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Bloglines Terms of Service

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

Welcome to Bloglines.  Bloglines is operated by WYBS, Inc., ("WYBS" or "we").  By using Bloglines you agree to abide and be bound by these Terms of Service (the "TOS"). Any new service available on Bloglines or any modification of an existing service shall be governed by the TOS, which may be modified or updated from time to time. We reserve the right to modify the TOS by posting a notice on our website, or by sending you a notice via email, postal mail or phone. You shall be responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any such modifications. Such modifications are effective immediately upon first posting or notification, and use of our website or any services by you following such posting or notification constitutes your acceptance of the TOS as modified.  We therefore strongly encourage you to regularly review the TOS.  

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THESE TERMS, THEN DO NOT ACCESS OR USE BLOGLINES.  

2. THE BLOGLINES SERVICE

WYBS provides Bloglines users with a fully-customizable site enabling you to select and aggregate third-party content such as, including, but not limited to, RSS feeds, podcasts, iCal events and Widgets (the “Bloglines Service”).  A “Widget” is defined as a software element providing content, including feeds and data, you can add, remove, resize and reposition. The Bloglines Service does not provide content but rather operates as an enhanced web browser.

The use of the Bloglines Service is free, although third parties may decide to charge a fee for accessing their content in whole or in part.  Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that enhance the current Bloglines Service shall be subject to these TOS. In order to use the Bloglines Service, you must obtain access to the World Wide Web, either directly or through devices that access web-based content, and pay any service fees associated with such access. In addition, you must provide all equipment necessary to make such connection to the World Wide Web, including a computer and modem or other access device.

The Bloglines Service provides the following features among others:

  1. RSS feeds may be added from the Bloglines home page and their content is provided by professional content providers or other users. You may customize your Bloglines dashboard (your "Private Page"), by logging in using your email address and password  and by adding, deleting and arranging your choice of RSS feeds.
  2. In addition to your Private Page, you can also create a personalized Bloglines page accessible to the public and associated with a specific URL (your "Public Page"). With your Public Page, you can share the RSS feeds of your choice with your friends, regardless of whether these RSS feeds embed Your Content or Third-Party Content.
  3. Each time you access Bloglines on your computer, or, if you are a registered user, on any computer by using your email address and password, the latest version of your personalized Bloglines pages will be displayed as all modifications made to your page are saved in real time.
  4. Sharing RSS feeds on your Public Page.  You may post and share Your RSS feeds or Third-Party Widgets or RSS feeds with your friends or with the Bloglines Community by placing them on your Public Page. You understand that you do so under your sole responsibility and represent that you own all the rights to, or have secured the necessary authorizations for said content.
  5. Contacts.  You may also create your personal network of friends, view their profiles, and easily access their Public Pages. You may also view your "Followers", i.e. the persons who added you as a friend.

3. REGISTRATION OBLIGATIONS

To access and use the Bloglines Service, you must be at least 18 years old, legally capable of entering into a binding agreement and acknowledge that some Third-Party Content might be found offensive by some and might not be suitable for individuals under the age of 18. You must also abide by all applicable statutes and regulations in the United States and, if applicable, in your home country.  If you do not meet all of these conditions, do not register for or use the Bloglines Service.  WYBS may refuse to offer the Bloglines Service to any person or entity and may change its eligibility criteria, at any time, in its sole discretion.

4. ACCOUNT USERS AND REGISTRATION OBLIGATIONS

  1. In order to use the Bloglines Service, you may be required to register and create an account.  By creating an account, you agree to take full responsibility for maintaining the account user name, password, and all related activity that occurs under your account username. WYBS reserves the right to close your account at any time for any reason or no reason, in its sole discretion. Your email address must remain valid as long as your Bloglines account remains active and it is your responsibility to update it should it no longer be accurate or current. More generally, all personal information communicated to Bloglines must always be promptly updated as soon as it stops being true, complete, accurate, or current.
  2. Your password is confidential and you shall not communicate it to any third-party individual or website. You should immediately contact WYBS should you have reason to believe that your password is being used by an unauthorized third party. You shall be liable for all actions taken with your password as well as for any loss or liability consequential to such use. We may cancel your account without notice in the case of any violation of the TOS.
  3. In consideration of use of the Bloglines Service, you agree to:
  1. provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Bloglines Service's registration form (such information being the "Registration Data"); and
  2. maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, we has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Bloglines Service (or any portion thereof).
  1. Additionally, you agree that if you provide false information to obtain access to Bloglines, WYBS will be entitled to collect from you liquidated damages of $1000 per violation or actual damages incurred by WYBS or its partners. You understand and agree that the Bloglines Service may include certain electronic and telephone communications from WYBS or its partners, including but not limited to, service announcements, status reports, administrative messages and the Bloglines Newsletter, and that these communications are considered part of Bloglines membership and (except as prohibited by applicable law) you may not be able to opt out of receiving them.

