB’s Copyright Agent with a written notice (e-mail is sufficient) that includes the following information:
EB’s Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on the Site is:
Wayne Thorsen Forums and Public Communications"Forum" means a chat area, message board, or e-mail function offered as part of the Site. If you participate in a Forum within the Site, if applicable, you must not: (i) defame, abuse, harass or threaten others; (ii) make any bigoted, hateful or racially offensive statements; (iii) advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them; (iv) post or distribute any material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any law; (v) post or distribute any vulgar, obscene, discourteous or indecent language or images; (vi) advertise or sell to, or solicit others; (vii) use the Forum for commercial purposes of any kind other than to facilitate a transaction on the Site; (viii) post or distribute any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful component; or (ix) post material or make statements that do not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of any chat room or bulletin board. You shall remain solely responsible for the content of your messages and posts and shall indemnify and hold EB and its employees, agents and affiliates harmless for the content of such messages. We reserve the right to remove or edit content from any Forum at any time and for any reason. By uploading Content to any Forum or submitting any Content to us, you automatically grant (or warrant that the owner of such materials expressly granted) us a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and display, create derivative works from and distribute such Content or incorporate such Content into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed throughout the universe. In addition, you warrant that all so-called "moral rights" in that Content have been waived. DisclaimerThe Site provides links and pointers to Internet sites maintained by third parties. EB does not operate or control in any respect any information, products, or services on these third-party sites. The materials in this Site and the third-party sites, including without limitation all advice, research, questions and other information, are provided for informational purposes only and are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind either express or implied, and EB shall not be liable for your reliance thereupon. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, EB disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. EB does not warrant that the functions contained in the materials or the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this Site, including Forums, or the server that makes it available, are free of viruses or other harmful components. EB does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the materials in this Site or in third-party sites, or of the expert advice provided in connection with this Site, in terms of their correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or otherwise. If you have any questions regarding this Agreement, please contact Board-Admin@ExpertBee.com. Limitation of LiabilityUnder no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall EB be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the Service. You specifically acknowledge and agree that EB is not liable for any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of any user. If you are dissatisfied with any material on the Site or with the Service, or with any of EB's terms and conditions, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Service. In the event we are held liable for any damages related to such matters, your sole and exclusive remedy will be limited to reimbursement for services or products paid for by you. You hereby waive any and all rights to bring any claim or action related to such matters in any forum beyond one (1) year after the first occurrence of the kind of act, event, condition or omission upon which the claim or action is based. ReleaseBy utilizing the site, you and all other Users acknowledge and agree that EB, its employees, agents and affiliates are released, discharged and held harmless from and are not responsible or liable for any liability with respect to all aspects of the site (including without limitation, any illness, losses, litigation expenses, personal injury, death, property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy) that may occur from use of the site or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of information, materials, services or products related thereto or acquired therefrom. We reserve the right at any time and without liability to restrict or refuse access to the site and its services, content, materials and functions to anybody. TerminationThese terms are effective until terminated by either party. You may terminate these terms at any time by discontinuing use of the Site. Your access to the Site may be terminated immediately without notice from us if in our sole and absolute discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of this Agreement. Upon termination, you must cease use of the Site. PrivacyOn our Site we collect information that you voluntarily provide in order for us to provide services and products, locate applicable experts and/or identify users seeking your expert advice, relay your questions and parameters to experts and/or relay bids and other communications to users seeking your expert advice, relay information between you and other users and/or experts on our Site, and process other transactions you request, as well as provide customer service. We may also use the nature of the questions you submit to the Site, or the topical preferences you select in your registration form, to include third party advertisements in our emails to you that we feel would be of interest to you; provided that we will never share your email address or other personal information with such third parties without your consent. Information We CollectContact Information: Some areas of our Site request or require contact and other information. During the registration process, we collect information such as your name, mailing address, and e-mail address. Your contact information will be used to administer your account and provide you with the services and products you have requested, respond to questions and support requests you submit to us, facilitate communications between you and our community of experts and expert-seekers, and to get in touch with you when necessary with respect to services offered through the Site or for other internal purposes. Information questions submitted to the Site are handled via an anonymous email redirector and your email address will not be shared (unless you provide it yourself). We do not share your contact information with any third party without your consent, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law, as required by a court of competent jurisdiction or to the limited extent described below under "Certain Third Party Transactions". Billing: In the course of receiving your payment of any fees due to EB in connection with your use of the Site, EB will receive certain payment information, which may include, without limitation, credit card and/or checking information. We do not share any such information with any third party without your consent, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law, as required by a court of competent jurisdiction or to the limited extent described below under "Certain Third Party Transactions". Questions, Answers and Expert Bios: In the course of your use of the Site, you may submit questions for which you are seeking answers from our experts and/or responses to questions that users have submitted to EB. We will store and use the content of such questions and responses to facilitate communication between users and experts and otherwise to effectuate the purposes of our Site and services. Expert requests and questions you submit on the Site (including your bids and other specifications you provide) will be searchable and accessible by other users. Biographic information submitted by experts will be searchable and accessible by other users as well. We may also use any information provided by our experts to verify their credentials. Internet Protocol Address: We collect an IP address from all visitors to our Site. We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer our Web Site. Use of CookiesOur Site may use cookies to enhance your experience while using our Site. Cookies are pieces of information that some web sites transfer to the computer that is browsing that web site and are used for record-keeping purposes at many web sites. Use of cookies makes web-surfing easier by performing certain functions such as saving your passwords and your personal preferences regarding your use of the Site. Many consider the use of cookies to be an industry standard. Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. However, if you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of our Site will not function properly when you view them. Information SecurityThis Site has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. However, it is not possible to guarantee the security or integrity of information you disclose online since a sufficiently powerful attack from an unauthorized third party could compromise your data. Message BoardsThis Site makes Forums available to its Users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes available, for non-commercial use, to all Users and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. Certain Third Party TransactionsWe may disclose personal information to third parties we engage to provide services that involve data processing or credential verification on our behalf. Such third parties do not include advertisers or marketers that would contact or solicit you. For example, we engage a third party to process credit card payments for service fees, and will disclose billing information to such third party only as necessary for them to process such transactions. We will only disclose personal information to such third parties provided that they adhere to the same restrictions regarding use of your personal information as are set forth in this Agreement. Choice/Opt-OutEB may send communications to you regarding its services, the Site or otherwise. EB provides you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such communications by indicating your desire to opt-out:
Correct/UpdateIf any of your contact information changes or is incorrect, please update your member profile on the Site with your new, correct information. Contacting UsIf you have any questions about this Agreement, the privacy practices of this Site, or your dealings with this Site, you can contact:
Wayne Thorsen You can also send e-mail to Privacy@ExpertBee.com. GeneralThis Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New York, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. Jurisdiction for any claims arising under this Agreement shall lie exclusively with the state or federal courts within New York, New York. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of this Agreement shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term. Except as expressly provided in additional terms of use provided by EB for areas of the Site, a particular "Legal Notice," or other notices provided by EB on particular Web pages, this Agreement constitute the entire agreement between you and EB with respect to the use of the Site. Last Updated: December 31, 2005 |
