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TERMS OF USE & PRIVACY POLICY |
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TERMS OF USE & PRIVACY POLICY
Welcome to www.oceangram.com (hereinafter referred to as
the "Web Site"). The Web Site is owned and operated by Oceangram LLC
(hereinafter referred to as "Oceangram LLC", "we" or "us". TERMS OF USE By accessing and browsing the Web Site, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these terms of use. Please note that this Web Site and the services offered are only open to users 13 years of age or older. Users between the ages of 13 and 18 years are advised to use the site under the supervision of an adult person. Oceangram LLC keeps the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter these terms of use at any time. Changes and/or modifications shall become effective immediately upon the posting. Please review the Terms of Use periodically. Oceangram® Messages and Postings The Web Site has a special messaging service where users can send and receive messages electronically. Users can choose to send anonymous messages to an unspecified destination (hereinafter referred to as "Oceangrams") or they can choose to send messages to a specific recipient (hereinafter referred to as "Target Oceangrams"). We do not control the material delivered through the Web Site's messaging service, or posted on bulletin boards, chat rooms, forums, blogs, and other areas and we have no obligation to monitor such messages. Also, we do not monitor Target Oceangrams unless we need to view your message as part of technical processing, web site maintenance, or technical support. The contents of any messages posted/sent through the Web Site's messaging service do not necessarily reflect Oceangram LLC's views. In no event shall we assume or have any responsibility or liability for the content of any messages or for any claims, damages or losses resulting from their use and/or appearance on the Web Site. We reserve the right at all times to disclose any information (including the identity of the persons providing information or materials through the Web Site's messaging service) as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental request. In addition, we reserve the right to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that in our own sole discretion are objectionable or in violation of these Terms of Use. By sending Oceangrams or posting any materials on bulletin boards, chat rooms, forums, blogs, and other areas through the Web Site, you are granting us a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to: 1) Use, copy, sublicense, adapt, transmit, publicly perform or display any such communication; 2) Sublicense to third parties the unrestricted right to exercise any of the foregoing rights granted with respect to the communication. The foregoing grants shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such communication, including but not limited to rights under copyright, trademark, servicemark or patent laws under any relevant jurisdiction. Note that Target Oceangram messages are not subject to the foregoing grants and they are private correspondence between the sender and the intended recipient. It is a condition of your use of the messaging service and the Web Site that you do not: 1. Use this messaging service for any illegal purposes (or to solicit any illegal act); 2. Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the messaging service; 3. Send any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane or indecent information of any kind, or send any message that solicits gambling or prostitution or engage in any gambling or prostitution activity; 4. Send messages which violate or infringe upon the rights of others, including material which is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or which is protected by copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right, or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or right holder. 5. Send messages which contains viruses, time bombs, trojan horses, cancelbots, worms, traps that may lead to becoming a victim to such components or devices or other harmful or deleterious components or devices; 6. Send defamatory, libelous, hateful, or harassing messages, information or material; 7. Send messages for commercial purposes or which contain advertising, promotion or marketing for commercial or non-commercial entities without obtaining a prior consent of us. 8. Use the messaging service of the Web Site for the purposes of sending duplicative messages, fraudulent content, or unsolicited commercial or non-commercial messages in the form of spam. 9. Try to gain unauthorized access to the messaging services. 10. Interfere with another individual's use and enjoyment of the Web Site's messaging services. Hyperlinks to Third Party Sites The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by us of the opinions or views expressed by these linked websites and we do not verify, endorse, or take responsibility for the accuracy, currency, completeness or quality of the content contained in these sites. Furthermore, we are not responsible for the quality or delivery of the products or services offered, accessed, obtained by or advertised by such sites. As such, we will not be responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information contained in these sites. To the extent that these sites collect personal information or postings from the end user, be advised that in no event shall we assume or have any responsibility or liability for the manner in which such information or postings are exploited or for any claims, damages, or losses resulting from their use and/or appearance on these sites. Finally, we will under no circumstances be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or special loss or other damage, whether arising from negligence, breach of contract, defamation, infringement of copyright or other intellectual property rights, caused by the exhibition, distribution or exploitation of any information or content contained within these sites. Indemnification You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless, Oceangram LLC from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation of these Terms of Use by you. Oceangram LLC reserves the right to assume, at its sole expense, the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses. Disclaimer Your use and browsing of the Web Site is at your risk. If you are dissatisfied with any of the materials contained in the Web Site, or with the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, your only remedy is to discontinue using the Web Site. