DOT COMPLICATED Terms of Use Agreement

This Agreement was last updated on February 1, 2013.

Welcome to www.dotcomplicated.co, a website and online service of Zuckerberg Media, LLC (“Dot Complicated” or “DC” or “we,” or “our” or “us”).  This page explains the terms by which you may use www.dotcomplicated.co or any of our other websites, online services (including, without limitation, e-mail communications and subscription lists), and any other products or related software applications (collectively, the “Service”). By accessing or otherwise signing up for and/or using the Service, you signify that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Terms of Use Agreement (“Agreement”) and to the collection and use of your information as set forth in the Dot Complicated Privacy Policy [http://dotcomplicated.co/content/privacy/], whether or not you are a registered user of our Service.

Please carefully read all of THESE TERMS which include, among other things, a MANDATORY ARBITRATION of disputes provision.

This Agreement applies to all visitors, users, and others who access or sign up for the Service (“Users”). If you do not agree to any of these terms or any future terms, please do not use or access (or continue to access) the Service.

DC reserves the right to amend this Agreement at any time, subject to the provisions below, and to modify, add or discontinue any aspect, content or feature of the Service, at its sole discretion. Your continued use or accessing of the Service following the posting of any changes to the Agreement constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

  1. Use of the Service

A              Eligibility

You may use the Service only if you can form a binding contract with DC, and only in compliance with this Agreement and all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations.  Any use or access to the Service by anyone under 13 is strictly prohibited and in violation of this Agreement. The Service is not available to any Users previously removed from the Service by DC.

B              Service Rules

You agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities: (i) transmitting spam, chain letters, or other unsolicited email; (ii) using any automated system, including without limitation “robots,” “spiders,” “offline readers,” etc., to access the Service in a manner that sends more request messages to the DC servers than a human can reasonably produce in the same period of time by using a conventional on-line web browser (except that DC grants the operators of public search engines revocable permission to use spiders to copy materials from www.dotcomplicated.co for the sole purpose of and solely to the extent necessary for creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but not caches or archives of such materials); (iii) attempting to interfere with, compromise the system integrity or security or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running the Service; (iii) taking any action that imposes, or may impose at our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (iv) uploading invalid data, viruses, worms, or other software agents through the Service; (v) collecting or harvesting any personally identifiable information from the Service; (vi) using the Service for any commercial solicitation purposes; (vii) impersonating another person or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity, conducting fraud, hiding or attempting to hide your identity; (viii) interfering with the proper working of the Service; (ix) accessing any content on the Service through any technology or means other than those provided or authorized by the Service; or (x) bypassing the measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Service, including without limitation features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on use of the Service or the content therein.

We may, without prior notice, change the Service; stop providing the Service or features of the Service, to you or to Users generally; or create usage limits for the Service.  We may permanently or temporarily terminate or suspend your access to the Service without notice and liability for any reason, including if in our sole determination you violate any provision of this Agreement, or for no reason.  Upon termination for any reason or no reason, you continue to be bound by this Agreement.

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Users.  DC shall have no liability for your interactions with other Users, or for any User’s action or inaction.

2. Privacy Policy

We care about the privacy of our Users.  Your use of the Service and any information provided by you or gathered by DC or third parties during any visit to or use of the Service is governed by the Dot Complicated Privacy Policy [http://dotcomplicated.co/content/privacy/], which is incorporated by this reference. You understand that by using the Service you consent to the collection, use, disclosure and sharing of your information as set forth in the Dot Complicated Privacy Policy.

3. User Submissions

Some areas of the Service allow or ask Users to post or submit content such as comments, questions, ideas or suggestions, and other materials or information. Any such materials or information a User submits, posts, displays, or otherwise makes available via the Service or via any other means (including, without limitation, email, texts, online messages, voice mail, fax, or postal service) to DC, whether solicited or unsolicited, are collectively referred to as “User Submissions”.

