Terms
of Use & User Download License
Last Updated March 16th, 2008
Welcome to Whois? --- Identity
for Everyone.
Important - please read the terms of use and user download license carefully.
THIS TERMS OF USE & USER DOWNLOAD LICENSE (THIS "AGREEMENT")
CONSTITUTES A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND WHOIS, INC. ("WHOIS").
CLICKING ON THE "JOIN WHOIS?" BUTTON AND
USE OF THE SERVICE, AS DEFINED BELOW, CONSTITUTES ASSENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS
AGREEMENT WHEREBY SUCH TERMS MAY BE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME. IF YOU DO NOT
WISH TO ASSENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MUST STOP USING THE WHOIS SERVICE IMMEDIATELY AND
REMOVE ANY APPLICATIONS, AS DEFINED BELOW, OR ANY OTHER SOFTWARE OR CONTENT
RECEIVED FROM OR THROUGH WHOIS? FROM YOUR COMPUTER. YOUR FAILURE TO ADHERE TO
THE TERMS AND OBLIGATIONS INCLUDED HEREIN SHALL CONSTITUTE A BREACH OF THIS
AGREEMENT, WHICH MAY RESULT IN PERSONAL LIABILITY FOR YOU UNDER THE INDEMNITY
SET FORTH BELOW AND/OR IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT AND, AT
WHOIS?'S SOLE DISCRETION, THE DELETION OF ALL CONTENT RELATED THERETO.
Whois Inc ("Whois?") is the owner and operator of websites located at http://www.whois.com, the browser add-on whois?
uPOD beta, the whois? HOT beta service and other places such as widgets found
on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and others (collectively
known as Whois? "Services", "Sites" and "Software"). Whois? also provides
domain name registration services and related products and has a separate terms
of use governing the registration, purchase and administration of such services
(found under domains.whois.com)
1. Eligibility
Criteria and Representations.
You hereby represent that the following are all
true:
a. You are at least 13 years old. If You are not at least 13 years old, please
discontinue using the Whois? Site and the Whois? Services immediately.
b. You have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement
and to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement; and
2. License Grant.
a. LICENSE. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, Whois? hereby grants You a
limited, non-licensable, non-transferable, non-exclusive license to use the
software that You have downloaded or are about to download, any software that You
have embedded on a third party web site or are about to embed. All titles, ownership rights, and
intellectual property rights in and to the Whois? Software, and any copies or
portions thereof, shall remain in Whois? and its suppliers or licensors. Whois?
may modify or discontinue offering the Whois? Software at any time.
b. SUPPORT AND UPGRADES. This Agreement does not entitle You to any support,
upgrades, updates, add-ons patches, enhancements, or fixes for the Whois?
Software (collectively, "Updates"). Whois?, however, may occasionally
provide You with Updates to the Whois? Software at its sole discretion. Any
such Updates for the Whois? Software shall become part of the Whois? Software
and subject to this Agreement.
3. Your Obligations. In exchange for Your being
able to use the Whois? Software, the Whois? Services and/or the Whois? Site,
You agree to be bound by the following obligations:
a. Registration:
i.
If You choose to register with Whois?,
You will provide us with an email address You own and use, a password and a
username ("User ID"). You shall be solely responsible for maintaining
the confidentiality of Your password. You will also update Your registration
information on the Whois? Site from time to time so that it remains true,
correct and complete.
ii.
You may not:
- use a false name or an email address
owned or controlled by another person with the intent to impersonate that
person or for any other reason;
- use as a User ID a name subject to any
rights of a person other than Yourself without appropriate authorization; or
- otherwise submit false or misleading
information to Whois?.
b. Banned Content. You may not (and will not allow any
third party to) post or link to any material or content which:
i.
is sexually explicit, profane,
libelous, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise violative of any law (each a "Prohibited
Posting"), or
ii.
constitutes an infringement,
misappropriation or violation of the intellectual property, publicity or other
proprietary rights of any person or entity (each, an "Infringing Posting").
c.
Prohibited Changes to the
Software. You may not and may not allow any third
party to:
i.
modify, adapt, disassemble, decompile,
translate, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover the source code or
structure, sequence and organization of the Whois? Software or any portion of
the Whois? Site or the Whois? Service (except where the foregoing is required
by applicable local law, and then only to the extent so required under such
laws);
ii.
copy or distribute the Whois? Software
(except for a version that has this license attached where the user agrees to
the terms of this Agreement.
iii.
rent, lease, use the Whois? Software
for timesharing or service bureau purposes, or otherwise obtain a commercial
benefit from the the Whois? Software unless You inform legal at whois.com of Your
commercial purpose prior to such use;
iv.
use the Whois? Software in any manner
that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair Whois?'s Service or another
user's use of the Whois? Service;
v.
remove, obscure or change any
copyright, trademark, hyperlink or other proprietary rights notices ("Notices")
contained in or on the Whois? Site, Whois? Service, Whois? code embeddable or
embedded on a third party web site and/or the Whois? Software and You shall
reproduce such Notices exactly on all permitted copies of the Whois? Software;
vi.