6. USER CONDUCT

  1. You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, lists or other materials ("Content"), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This means that you, and not WYBS or any of its partners, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post or otherwise transmit via the Bloglines Service. WYBS does not control the Content posted via the Bloglines Service and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content, including but not limited to business endorsements and commentary. You understand that by using the Bloglines Service, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable.
  2. As a condition for accessing and using the Bloglines Service, you agree:
  1. To respect the privacy of others, including that of your friends and followers, and the confidentiality of the information you may receive and not to post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
  2. To always provide truthful, sincere and actual personal data and information and to update said data and information as needed so that they remain true, complete, accurate, and current;
  3. To respect the rights of others and, more generally, all applicable laws and regulations relevant to your use of the Service, and not to make available any content that you do not have the lawful right to transmit (including any content that would violate any confidentiality or fiduciary obligations you might have), that would infringe the intellectual or proprietary rights of any third party (including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks, service marks or patent rights), or that would violate the right of privacy or publicity of any public or non-public persons;
  1. You agree to not use the Bloglines Service to:
  1. Upload, post or otherwise transmit any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
  2. Harm minors in any way;
  3. Impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a WYBS official, forum leader, guide or host, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  4. Forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Bloglines Service or develop restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to from another accessible page);
  5. Upload, post or otherwise transmit any Content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
  6. Upload, post or otherwise transmit any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;
  7. Upload, post or otherwise transmit 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 software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  8. Promote or use the Site for a commercial purpose for competitive products, except as expressly permitted by WYBS;
  9. Keyword spam or to otherwise attempt to manipulate search results;
  10. Not to post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation and you agree to respect the privacy of others, including that of your favorite merchants, friends and followers, and the confidentiality of the information you may receive;
  11. Interfere with or disrupt the Bloglines Service or servers or networks connected to the Bloglines Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Bloglines Service;
  12. Intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law;
  13. "Stalk" or otherwise harass another individual or merchant;
  14. Collect or store personal data about users any individual or merchant (including for the purposes of advertising to or soliciting any WYBS user to buy or sell any products or services) other than customers who willingly provide such information in order to explore bona fide business opportunities or connections.
  1. In case of any violation of Sections 6(b)i through 6(b)xiv above, WYBS reserves the right to cancel or rename your account and/or to block you from accessing the Bloglines Service as well as to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation, governmental request or partner request, at its sole discretion.  WYBS also reserves the right to block the distribution of your Content or any third-party content through the Bloglines Service.  You also agree that WYBS may modify, at its sole discretion, the name of Your Public Page for any reason, including your use of a generic name to identify your Public Page.
  2. In addition, you agree that all hyperlinks and other offers comprising the Bloglines Service (e.g. hyperlinks provided in connection with WYBS's RSS feeds) may not be modified from the original form in which such hyperlinks and other offers are generally made available by WYBS.

7. CONTENT SUBMITTED TO BLOGLINES

  1. WYBS does not claim ownership of the Content you place on your Private Page or Public Page. By uploading, submitting or otherwise disclosing or distributing content of any kind on the WYBS website or otherwise through the Bloglines Service, you:
  1. Grant to WYBS, its affiliates and their assignees the perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, distribute, make derivative works of and otherwise exploit such content in any form for the purpose of providing the Bloglines Service, including without limitation, any concepts, ideas or know-how embodied therein;
  2. Represent and warrant to WYBS that you own or otherwise control all rights to such content and that disclosure and use of such content by WYBS (including without limitation, publishing content at the WYBS website) will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party; and
  3. Acknowledge that the content may not be treated confidentially.
  1. You agree not to provide WYBS with any confidential or proprietary information that you desire or are required to keep secret.
  2. You acknowledge that WYBS does not pre-screen Content, but that WYBS and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to remove or block access to any Content that is available via the Bloglines Service. Without limiting the foregoing, WYBS and its designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates these TOS or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content.
  3. You also acknowledge that the activity of creating, submitting or sharing Your Content may give rise to various types of legal liabilities and you represent that Your Content (whether or nor you are the author of said content) complies at all times (both when first submitted and throughout its accessibility on Bloglines) with the TOS and all applicable laws. You understand that WYBS does not exercise any control over (other than technical if necessary) and does not pre-screen Your Content and Third-Party Content and may not be held liable for their communication to the public.
  4. In particular, you are solely responsible of your choices of RSS feeds and Widgets displayed on your Public Page and share them under your sole responsibility, regardless of whether these Widgets embed Your Content or Third-Party Content.

8. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify and hold WYBS, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your Content, your use of the Bloglines Service, your connection to the Bloglines Service, your violation of the TOS, or your violation of any rights of another.

9. NO RESALE OF SERVICE

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any portion of the Bloglines Service, use of the Bloglines Service, or access to the Bloglines Service.

10. MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE

WYBS reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Bloglines Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that WYBS shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Bloglines Service.

11. TERMINATION

You agree that WYBS, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, Public Page, use of the Bloglines Service or use of any other WYBS service, and remove and discard any Content within the Bloglines Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if WYBS believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS. WYBS may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Bloglines Service, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Bloglines Service under any provision of this TOS may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that WYBS may immediately deactivate or delete your WYBS Site and all related information and files in your WYBS Site and/or bar any further access to such files or the Bloglines Service. Further, you agree that WYBS shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Bloglines Service.

12. THIRD PARTY ADVERTISING

Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, merchants or advertisers found on or through the Bloglines Service, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such merchant or advertiser. You agree that WYBS shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Bloglines Service.

13. LINKS

The Bloglines Service may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because WYBS has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that WYBS is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any Content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that WYBS shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such Content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

14. WYBS PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

  1. You agree that all content and materials delivered via the Bloglines Service or otherwise made available by WYBS are protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, trade secrets or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by WYBS in writing, you agree not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from such materials or content. However, you may print or download a reasonable number of copies of the materials or content at WYBS's website for your internal business purposes; provided, that you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained therein. Systematic retrieval of data or other content from WYBS's website to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, database or directory without written permission from WYBS is prohibited. Any third party that contacts our users for commercial reasons, including to sell them products or services, is in violation of these terms and each individual violation is subject to $1,000 in penalties per instance.
  2. Reproducing, copying or distributing any content, materials or design elements on the Bloglines website for any other purpose is strictly prohibited without the express prior written permission of WYBS. Use of the content or materials for any purpose not expressly permitted in these TOS is prohibited. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
  3. You acknowledge and agree that the Bloglines Service and any necessary software used in connection with the Bloglines Service ("Software") contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. WYBS grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the object code of its Software on a single computer; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Software. You agree not to modify the Software in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Bloglines Service. You agree not to access the Bloglines Service by any means other than through the interface that is provided by WYBS for use in accessing the Bloglines Service.

15. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.  

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:

  1. YOUR USE OF THE BLOGLINES SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE BLOGLINES SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WYBS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
  2. WYBS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (i) THE BLOGLINES SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) THE BLOGLINES SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE BLOGLINES SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE BLOGLINES SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND (V) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED.
  3. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE BLOGLINES SERVICE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.
  4. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM WYBS OR THROUGH OR FROM THE BLOGLINES SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TERMS.

16. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT SHALL WYBS (OR ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) BE LIABLE CONCERNING THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AGREEMENT, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ANY CLAIM OR ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE), FOR ANY (A) MATTER BEYOND ITS REASONABLE CONTROL, (B) LOSS OR INACCURACY OF DATA, LOSS OR INTERRUPTION OF USE, OR COST OF PROCURING SUBSTITUTE TECHNOLOGY, GOODS OR SERVICES, (C) DIRECT OR INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, RELIANCE, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF BUSINESS, REVENUES, PROFITS OR GOODWILL, OR (D) AMOUNTS IN THE AGGREGATE GREATER THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1000), EVEN IF WYBS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS ARE INDEPENDENT FROM ALL OTHER PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ANY REMEDY PROVIDED HEREIN.

17. EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS 20 AND 21 MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

18.  Third-Party Content - Links

WYBS has no control over and does not host Third-Party Content and Third-Party Services. Similarly, we cannot control links to other websites or other Internet resources. These resources, content and services are provided to you "as is" to facilitate your web browsing.