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO, OR USE OF, THE WEB SITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING ON THE WEB SITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. You specifically acknowledge and agree that we are not liable for any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any user. We assume no responsibility, and shall not be liable for any damages to, or viruses, that may infect your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing of the Web Site (including bulleting boards, chat rooms, blogs, and the like) or your downloading materials from the Web Site. We do not warrant or make any representations of any kind or nature with respect to the content of any message. Therefore, you are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. Dispute Resolution / Choice of Law / Forum Selection PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY OTHERWISE HAVE. IT PROVIDES FOR RESOLUTION OF MOST DISPUTES THROUGH ARBITRATION INSTEAD OF COURT TRIALS AND CLASS ACTIONS. ARBITRATION IS FINAL AND BINDING AND SUBJECT TO ONLY VERY LIMITED REVIEW BY A COURT. These Terms of Use and Privacy Policy shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas without regard to principles of conflict of laws. You and Oceangram LLC agree to make reasonable attempts to resolve any claim or dispute (including but not limited to privacy/security disputes); However, if a claim or dispute is not resolved as a result of such attempts, you agree to have any unresolved claims or disputes against Oceangram LLC whether related to these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy or otherwise, including the validity of this arbitration clause, resolved by binding arbitration by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"), in accordance with its arbitration rules, except that you or Oceangram LLC may bring an individual action in small claims court. You agree that the forum for such arbitration proceeding and/or small court proceedings shall be held in Houston, Texas. Any award of the arbitrator(s) may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. If for any reason the arbitration clause set forth herein is deemed inapplicable or invalid, or the extent of the arbitration clause allows for litigation of disputes in court, you and Oceangram LLC agree to waive to the fullest extent allowed by law, any right to pursue or to participate as a plaintiff or as a class member in any claim or class or consolidated basis or in a representative capacity. PRIVACY POLICY General
By accessing and browsing the Web Site, you accept, without
limitation or qualification, this Privacy Policy. We want the Web Site's users to always be aware of any information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We respect each visitor's right to personal privacy. To that end, we collect and use information throughout the Web Site only as disclosed in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected on this site only. The privacy policy explains what information we collect on the Web Site and how we use such information. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully along with the Terms of Use. Remember! Your use of the Web Site indicates to us that you have read and accepted the terms of use and privacy practices, as outlined in the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy. Note that the Web Site offers web-based messaging service; no program is installed on users' computers. We also do not install any spyware or adware programs on users' computers as we have a very strict policy for advertising on the Web Site and we do not want ads to become annoying to users. We also do not allow pop-up or pop-under ads on the Web Site. While on the Web Site, you may encounter links to these or other web sites or online material. If you "click" on a link to such a third party, the "click" takes you off the Web Site and to a third party's web site, which is beyond Oceangram LLC's control. These other web sites may set their own cookies, collect data, and/or have their own privacy policies. This Privacy Policy only covers information collected at the Web Site, and does not cover any information collected by any other web site. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any other web site you visit. In addition, please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to any information you may disclose publicly in any Oceangram TM, Target Oceangram TM, forums, blogs, or the like. You should keep in mind that whenever you publicly disclose information about yourself online, that information could be collected and used by people that you do not know. We bear no responsibility for any action or policies of any third parties who collect any information users may disclose in their Oceangrams, Target Oceangrams, forums, or the like. Information We Collect Preface When you visit the Web Site, our web servers automatically collect web site usage information. Web site usage information is anonymous information that describes how the Web Site's visitors use and navigate the Web Site, and it includes the number and frequency of visitors to each web page and the length of their stays. We collect the anonymous information automatically sent to us by your web browser, such as browser type, referrer data that identifies the web page visited prior and subsequent to visiting the Web Site, and IP address. Personally Identifiable Information Personally identifiable information (hereinafter referred to as "PII") is information that could reasonably be used to identify you personally (such as your name, address, birth date or e-mail address). Generally, you may browse the Web Site without providing us with PII. However, there may be times when we ask you to provide us with certain PII. We reserve the right, at any time, to add features to the Web Site that require you to register or otherwise provide PII, including credit card information, or to require registration to access