You agree not to post or submit any User Submissions that: (i) may create a risk of harm, loss, physical or mental injury, emotional distress, death, disability, disfigurement, or physical or mental illness to you, to any other person, or to any animal; (ii) may create a risk of any other loss or damage to any person or property; (iii) seeks to harm or exploit children by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable details or otherwise; (iv) may constitute or contribute to a crime or tort; (v) contains any information or content that we deem to be unlawful, harmful, abusive, racially or ethnically offensive, defamatory, infringing, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, harassing, humiliating to other people (publicly or otherwise), libelous, threatening, profane, or otherwise objectionable; (vi) contains any information or content that is illegal (including, without limitation, the disclosure of insider information under securities law or of another party’s trade secrets); (vii) contains any information or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships; or (viii) contains any information or content that you know is not correct and current.  You agree that any User Submissions that you post or submit do not and will not violate third-party rights of any kind, including without limitation any Intellectual Property Rights (as defined below) or rights of privacy.  To the extent that your User Submissions contain music, photos, video, or other audio-visual materials, you hereby represent that you are the owner of all the copyright rights, including without limitation the performance, mechanical, display, and video and sound recordings rights, with respect to the materials contained within your User Submissions and have the power to grant the license granted below. DC reserves the right, but is not obligated, to reject and/or remove any User Submissions that DC believes, in its sole discretion, violates these provisions.  You understand that publishing your User Submissions on the Service is not a substitute for registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office, the Writer’s Guild of America, or any other rights organization.

For the purposes of this Agreement, “Intellectual Property Rights” means all patent rights, copyright rights, mask work rights, moral rights, rights of publicity, trademark, trade dress and service mark rights, goodwill, trade secret rights and other intellectual property rights as may now exist or hereafter come into existence, and all applications therefore and registrations, renewals and extensions thereof, under the laws of any state, country, territory or other jurisdiction.

In connection with your User Submissions, you affirm, represent and warrant the following:

A              You have the written consent of each and every identifiable natural person in the User Submissions to use such person’s name or likeness in the manner contemplated by the Service and this Agreement, and each such person has released you from any liability that may arise in relation to such use.

B              Your User Submissions and DC’s use thereof as contemplated by this Agreement and the Service will not violate any law or infringe any rights of any third party, including but not limited to any Intellectual Property Rights and privacy rights.

C              DC may exercise the rights to your User Submissions granted under this Agreement without liability for payment of any guild fees, residuals, payments, fees, or royalties payable under any collective bargaining agreement or otherwise.

DC takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Submissions that you or any other User or third party posts or sends via the Service or any other means.  You shall be solely responsible for your User Submissions and the consequences of posting or publishing them, and you agree that we are only acting as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of your User Submissions.  You understand and agree that you may be exposed to User Submissions that are inaccurate, objectionable, inappropriate for children, or otherwise unsuited to your purpose, and you agree that DC shall not be liable for any damages you allege to incur as a result of User Submissions.

All User Submissions submitted to us will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary and we will not be liable for any use or disclosure of any User Submissions.  By submitting any User Submissions to us, you agree that your disclosure is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction, and will not place DC under any fiduciary or other obligation, and that we are free to use the User Submissions in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, without any additional compensation to you, and/or to disclose the User Submissions on a non-confidential basis or otherwise to anyone.  You further acknowledge that, by acceptance of your User Submissions, DC does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to DC, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.

4. User Submissions License Grant

By posting or submitting any User Submissions, you expressly grant, and you represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant, to DC a royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, list information regarding, edit, translate, distribute, syndicate, publicly perform, publicly display, and make derivative works of all such User Submissions and your name, voice, and/or likeness as contained in your User Submissions, in whole or in part, and in any form, media or technology, whether now known or hereafter developed, for use in connection with the Service and DC’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.  You also hereby grant each User of the Service a non-exclusive license to access your User Submissions through the Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such User Submissions as permitted through the functionality of the Service and under this Agreement.

5. End User License Grant

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you are hereby granted a non-exclusive, limited, non-transferable, freely revocable license to use the Service as permitted by the features of the Service.  DC reserves all rights not expressly granted herein in the Service and the DC Content (as defined below).  DC may terminate this license at any time for any reason or no reason.

6. Our Proprietary Rights

Except for your User Submissions, the Service and all materials therein or transferred thereby, including, without limitation, software, images, text, graphics, illustrations, logos, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, photographs, audio, videos, music, and User Submissions belonging to other Users (the “DC Content”), and all Intellectual Property Rights related thereto, are the exclusive property of DC and its licensors (including other Users who post User Submissions to the Service).  Except as explicitly provided herein, nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to create a license in or under any such Intellectual Property Rights, and you agree not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from any DC Content.  Use of the DC Content for any purpose not expressly permitted by this Agreement is strictly prohibited.

7. Security

DC cares about the integrity and security of your personal information.  However, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat our security measures or use your personal information for improper purposes. You acknowledge that you provide your personal information, if any, at your own risk.

8. Third-Party Links

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, advertisers, services, special offers, or other events or activities that are not owned or controlled by DC. DC does not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services.  If you access a third party website from the Service, you do so at your own risk, and you understand that this Agreement and the Dot Complicated Privacy Policy do not apply to your use of such sites.  You expressly relieve DC from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website, service, or content.  Additionally, your dealings with or participation in promotions of advertisers found on the Service, including payment and delivery of goods, and any other terms (such as warranties) are solely between you and such advertisers. You agree that DC shall not be responsible for any loss or damage of any sort relating to your dealings with such advertisers.

9. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless DC and its subsidiaries, agents, licensors, managers, and other affiliated companies, and their employees, contractors, agents, officers and directors, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from: (i) your use of and access to the Service, including any data or content transmitted or received by you; (ii) your violation of any term of this Agreement, including without limitation your breach of any of the representations and warranties above; (iii) your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any right of privacy or Intellectual Property Rights; (iv) your violation of any applicable law, rule or regulation; or (v) any claim or damages that arise as a result of any of your User Submissions or any that is submitted via your account.

10. No Warranty

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.  TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.  NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM DC OR THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HEREIN.  WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, DC, ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AND ITS LICENSORS DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT IS ACCURATE, RELIABLE OR CORRECT; THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION, UNINTERRUPTED OR SECURE; THAT ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; OR THAT THE SERVICE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.  ANY CONTENT DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DOWNLOADED AT YOUR OWN RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM SUCH DOWNLOAD OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

DC DOES NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE DC SERVICE OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE OR SERVICE, AND DC WILL NOT BE A PARTY TO OR IN ANY WAY MONITOR ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL DC, ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS SERVICE.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL DC BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS OR INJURY RESULTING FROM HACKING, TAMPERING OR OTHER UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE OF THE SERVICE OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DC ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (I) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT; (II) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SERVICE; (III) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN; (IV) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SERVICE; (V) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE THAT MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH OUR SERVICE BY ANY THIRD PARTY; (VI) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE; AND/OR (VII) USER SUBMISSIONS OR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY.  IN NO EVENT SHALL DC, ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS, OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIMS, PROCEEDINGS, LIABILITIES, OBLIGATIONS, DAMAGES, LOSSES OR COSTS IN AN AMOUNT EXCEEDING THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO DC HEREUNDER.

THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SECTION APPLIES WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER BASIS, EVEN IF DC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.  THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.  THIS AGREEMENT GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.  THE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

The Service is controlled and operated from its facilities in the United States.  DC makes no representations that the Service is appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access or use the Service from other jurisdictions do so at their own volition and are entirely responsible for compliance with all applicable United States and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to export and import regulations.  You may not use the Service if you are a resident of a country embargoed by the United States, or are a foreign person or entity blocked or denied by the United States government.  Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all materials found on the Service are solely directed to individuals, companies, or other entities located in the United States.

12. Assignment

This Agreement, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by DC without restriction. Any attempted transfer or assignment in violation hereof shall be null and void.

13. General

A              Governing Law.  You agree that: (i) the Service shall be deemed solely based in California; and (ii) the Service shall be deemed a passive one that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over DC, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than California.  This Agreement shall be governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of California, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded.  You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of a state court located in Santa Clara County, California or the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, for any actions for which we retain the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of our copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights, as set forth in the Arbitration provision below.

B              Arbitration.  In the unlikely event that DC has not been able to resolve a dispute it has with you after attempting to do so informally, we each agree to resolve any claim, dispute, or controversy (excluding any DC claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) arising out of or in connection with or relating to this Agreement, or the breach or alleged breach thereof (collectively, “Claims”), by binding arbitration by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in the city of San Francisco, California under the commercial rules then in effect for the AAA, except as provided herein.  The award rendered by the arbitrator shall include costs of arbitration, reasonable attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs for expert and other witnesses, and any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.  Nothing in this Section shall be deemed as preventing DC from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief from the courts as necessary to protect any of DC’s proprietary interests.  ALL CLAIMS MUST BE BROUGHT IN THE PARTIES’ INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.  YOU AGREE THAT, BY ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, YOU AND DC ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION.

C              Notification Procedures.  DC may provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business related purposes, to you via email notice, written or hard copy notice, or through posting of such notice on our website, as determined by DC in our sole discretion. DC reserves the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to our Users, provided that you may opt out of certain means of notification as described in this Agreement.  DC is not responsible for any automatic filtering you or your network provider may apply to email notifications we send to the email address you provide us.  We recommend that you add hello@dotcomplicated.co to your email address book to help ensure you receive email notifications from us.

D              Entire Agreement/Severability. This Agreement, together with any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with DC in connection with the Service, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and DC concerning the Service.  If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect.

E               No Waiver.  No waiver of any term of this Agreement shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and DC’s failure to assert any right or provision under this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Please contact us hello@dotcomplicated.co with any questions regarding this Agreement.

Recent Updates

None at this time.