As such, you acknowledge that we may not be held liable with respect to third-party resources, content or services and you undertake to directly and exclusively contact the appropriate third party with any claim or request you may have. We may not be held liable with respect to the content, advertisements, products, services or any other data or information available on or from those external sites or sources. Furthermore, you understand that we may not be held liable for any damages or loss arising from or connected with the use of or the reliance on the contents, goods, or services available on those external sites or sources.

19. Proprietary Rights

  1. Access to Bloglines.  As between you and WYBS, WYBS is the sole holder of all proprietary rights to Bloglines and the Service including the users’ databases. Any reproduction, display, publication, transmission or, more generally, any unauthorized use of Bloglines or the Bloglines Service may trigger your liability and result in criminal or civil legal action. You undertake not to access the Service by any means other than those made available to you by WYBS. The use of Third-Party Content may only be done in compliance with the authorization or license granted by the respective rightholders.
  2. Intellectual Property
  1. Copyright.  Bloglines is an original work protected by intellectual property laws and international conventions. Its structure and the Third-Party Content available may be protected by copyright or any other intellectual property right. You warrant that you will not modify, lease, borrow, sell, or distribute these works, or create derivative works based wholly or partly on Bloglines or on Third-Party Content. You may access Bloglines for your personal and private use. Printing is limited to your personal non-commercial use; any other use or communication is prohibited without receiving Bloglines’ prior written consent. All rights not expressly granted to you by the TOS are reserved.
  2. Trademarks.  You agree not to use or communicate the Bloglines trademarks or logo without first obtaining our written consent.

20. NOTICE

Notices to you may be made via either email or regular mail. The Bloglines Service may also provide notices of changes to the TOS or other matters by displaying notices or links to notices to you generally on the Bloglines Service.

21.  OTHER POLICIES

WYBS respects the intellectual property rights of others and we ask our users to do the same.  The Bloglines Service is governed by the copyright policy at http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/copyright.html and privacy policy at http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/privacy.html, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety into these TOS  

22. GENERAL

  1. These TOS constitute the entire agreement between you and WYBS and govern your use of the Bloglines Service, superseding any prior agreements between you and WYBS (including, but not limited to, any prior versions of the TOS).
  2. These TOS and the Bloglines Service contemplated hereunder are personal to you, and are not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with WYBS's prior written consent. WYBS may assign, transfer or delegate any of its rights and obligations hereunder without consent. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate or other WYBS services, third-party content or third-party software.
  3. The TOS and the relationship between you and WYBS shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and WYBS agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within San Mateo County, California.
  4. The failure of WYBS to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
  5. If any provision of the TOS is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOS remain in full force and effect.
  6. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Bloglines Service or the TOS must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
  7. The section titles in the TOS are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.
  8. We reserve the right to correct possible errors on Bloglines and, more generally, to modify, from time to time and without notice, Bloglines or any part thereof. We may not be held liable for any modification, interruption, or suspension of the Service or for any resulting damages.
  9. We may send you notices via email, or display on Bloglines links to said notices. We may use this method, for instance, to inform you of future revisions to the TOS.

23. VIOLATIONS

Please report any violations of the TOS to us at tosviolation@WYBS.com.

24. NETVIBES

Certain features of the Bloglines Service are powered by WYBS affiliate Netvibes, Inc (“Netvibes”).  Your use of the Bloglines Service is also subject to the Netvibes Terms of Service, attached hereto as Exhibit A, and by accepting these TOS and using the Bloglines Service you also accept and agree to abide by the Netvibes Terms of Service.  

Exhibit A

Netvibes - Terms of Service

Welcome to Netvibes! By using Netvibes (the "Site"), you agree to abide and be bound by these Terms of Service (the "TOS") and/or any revised version. Any new service available on the Site or any modification of an existing service shall be governed by the TOS, which may be modified or updated from time to time. We strongly encourage you to regularly review the TOS.

The Site is operated by Netvibes Ltd., The Great Barn, Chalford Park Barns, Old Chalford, Oxford Road, Oxfordshire, OX75QR, United Kingdom ("Netvibes" or "we").

I. Description of Service

Netvibes provides its users ("You"), for a non-commercial personal use, with a fully-customizable Site enabling you to select and aggregate Third-Party Content such as, including, but not limited to, RSS feeds, podcasts, or iCal events through Widgets (the "Service"). A Widget is defined as a software element providing content, including feeds and data, you can add, remove, resize and reposition. Netvibes does not provide content but rather operates as an enhanced web browser.