collect any information about other
users or members (including usernames and/or email addresses) for any purpose;
vii.
create user accounts by automated means
or under false or fraudulent pretenses;
viii.
create or transmit unwanted electronic
communications such as "spam", to other users or members of the Whois? Site
and/or Whois? Service or otherwise interfere with other user's or member's
enjoyment of the Whois? Site and/or Whois? Service;
ix.
submit any content or material that
falsely express or imply that such content or material is sponsored or endorsed
by Whois?;
x.
transmit any viruses, worms, defects,
Trojan horses or other items of a destructive nature; or
xi.
use the Whois? Site or Whois? Services
to violate the security of any computer network or transfer or store illegal
material.
4. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold Whois? (and
any employee, officer, director or affiliate of Whois?) harmless (including
costs and attorneys' fees) from any claim or demand made by any third party due
to or arising out of Your access to the Whois? Site or Service, the violation
of this Agreement by You, the infringement by You, or any third party using
Your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or
entity, or for any content posted on the Whois? Site by you (including claims
related to defamation, invasion of privacy, or other violation of a person's
rights). Your obligations under the foregoing indemnity may not be offset
against any other claim You may have against Whois? or any Whois? Person. You
remain solely responsible for all content that You upload, post, email,
transmit, or otherwise disseminate using, or in connection with, the Whois?
Software or the Whois? Service.
5. Rights of Whois? By using the Whois? Software, the Whois? Service and/or the Whois? Site,
You acknowledge and agree,
a. Whois? does not claim any copyright or other ownership in any material or
content uploaded by You through the Whois? Site (other than solely to provide
the Whois? Service to You and others, to market the Whois? Service and/or the Whois?
Site, to illustrate the operation of the Whois? Service and/or the Whois? Site.
You are solely responsible for protecting your own content from loss.
b. Whois? has the right to refuse registration of, or cancel Your user account
and/or User ID in its discretion for any reason or for no reason. Any content
that has been uploaded onto the Whois? Service may be deleted at such time
without notice to You.
c.
Whois? has the right to make changes to
this Agreement, at any time without prior notice. Such modifications will be
effective no later than the time such the new terms are posted or otherwise
implemented on the Whois? Site, and may, in certain circumstances, be
retroactive.
d. Whois? and its licensors own and retain all proprietary rights in the Whois?
Site, the Whois? Services, and all associated software, content and material.
The Whois? Site is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation,
pursuant to
e. Whois? has no responsibility for the statements in any message, content or
other material posted on or through the Whois? Site by any user. If Whois?
receives notice that an item on the Whois? Site is an Infringing Posting or a
Prohibited Posting, it will use such efforts as it, in its sole discretion,
believes are reasonable, to determine whether such item is an Infringing
Posting or a Prohibited Posting, and if it is, to remove all or a portion of
such items. You acknowledge, however, that this is a manual process and that Whois?
cannot evaluate or remove such items immediately. WHOIS? HAS NO OBLIGATION TO
ACCEPT OR DISPLAY ANY CONTENT, AND CONTENT UPLOADED BY YOU MAY BE DELETED BY WHOIS?
FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON AT ALL.
f.
If You believe that any material on the
Whois? Site constitutes an Infringing Posting or a Prohibited Posting, please
notify Whois? as soon as possible by sending an email to legal at whois.com.
g. Whois? is exempt from liability to any person for any claim based upon its
good faith disabling of access to or removal of any content, including material
it believes, in its sole discretion to be an Infringing Posting or a Prohibited
Posting, regardless of whether the material ultimately is determined to be
infringing or otherwise prohibited. By using the Whois? Service, You agree that
notice to You through an email to the email address You provided in Your
profile constitutes reasonable efforts to notify You of any removal or
disabling if such notice is required, and if you have created an anonymous
account, you waive the right to notice, if any is required.
h. Whois? reserves the right to reveal Your identity (or whatever information
we know about You) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any
message or other content posted by You or where such information is otherwise
relevant. Whois? may log all internet protocol addresses accessing the Whois?
Site and other information about users' access, and maintain backup copies of
content indefinitely.
i.
Whois? may collect and collate a
variety of information regarding the use of the Whois? Site, Whois? Software,
or Whois? Service by You or by people who use the Whois? Service through Your
website, watch your content through the Whois? Service on third-party websites,
or visit social network pages on which you have installed our apps, and may
cause the Whois? Software to communicate to Whois? information about its
offline operations. Whois? is the sole owner of all such information it
collects. Collection and management of such information is governed by our Privacy Policy.
j.
Whois? uses industry-standard security
measures to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under
our control. Although we make good faith efforts to store the non-public
information uploaded to the Whois? Site or collected by Whois? in a secure
operating environment that is not available to the public, we cannot guarantee
complete security. We cannot and do not guarantee that our security measures
will prevent third party “hackers” from illegally accessing our site and
obtaining access to content or information thereon.
k.