the Web Site. You can choose not to provide certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of or participate in some of the Web Site's features. We may combine the information we collect with information available from other sources, including information received from promotional partners or other third parties. We may use your PII to provide the information or content you have requested, to contact you about our features, products, or services, or for other purposes disclosed at the time of collection. We may also use your PII to contact you regarding your use of the Web Site or changes to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, or other policy or terms that affect you and your use of the Web Site. When you send a Target Oceangram TM you will be asked to enter your email address as well as the email address of the indented recipient. We will not distribute these email addresses to any third parties and the only use we make with the email addresses provided while sending a Target Oceangram TM is exclusively limited to that activity. Intended recipients will receive an email from us regarding this activity only, and neither you nor they will receive from us any other e-mail communications. We do not knowingly collect any information from children under 13 years of age at the Web Site. If you are under 13 years of age, do not send us any information about yourself. If we discover that a child under the age of 13 has provided the Web Site with PII, we will delete that child's PII from its system. IP addresses When visitors request pages from the Web Site, our servers log the visitor's IP address. An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer or network when you are on the Internet. We may collect IP addresses for a variety of internal purposes, such as system administration, to report aggregate information to Oceangram LLC's business partners or to audit the number of visits to different pages on the Web Site. Under certain circumstances Oceangram LLC, recipients, their legal representatives, and/or law enforcement authorities may be able to combine this with information disclosed by ISP's to determine the source of a particular communication. By using this service, you knowingly and voluntarily assume any risks associated with such disclosure.
We collect and analyze traffic on the Web Site by keeping
track of the IP addresses of the Web Site's visitors. The Web Site saves
the senders' and receivers' IP addresses along with every message of all
types posted, sent, or received using the Web Site. Cookies We collect information about the Web Site's users during usage of the Web Site's service, from the use of "cookies" as you use the service and during sending or viewing messages on the Web Site. Cookies are information files that the Web Site may place on your computer to provide extended functionality and to personalize your experience at the Web Site. Cookies alone tell us nothing about who you are unless you specifically give us personally identifiable information. We do not store any PII in cookies, but we may link the cookie to any information we collect. You may occasionally get cookies from our advertisers, which is standard in the internet industry. We do not control these cookies, and these cookies are not subject to the Privacy Policy. Visitors to the Web Site should check the privacy policy of the advertiser to see whether and how it uses cookies. Oceangram LLC's use and disclosure of collected information We may use information collected about the Web Site's users to improve the content and navigation of the Web Site, or for other internal purposes. We may use cookies for a number of purposes. For example, we may use cookies to track usage patterns on the Web Site. Or, we may use cookies to record registration and personalization information, when applicable, enabling you to save your user name and password. You can, of course, disable cookies on your computer by indicating this in the preferences or options menus in your browser. Third parties providing services on Oceangram LLC's behalf We may employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on Oceangram LLC's behalf. Examples may include hosting the Web Site, analyzing data, and providing customer service. These third parties may have access to the users' collected information in order to provide these services to us or on Oceangram TM LLC's behalf, but they are not permitted to use it for other purposes. Other third parties We may disclose anonymous, aggregated user statistics to third parties, such as advertisers on the Web Site, for a variety of purposes including but not limited to marketing promotional. We do not disclose to these entities any information that could be used to identify you personally. We do not rent, sell or otherwise disclose your PII to third parties unless disclosed to you at the time such information is collected or unless you otherwise give consent. Legal Notice Notwithstanding the above policies, we may disclose information about the Web Site's users, including PII, when legally required to do so, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing the Web Site and applicable laws, to protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Web Site, to protect the company's rights and property, to investigate reports of users sending material using a false e-mail address or users sending harassing, threatening, or abusive messages, or during emergencies, such as when we believe someone's physical safety is at risk. We may also disclose user information whenever we believe disclosure is necessary to limit Oceangram LLC's legal liability, to protect or defend Oceangram LLC's rights or property or protect the safety, rights or property of the Web Site's users. Security We take steps to secure the data you submit to us (such as PII), including limiting the number of people who have physical access to our user data. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk. Contact Us If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by clicking here. Last updated November 15, 2006. |
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©2008 Oceangram, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Oceangram® is a registered trademark of Oceangram LLC. |
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