Widgets may be added from the Netvibes home page, the Netvibes Ecosystem or from the Internet and their content is provided by professional content providers, other users, or you. You may customize your Netvibes page only accessible through your computer or from any computer by using your email address and password (your "Private Page") by adding or deleting content and moving and editing each Widget.

The Site also enables you to create, submit and/or share content ("Your Content") by embedding it in a Widget ("Your Widget") to be posted on the Netvibes Ecosystem. Once in the Ecosystem, Your Widget may be selected and used by all Netvibes users who can add it to their personalized pages.

In addition to your Private Page, you can also create a personalized Netvibes page accessible to the public and associated with a specific URL (your "Public Page" or "Universe"). With your Public Page, you can share the Widgets of your choice with your friends, regardless of whether these Widgets embed Your Content or Third-Party Content.

The Site also enables you to customize the appearance of your Netvibes page by using a visual theme (the "Theme"). Netvibes offers several themes (the "Netvibes Themes") but you can also create your own Themes (“Your Themes") from Your Content by means of the Theme Editor. Your Themes may be posted on the Netvibes Ecosystem and may be selected and used by all Netvibes Users on their personal pages, and you expressly agree to such use.

You shall not use Themes from third party websites to create Your Themes. Only the Netvibes Themes and the Themes created by the Netvibes Users from their Content can be posted and shared on the Netvibes Ecosystem. The Themes can only be posted and shared on the Netvibes Ecosystem to the exclusion of any other site or personal page.

Netvibes has opened its platform to allow publishers and developers to benefit from our technology. Netvibes Universal Widget API (the “UWA”) is a free widget framework enabling you to create Widgets compatible with multiple platforms (the “UWA Widgets”).

Therefore, the majority of UWA Widgets run on multiple platforms, including Netvibes, iGoogle, Windows Vista, Mac OS X, iPhone and more.

However, Netvibes may not warrant that the UWA Widgets run on platforms other than Netvibes and may not be held liable for the compatibility (or absence thereof) of UWA Widgets with other platforms.

The use of the Service is free, although third parties may decide to charge a fee for accessing their content in whole or in part.

Each time you access the Site on your computer, or, if you are a registered user, on any computer by using your email address and password, the latest version of your personalized Netvibes pages will be displayed as all modifications made to your page are saved in real time.

Netvibes does not host Third-Party Content and keeps only technical and personal data in accordance with our privacy policy.

II. Registration and Conduct

Important Information

To access and use the Service, you must be legally capable of entering into a binding agreement and acknowledge that some Third-Party Content might be found offensive by some and might not be suitable for individuals under the age of 18. You must also abide by all applicable statutes and regulations in the United Kingdom and, if applicable, in your home country.

You also acknowledge that the activity of creating, submitting or sharing Your Content may give rise to various types of legal liabilities and you represent that Your Content (whether or nor you are the author of said content) complies at all times (both when first submitted and throughout its accessibility on the Site) with the TOS and all applicable laws. You understand that Netvibes does not exercise any control over (other than technical if necessary) and does not pre-screen Your Content and Third-Party Content and may not be held liable for their communication to the public.

In particular, you are solely responsible of your choices of Widgets displayed on your Public Page and share them under your sole responsibility, regardless of whether these Widgets embed Your Content or Third-Party Content.

Registration, Email and Password

You do not need to register nor provide any personal data to access and use the Service. However, if you wish to access your personalized Netvibes pages from any computer you will need to open an account by providing a valid email address and a password of your choice. Your email address must remain valid as long as your Netvibes account remains active and it is your responsibility to update it should it no longer be accurate or current. More generally, all personal information communicated to Netvibes must always be promptly updated as soon as it stops being true, complete, accurate, or current.

Your password is confidential and you shall not communicate it to any third-party individual or website. You should immediately contact Netvibes should you have reason to believe that your password is being used by an unauthorized third party. You shall be liable for all actions taken with your password as well as for any loss or liability consequential to such use. We may cancel your account without notice in the case of any violation of the TOS.

Sharing Widgets on your Public Page

You may post and share Your Widget or Third-Party Widget with your friends or with the Netvibes Community by placing them on your Public Page. You understand that you do so under your sole responsibility and represent that you own all the rights to, or have secured the necessary authorizations for said content.

Contacts

You may also create your personal network of friends, view their profiles, and easily access to their Public Pages. You may also view your "Followers", i.e. the persons who added you as a friend.