The Whois? Site, Whois? Software or Whois?
Service may contain or deliver advertising and sponsorships. Advertisers and
sponsors are responsible for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion is
accurate and complies with applicable laws. We are not responsible for the
illegality or any error, inaccuracy or problem in the advertiser's or sponsor's
materials.
l.
The Whois? Site, Whois? Software or Whois?
Service may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the
content, accuracy or opinions expressed in such websites, and such websites are
not investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by us.
Inclusion of any linked website on the Whois? Site, the inclusion of a Whois?
Widget on a third party's website, or other piece of Whois? Software on a third
party's website or within a third party's system does not imply approval or
endorsement of that website by us. If you decide to access or post a Whois?
Widget or other piece of Whois? Software on these third-party websites, you do
so at your own risk.
6. Limitations.
WARRANTY DISCLAIMER. THE WHOIS? SERVICE, THE WHOIS? SITE AND THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING ANY
a. POTENTIAL UNAVAILABILITY. THE WHOIS? SERVICE MAY BE
TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE FROM TIME TO TIME FOR MAINTENANCE OR OTHER REASONS. WHOIS?
SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY FAILURE OF THE WHOIS? SOFTWARE, WHOIS? SITE OR WHOIS?
SERVICE. SUCH FAILURE MAY RESULT FROM ANY CAUSE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THOSE BEYOND WHOIS?'S REASONABLE CONTROL, SUCH AS MECHANICAL, ELECTRONIC OR
COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE OR DEGRADATION (INCLUDING “LINE-NOISE” INTERFERENCE).
YOU AGREE THAT WHOIS? SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OF MATERIALS,
CONTENT, OR ANY MODIFICATION, SUSPENSION OR DISCONTINUANCE OF THE SERVICE. Whois?
is not responsible for any technical malfunction or other problems of any
telephone network or service, computer systems, servers or providers, computer
or mobile phone equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of
technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet or at any site or
combination thereof, including injury or damage to Your or to any other
person's computer, mobile phone, or other hardware or software, related to or
resulting from using or downloading materials in connection with the web and/or
in connection with the Whois? Services, including any Mobile Whois? software.
Under no circumstances will Whois? be responsible for any loss or damage,
including any loss or damage to any Content or personal injury or death,
resulting from anyone's use of the Whois? Site, the Whois? Service, Whois?
b. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. WHOIS? AND ITS AFFILIATES
AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE UNDER ANY THEORY OF LAW, FOR ANY INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, AND/OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, AND/OR LOSS OF INFORMATION OR DATA.
SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO
YOU. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, WHOIS?'S
AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM
OF ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO WHOIS?
FOR THE WHOIS? SERVICES, OR TEN DOLLARS, IF GREATER. YOU SPECIFICALLY
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WHOIS? IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE CONTENT SUBMITTED BY ANY USER OR
ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF A THIRD PARTY. SOME STATES OR
OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS
MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
7. TERM AND TERMINATION. Unless terminated by Whois?,
this Agreement will remain in full force and effect while You use the Whois?
Software, Whois? Site and/or Whois? Software or Whois? Services. Subject to the
last sentence of this Section 8, You may terminate this Agreement at any time
by deleting the Whois? Software from Your computer and from any social
networking site or other website on which you have installed any Whois?
Software and ceasing to use the Whois? Software or Whois? Service. Whois? may
terminate this Agreement at any time, particularly if You violate any provision
of this Agreement. Any termination of this Agreement shall also terminate the
licenses granted hereunder. Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason,
You shall destroy and remove from all computers, and other storage media all
copies of the Whois? Software. Whois? shall have the right to inspect and audit
Your facilities to confirm the foregoing. Your representations in Sections 1
and the provisions of Sections 4 through 8 shall survive any termination or
expiration of this Agreement.
8. MISCELLANEOUS
Privacy. In addition to the terms of this Agreement, You should be aware that use
of the Whois? Site and/or the Whois? Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy. Acceptance of
this Agreement constitutes acceptance of Whois?'s acceptable use policy for
content posted on the Whois? Site, Whois?'s Privacy Policy, and any notices
regarding the Whois? Site, as such policies or notices may be amended from time
to time.
a. Disputes. You agree that any dispute relating to your
use of the Whois? Site, Whois? Software and/or Whois? Service shall be governed
by the laws of the
b. International Use. Whois? makes no
representation that the Whois? Software is appropriate or available for use in
all countres, and accessing it from territories where the Whois? Software or
any feature of the Whois? Services and/or Whois? Site is illegal is prohibited.
Those who choose to access this website (or any other website on which Whois?
Software is installed) from other locations do so on their own initiative and
are responsible for compliance with local laws. Downloading or using the Whois?
Software is at your sole risk.
c.
No Third Party
Beneficiaries. This Agreement is between You and Whois?. No
user has any rights to force Whois? to enforce any rights it may have against
any You or any other User.
Please contact us at legal at whois.com with any questions regarding this
Agreement.