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Hipty.com is an online network, blogging and personal homepage service that provides a forum for personal expression, networking, news and more. This is an agreement between you and Hipty.com. You must agree to these Terms Of Use before entering the site and before utilizing Hipty.com services. Hereafter, Hipty.com shall be referred to as “HIPTY”. “Member” shall refer to any person or entity signed up for HIPTY service. “User” shall refer to any visitor to HIPTY using site services but not signed up as a member. Any use of HIPTY shall constitute a complete acceptance of these Terms Of Use.
The Terms Of Use are legally binding for and upon your use of HIPTY. At any time, with or without notice, the Terms Of Use may change. Any Member or User of HIPTY agrees to be bound by any changes that appear once they are posted to the Terms Of Use. At any time a copy of the Terms Of Use may be requested by sending an email with “Terms Of Use Request” as the subject line to tou@hipty.com.
Eligibility For Use
Member and/or User must be fourteen years of age or older. Members warrant that all registration information will be accurate and kept up to date. Member agrees that networking efficacy will be greatly diminished without personal information kept current and updated. Any misrepresentation of age or identity may result in an immediate, and without prior notice, deletion of homepage in its entirety and revocation of use of HIPTY services. Harassment, impersonation or undue provocation of other Members will not be tolerated and may result in deletion of homepage and revocation of use of HIPTY services. Although it is HIPTY policy to respect the privacy of its Members and does not monitor transmissions or communication between Members, any violation of our Terms Of Use may warrant an investigation by HIPTY administration that may include these measures. If it is found that any Member has violated HIPTY Terms Of Use, an immediate termination of transgressing member’s use of HIPTY site and services may result.
Use Of Services
(a) HIPTY services are void where prohibited. (b) Member and User accepts and understands that it is not HIPTY policy to evaluate, control, refuse or censor members’ private content in any way, but that these actions are within our right to do so if it is found, to our sole discretion, that any violation or violations of our Terms Of Use have occurred or may occur. (c) User accepts that it is fully within each member’s right to control what is posted to any area of Member’s private pages, and that at any time without any notice whatsoever Member may delete User or Member-posted content. (d) Member and User accepts that it is not within the right of any Member to control what is posted to HIPTY public pages, even when such content is authored by Member, even in the event that Member shares ownership of such content, and that only HIPTY may affect such content. (e) Member and User agrees not to post, transmit, link to, email through our system or make available any content that is unlawful, unlicensed to Member or User, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, obscene, hateful, racially objectionable or spam. (f) Member and User agrees not to impersonate any person or entity, represent any group or organization or any affiliation with any person, entity, group or organization without permission to do so. (g) Member and User agrees not to reprint, publish, frame, disguise, disfigure, misrepresent or manipulate in any way, in part or in whole, any HIPTY content including but not limited to logo or likeness. (h) Furthermore, Member and User agrees not to reprint, publish, frame, disguise, misrepresent or manipulate in any way, in part or in whole, any HIPTY content so as to obfuscate source of content as from HIPTY. (i) Member and User agrees not to infringe upon any copyrights, trademarks or proprietary rights of HIPTY, HIPTY members or non-HIPTY members, including but not limited to blogs or other material found published on Member or HIPTY pages. (j) Member and User agrees not to collect or store email addresses or other contact information of any kind for the purpose of unsolicited contact, such as but not limited to spamming or chain emails. (k) Member and User will not stalk or harass any other Member or User. (l) Member and User agrees not to upload, post, email, link to, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer, network or system. (m) Furthermore, Member and User agrees not to upload, post, e-mail, link to, transmit or otherwise make available any content for which Member or User does not have a license or expressed written permission. (n) Member and User agrees not to download any material or content for which Member and User does not have a license or expressed written permission. (o) By registering for the HIPTY service, you represent and warrant that you have the capacity to understand, agree to and will comply with these Terms Of Use.