Conduct of Users

As a condition for accessing and using the Site and the Service, you agree:

  1. Not to post, share, or otherwise transmit any content that is unlawful, obscene, harmful, threatening, defamatory or hateful or that contains objects or symbols of hate, invades the privacy of any third party, or is otherwise objectionable;
  2. To respect the privacy of others, including that of your friends and followers, and the confidentiality of the information you may receive and not to post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
  3. Not to harass any other user of the Site or to impersonate another user by any means including by using her/his email address and password;
  4. To always provide truthful, sincere and actual personal data and information and to update said data and information as needed so that they remain true, complete, accurate, and current;
  5. To respect the rights of others and, more generally, all applicable laws and regulations relevant to your use of the Service, and not to make available any content that you do not have the lawful right to transmit (including any content that would violate any confidentiality or fiduciary obligations you might have), that would infringe the intellectual or proprietary rights of any third party (including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks, service marks or patent rights), or that would violate the right of privacy or publicity of any public or non-public persons;
  6. Not to engage in any conduct or to post or share any content that would interrupt, destroy, limit or more generally harm the Site and/or the Service or enable you to gain unauthorized access to the Site, including by using viruses, malicious computer code, programs or files;
  7. Not to reproduce, copy, sell, or commercially use (including the right to access) in whole or in part, the Service and/or Site.

In case of any violation of the above, Netvibes reserves the right to cancel or rename your account and/or to block you from accessing the Site as well as to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation, governmental request or partner request, at its sole discretion. Netvibes also reserves the right to block the distribution of Your Content or any Third-Party Content through the Service. You also agree that Netvibes modifies, at its sole discretion, the name of Your Public Page/Universe for any reason, including your use of a generic name to identify your universe.

Further, you represent that you shall hold harmless (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) Netvibes, its affiliated companies, its principals, its agents, its administrators, and its employees from and against any claim by any third party arising out of or connected with the use of the Service, the violation of the TOS or of any other document therein, or, more generally, the violation of the law.

III. Posting and Sharing Content

Basic Principles

You may post and share Your Content by posting a Widget and/or a Theme embedding it on the Netvibes Ecosystem. You understand that you share Your Content under your sole responsibility and represent that you own all the rights to, or have secured the necessary authorizations for said Content. You shall verify that Your Content is in compliance with the TOS and, more generally, is not harmful or unlawful.

You agree to comply with all policies or technical requirements from Netvibes, provide all the data and information, whether personal and not, requested by Netvibes, and more generally follow all procedures that may be implemented from time to time by Netvibes with respect to the Widgets and the Themes. Without limiting the foregoing, you will respect all the rules, provide all information, and follow all instructions displayed on the Netvibes Ecosystem or in theNetvibes Developers’ Network website.

You understand that you may not request any payment from Netvibes for posting or sharing Your Widget, Your Themes and/or Your Content.

Distribution of Your Content by Netvibes

You expressly grant Netvibes the right to, directly and indirectly, distribute Your Widgets and Your Themes. Netvibes may distribute Your Content for both commercial and non-commercial uses without being liable to any payment or indemnification of any kind by Netvibes to you. You agree that Netvibes distributes Your Widgets either directly, for instance through the Netvibes Ecosystem, or indirectly, through any of its commercial partners. Netvibes shall, at its sole discretion, decide whether or not it will distribute Your Content (and how it will do so), select its commercial partners, and determine all the terms and conditions of said distribution. If you disagree with any of the above, you shall not post Widgets or Themes on the Netvibes Ecosystem.

Netvibes is under no duty to distribute Your Widgets and Your Themes and nothing in the TOS shall be construed as such. Consequently, Netvibes may in its sole discretion stop distributing Your Widgets at any time and for any reason, including but not limited to, your violation of the TOS or of the Privacy Policy. Without limiting the foregoing, Netvibes may suppress or have suppressed, from the Netvibes Ecosystem or from any partner website, all URLs linking to Your Widgets, Your Themes or Your Content or, if applicable, all copies of thereof.

Monetization

Although you may provide for paid access to Your Content or place monetization tools (including, but not limited to, advertisement and sponsored flux) within Your Content, you may never cause the same, directly or indirectly, to the container of Your Widget, which remains the sole property and technology of Netvibes. Any attempt to do otherwise will be a material breach of the TOS and you would be held fully responsible. Netvibes may modify, without notice, the container of Your Widget to add or suppress content of its choice, including the phrase "Powered by Netvibes" or advertisements.

Further and more generally, you shall never, at no time and under no circumstance, attempt to monetize, in whole or in part, any Netvibes property or technology, without prior written authorization from Netvibes.