In order to provide a safe environment for all HIPTY users, except content that is posted by HIPTY, no Member content or area, including but not limited to Member homepage, blog, comment or photograph, may contain any: (a) street addresses, (b) phone numbers, (c) last names, (d) nudity, (e) adult content, (f) promotion of violence, (g) offensive material, or (h) hate speech. Any provocation of violence or hate against any individual, organization, group or entity shall be deemed by HIPTY a breach of these Terms Of Use, and Member’s usage of HIPTY site and/or services, in part or in whole, may be disallowed immediately and without prior notice. The only exception to this provision, to HIPTY’s sole discretion, shall be in cases of reprinting, quoting or republishing news articles (with expressed written permission from the news source), provided that said article is quoted entirely and accurately with attribution in the form of a link to, copy of, or link to copy of the original article. Although it is general HIPTY policy and belief that in cases where this provision is infringed journalistic merits prevail, Member content, such as Editorials and/or published Opinions on Member homepage or blog areas, in this regard shall be considered on a case by case basis, and Member agrees that it is fully within the right of HIPTY to make evaluations and render commensurate punitive action to the sole discretion of HIPTY. HIPTY will not be held liable or responsible for any loss or damage in any form whatsoever by any group, organization, individual or entity of any kind due to inaccuracies or inappropriate content found anywhere on HIPTY. HIPTY will also not be in any way liable or held responsible for any acts or words by HIPTY Members on or off HIPTY. Any failure by HIPTY to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms Of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
Member Responsibility
Member acknowledges, by use of or participation in HIPTY programs or services, that all posted, emailed or published content authored by Member is the sole responsibility and creation of said Member and will not hold HIPTY accountable for any ill results of, legal claims or costs due to or damage from said posting. It is general HIPTY policy to not control the content posted via its service as long as it adheres to the Terms Of Use and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such content. While HIPTY does in good faith make every possible attempt to prevent breaches of the Terms Of Use and preserve journalistic veracity, Users grant that HIPTY will not be held liable for any misinformation or libel found anywhere on HIPTY. HIPTY assumes no responsibility whatsoever for any User or Member content, or any User or Member who breaches our Terms Of Use, whether HIPTY is or is not advised of the contravention. HIPTY accedes that each member’s homepage is his or her private area, and anything that does not breach the Terms Of Use is freely permitted in accordance to all of Member's local rules and laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.
Content Regulation
HIPTY may without prior notice refuse or remove from public HIPTY pages any content, in part or in whole, including but not limited to postings, comments, Opinions, news stories, photographs or ads that it deems offensive, inappropriate, inaccurate, irrelevant or a breach of these Terms Of Use without any liability, whether any real or perceived damage has occurred as a result. For private Member pages, HIPTY reserves the right to remove any content, in part or in whole, that, to the sole discretion of HIPTY, is in violation of the Terms Of Use. Member and User, at the time of posting, publishing or placing any content and/or material onto HIPTY public pages or HIPTY Member private pages, by the very act of posting, publishing or placing any content and/or material onto HIPTY public pages or HIPTY Member private pages, grant HIPTY with an exclusive worldwide license to republish in part or in whole any such content and/or material without compensation to author. Further, in the cases where content and/or material is taken from HIPTY public pages, no permission or prior notice will be required. HIPTY will always request permission to republish any content and/or material taken from HIPTY Member private pages, as in the cases of blog spotlights and/or featured blogs but such permission is not necessary for republishing such content or material. Members and Users are required to obtain permission from the author(s), creator(s) and/or poster(s) prior to republishing or quoting, in part or in whole, content and/or material taken from HIPTY Member private pages. Permission from HIPTY, in addition to the author(s), creator(s) and/or poster(s), must be obtained in writing prior to republishing or quoting, in part or in whole, any content and/or material found on HIPTY public pages. HIPTY also reserves the right to disallow usage of or access to the HIPTY site and services in part or in whole, at any time and for any reason, without liability or prior notice.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold HIPTY, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents and employees harmless from any claim or demand, including attorney’s fees made by any third party due to or arising out of content you submit; post; transmit; link to or otherwise make available through HIPTY service(s), your use of HIPTY service(s), your connection to HIPTY service(s), your violation(s) of HIPTY Terms Of Use or your violation(s) of any rights of another.