Powered by Netvibes

Netvibes may from time to time add content in the container of a Widget, including but not limited to the phrase "Powered by Netvibes". Any modification, alteration or suppression of said content will be a material breach of the TOS.

Identification of Your Content

As we do not exercise any control over Your Content, it is your sole responsibility when posting Your Content on the Netvibes Ecosystem to clearly and truly identify its actual or potential nature to ensure its classification in the proper category. This is necessary for the good operation of the Service and in order to protect other users by identifying content that may be explicit or pornographic.

Feedback

Netvibes may collect users’ feedbacks or ratings pertaining to Your Content. Netvibes may also implement a computerized process that would, without any intervention from Netvibes, block access to Your Content, without any liability whatsoever.

Personal Data

Before developing Widgets, you must communicate all personal data or information requested by Netvibes. You must update your personal data or information from time to time so that it remains true, complete, accurate, and current at all times.

You understand that you have no right whatsoever in the personal data or information pertaining to users of Netvibes or of its commercial partners distributing Your Widgets. Further, Netvibes or its commercial partners are under no duty to provide you with said data, wholly or in part, whether personally identifying or not. Without limiting the foregoing, you shall never collect the password associated with the account of a user of Netvibes or of its commercial partners.

You may collect personal data or information from users of Your Widgets, for instance to access additional services. You will only collect, keep, process, use or share personal data or information in a lawful and fair manner in compliance with the strictest legislation. You will never collect or process personal data pertaining to, directly or indirectly, users’ race, health, sexual orientation, or political, philosophical, or religious views. Without limiting the foregoing, you will always inform users that their personal information is collected by you and ensure that they always expressly agree to the intended or possible use of their personal information, including their sharing with third parties. More generally, your privacy policy shall always be compliant with that of Netvibes. Netvibes has no control over the personal data provided to you by its users and hereby disclaims all warranties of any kind.

Limitation of Liability

Netvibes does not host Your Content, although some content may be cached for efficiency purposes, and may never be liable for any loss of data or any harm to Your Content, your website, your computer system or any other electronic device.

Netvibes may not be held liable for terminating the license herein granted or for discontinuing the distribution of Widgets embedding Your Content. Further, Netvibes may not be held liable for any use or misuse of Your Content or services made by a third party or a commercial partner, or more generally for the conduct of others.

IV. Privacy Policy

Netvibes respects your privacy and that of others. We encourage you to read our privacy policy. Your email address and password are necessary to make your personalized Netvibes pages available from any computer and/or to safeguard your selections in case of deletion of the cookies files on your computer.

V. Proprietary Rights

Access to the Site

Netvibes is the sole holder of all proprietary rights to the Site and the Service including the users’ databases. Any reproduction, display, publication, transmission or, more generally, any unauthorized use of the Site or the Service may trigger your liability and result in criminal or civil legal action. You undertake not to access the Service by any means other than those made available to you by Netvibes. The use of Third-Party Content may only be done in compliance with the authorization or license granted by the respective rightholders.

Intellectual Property – Copyright

The Site is an original work protected by intellectual property laws and international conventions. Its structure and the Third-Party Content available may be protected by copyright or any other intellectual property right. You warrant that you will not modify, lease, borrow, sell, or distribute these works, or create derivative works based wholly or partly on the Site or on Third-Party Content. You may access the Site for your personal and private use. Printing is limited to your personal non-commercial use; any other use or communication is prohibited without receiving Netvibes’ prior written consent. All rights not expressly granted to you by the TOS are reserved.

Trademarks

The registered Netvibes trademark and logo and all other Netvibes trademarks are owned by Netvibes. You agree not to use or communicate said trademarks or logo without our written consent. However, and by exception, you may reproduce the Netvibes button on your website to enable users to add Your Content to their personalized Netvibes web pages.

Intellectual Property of Others

We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that material over which you have rights has been reproduced or used in such a way as to constitute an infringement, please contact us with your personal information, a description of your work, the location on the Site of the potentially infringing material, a statement of the rights you have asserted over the work, and a statement of the absence of authorization given to the party using said material.

Your Content

You hereby grant Netvibes the right to incorporate in its Services and Site Your Content as well as that of to distribute Your Widgets and Your Themes and as such reproduce, display, perform, adapt, and communicate to the public Your Content, worldwide and as long as your Widgets and Your Themes are accessible on the Netvibes Ecosystem. You further grant Netvibes the right to reproduce your trademarks, trade names, service marks, logos, domain names or other identifying signs or images. Those rights are granted free of charge for Netvibes and may be sublicensed by Netvibes at its sole discretion to its commercial partners. You understand that you may not request any payment from Netvibes for posting, sharing, modifying, or distributing Your Content.