Under no circumstances shall HIPTY, its employees, partners or associates be held liable for any damage caused as a result of any use of HIPTY, participation in any on or offsite activity or event, news story inaccuracy, advertising inaccuracy or misrepresentation or umbrage as a result of offense by HIPTY or HIPTY member content.
Under no circumstances shall HIPTY be liable for monetary settlement greater than fees paid by individual member for use of HIPTY services, excluding advertisement fees, which are not considered a fee paid for use of HIPTY services.
Member and User agree that it is fully within the right of HIPTY to automatically or manually modify or delete Member content under these Terms Of Use, to HIPTY’s sole discretion, including but not limited to, images, image sizes or podcasts, without liability, regardless of any damage, either real or perceived, to Member. Under no circumstances whatsoever shall HIPTY be held liable for any damage or loss caused by reduction or deletion, whether manual, accidental or automated by our system, of Member material or content for any reason, including but not limited to, forced compliance to our Terms Of Use or Member storage subscription, accidental system deletion, hacking, Member or User error, or systemic anomaly. Furthermore Member and User acknowledges that HIPTY may modify these terms at any time without notice, and these changes will be in full force and effect upon posting to these Terms Of Use.
Fees
HIPTY is free of cost, although it reserves the right to charge for special membership or services. HIPTY may be accessed without registration, but most services may be used only by registered Members. The duration of HIPTY membership shall extend from the moment of registration to either termination of membership by Member, revocation of services by HIPTY, or death of member. Accounts that are not logged into for twelve(12) months shall be deemed abandoned and following review by HIPTY administration may be deleted from its servers in their entirety. For paid registrations, Member acknowledges and agrees to HIPTY’s right to terminate or reduce Member’s account in cases where membership fees have not been made or violations of the Terms Of Use have occurred. No membership fees paid to HIPTY shall be reimbursed to Member upon termination of right to use HIPTY site and services for violations of Terms Of Use. For paid membership information, including our Refund Policy, please refer to Member Central.
HIPTY Proprietary Rights, Brand Name, Features and Software
Member and User may under no circumstances copy, remove, distort, alter, republish, distribute or display without prior written notice any logos, advertisements, articles or site templates. No Member or User may in any way, form or fashion reproduce or distribute any likeness to HIPTY site or site content without prior written consent by HIPTY. Member and User agrees not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on HIPTY service or software, in whole or in part.
Content Ownership and Licenses
Member and User are hereby notified that all content, material and information contained within HIPTY is solely owned by HIPTY and usable, in part or in whole, according to the terms of the Privacy Policy and these Terms Of Use. All content and/or material posted to public areas of HIPTY, including but not limited to news articles, gallery items, comments and/or Opinions, is usable by HIPTY for republication, retransmission, reproduction and distribution worldwide royalty-free without permission from Member-author or creator. HIPTY will make every effort to not republish, transmit, reproduce or distribute any content or material taken from Member private pages, such as with featured blogs, without expressed prior and written consent of Member, and such permission from Member shall constitute that material as part of the public area of HIPTY. Member shall not reproduce, retransmit, republish or distribute private content without expressed permission from content author and/or creator. Member and/or User shall not reproduce, retransmit, republish or distribute public HIPTY content without expressed permission from HIPTY. HIPTY article Member-writers grant HIPTY exclusive rights of ownership and distribution royalty-free and worldwide. HIPTY may, in appropriate circumstances and at its sole discretion terminate accounts and/or HIPTY usage privileges for repeat copyright and/or proprietary rights infringers.
Exploitation Of HIPTY Services
Member shall not use HIPTY for personal profit, monetary or otherwise, or commercial use without prior written consent. No unauthorized use of HIPTY will be tolerated and any such use shall immediately render all Member’s content, including but not limited to homepage, articles, podcasts, blogs, comments and images in violation of HIPTY Terms Of Use until rectified and may subject Member to termination of all rights to use HIPTY site and services. HIPTY reserves the right to remove any unauthorized advertising from Members’ pages without notice and without liability. No linking to or framing of HIPTY shall be condoned without prior written consent. Any suspected violations will be rigorously investigated and apposite legal action will be taken for any unauthorized (or illegal) use of HIPTY.
Copyrights
Member and/or User may not reproduce, post or distribute any copyrighted material in any form without expressed consent from copyright owner. Member may only freely affect or reproduce information, material or content that is in the public domain or for which you have been granted prior written permission. Any suspected copyright violations should be immediately reported to HIPTY administration via the Contact Us button found on the hipty.com front page or via email to copyright@hipty.com. In your correspondence please be as detailed as possible, and be sure to provide your contact information. If you feel that your copyrights or intellectual property rights have been violated, please contact the HIPTY copyright agent with the following information:
1. Electronic or physical signature of person authorized to act on behalf of owner of copyright or other intellectual property interest;
2. Description of copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed upon;
3. Description of where the material you claim is infringing is located;
4. Your address, email address, telephone number and any further contact information;
5. Statement that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner or its agent;
6. Statement by you, notarized and made under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized agent.
Services and Liabilities
Members and Users understand and agree that HIPTY may include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for HIPTY to provide its free services. Members also understand and agree that participation in HIPTY services may include communications from HIPTY in the form of quick notes or emails. Opting out of receiving them is available but not recommended. HIPTY services are provided “as-is” and HIPTY assumes no responsibility or liability for the timeliness, deletion, mis-delivery or failure to store any Member information or content including but not limited to images, blogs, podcasts, comments, reviews, emails or user settings.
Member Account, Password and Security
You will receive a password and account designation upon completion of HIPTY registration. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account, and are fully responsible for anything that occurs within your account. HIPTY will not he held liable for any loss or damage, real or perceived, from any breach of security for your account.
Privacy
HIPTY collects Members’ personal information such as email address, interests and age for purposes of enhancing Members’ user experience, facilitating inter-site communication and member searches. Member acknowledges that without this information, the HIPTY network could not function. HIPTY does not sell or provide this information to third parties without your prior consent. HIPTY may access, preserve and/or disclose your account information and content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a legal process, enforce HIPTY Terms Of Use or protect the rights, property or personal safety of HIPTY, its members and/or the public. The full HIPTY Privacy Policy may be read here.
International
Member and User agrees to comply with all local rules and laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.
Use and Storage
Member and User agrees that HIPTY may establish limits as to the use of HIPTY services, such as limiting the number of storage days or volume of User or Member content including but not limited to photos, blogs, podcasts, news articles and comments. Member and user acknowledges that HIPTY reserves the right to delete, under the terms of this agreement, at its sole discretion and without prior notice, content and/or accounts that are inactive. Moreover, in cases where paid accounts must be reduced to fit new storage subscription limitations, Member and User agree that it is fully within the right of HIPTY to automatically or manually modify or delete Member content, including but not limited to, images, image sizes or podcasts, without liability, regardless of any damage, either real or perceived, to Member. Under no circumstances whatsoever shall HIPTY be held liable for any damage or loss caused by reduction or deletion, whether manual, accidental or automated by our system, of Member material for any reason, including but not limited to, forced compliance to our Terms Of Use or Member storage subscription, accidental system deletion, hacking, Member or User error, or systemic anomaly. Furthermore Member and User acknowledges that HIPTY may modify these terms at any time without notice, and these use, storage and indemnity terms will be in full force and effect upon posting to these Terms Of Use.
Advertisement
Members’ and/or Users’ correspondence, activity and/or interaction with advertisers or promotions found on HIPTY that are not HIPTY ads or promotions are solely between Member or User and said advertiser. HIPTY shall not be held liable for any loss or damage, whether real or perceived incurred as a result of any such dealings or correspondence.
Links
HIPTY may provide links to third parties. Members and Users agree that HIPTY is free from any responsibility over broken links or content found on such third party links. The Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy for HIPTY do not extend to any third party sites. Please review all third party websites’ Terms Of Use and Privacy Policies before use.
Search
Member and User agrees and acknowledges that all search results are provided by a third party and will not hold HIPTY liable for any offensive content or damage originating from any third or fourth party websites, programs, software, games, etc.
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