Developing Widgets and Themes embedding Your Content does not confer you any right or exclusivity to the information, ideas and/or services you may communicate or provide to users. Netvibes is under no duty to distribute Your Content. Without limiting the foregoing, you acknowledge and agree that Netvibes or its users may develop Widgets and Themes similar to yours without incurring any type of liability whatsoever.

VI. Disclaimer

Limitation of Liability

The Service and the Site are made available to you "as is." Netvibes makes no warranty, whether implied or express, as to the Service and the Site. In particular and without limitation, we may not warrant the continuity and quality of the Service available on this Site, or the fact that the Site will be permanently accessible, or that our users will not violate the TOS or our privacy policy. We may limit the use of our Service. We may not be held liable for the failure to make available, or for the deletion of, content or messages exchanged between users.

You understand that you are accessing and using the Site and the Service at your own risk. Netvibes may not be held liable for your reliance on any information or data you may have accessed, directly or indirectly, through the Service, nor for your accessing or downloading of any material, program, or file through the Service. Netvibes may not be held liable for any loss of data or for any damage to your computer system or any other device used to access the Service.

Although we use our best efforts and all available means to ensure the confidentiality of your personal data, we may not be held liable in the case of a breach of said confidentiality, regardless of its cause (including, but not limited to, technical difficulty, intrusion into our data processing system, or human mistake).

More generally, you accept that we may not be held liable for any consequential, special, or incidental damages, direct or indirect, resulting from the access to or use of the Service and/or Site and that the limitation of liability applies to Netvibes Ltd. and to its affiliated companies, principals, directors, agents, and employees.

Third-Party Content - Links

Netvibes has no control over and does not host Third-Party Content and Third-Party Services. Similarly, we cannot control links to other websites or other Internet resources. These resources, content and services are provided to you "as is" to facilitate your web browsing.

As such, you acknowledge that we may not be held liable with respect to third-party resources, content or services and you undertake to directly and exclusively contact the appropriate third party with any claim or request you may have. We may not be held liable with respect to the content, advertisements, products, services or any other data or information available on or from those external sites or sources. Furthermore, you understand that we may not be held liable for any damages or loss arising from or connected with the use of or the reliance on the contents, goods, or services available on those external sites or sources.

VII. Warranties

You expressly warrant that you own all the rights to, or have secured all the necessary authorizations for, the use and distribution of Your Content, including the right to sublicense those rights. As Netvibes does not exercise any control in Your Content, you understand that Netvibes may not be held liable for its communication to the public and share Your Content under your sole responsibility. Your Content shall at all times be in compliance with the Netvibes TOS and, more generally, is not harmful or unlawful, in particular towards minors.

Further, you represent that you shall hold harmless (including reasonable attorneys' fees) Netvibes, its affiliated companies, its principals, its agents, its administrators, and its employees from and against any claim by any third party arising out of or connected with the use or distribution of Widgets or Themes embedding Your Content, the violation of the TOS, or, more generally, the violation of the law.

VIII. Miscellaneous

Update and Modification

We reserve the right to correct possible errors on the Site and, more generally, to modify, from time to time and without notice, the Site or any part thereof. We may not be held liable for any modification, interruption, or suspension of the Service or for any resulting damages.

Notices

We may send you notices via email, or display on the Site links to said notices. We may use this method, for instance, to inform you of future revisions to the TOS.

Termination of account

You may terminate your account at any time. In the case of violation of the TOS, we reserve the right to limit your access to the Site and/or to rename or terminate your account. You understand and accept that we may not be held liable for the cancellation of your account.

Severability

If any provision of the TOS is adjudged by a court to be void or unenforceable, this shall in no way affect any other provision of the TOS, which shall remain in full force and effect.

Entire Agreement

The TOS and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between You and Netvibes and shall supersede any prior agreement.

No Waiver

A waiver by Netvibes of any term or condition of the TOS shall not be deemed or construed to be a waiver of such term or condition for the future or any subsequent breach thereof.

Headings

The headings of the clauses do not form part of and shall not be read into the construction of the TOS.

Choice of Law - Forum

The TOS and your relationship with Netvibes are governed by English law. English courts shall have jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or connected with the use of the Service or the Site.