BITMATTERS WEBSITE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

BACKGROUND:

These Terms and Conditions, together with any and all other documents referred to herein, set out the terms of use under which you may use this website, www.bitmatters.online (“Our Site”).  Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully and ensure that you understand them.  Your agreement to comply with and be bound by these Terms and Conditions is deemed to occur upon your first use of Our Site.  If you do not agree to comply with and be bound by these Terms and Conditions, you must stop using Our Site immediately.

  1. Definitions and Interpretation

1.1          In these Terms and Conditions, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings:

“Account” means an account required for a User to access certain areas of Our Site, as detailed in Clause 4;
“Content” means any and all text, images, audio, video, scripts, code, software, databases and any other form of information capable of being stored on a computer that appears on, or forms part of, Our Site;
“Forum” means a discussion forum hosted on Our Site;
“Post” means a post in a Forum on Our Site (and includes any and all content in such posts including, but not limited to, audio, picture, text and video)
“System” means any online communications infrastructure that We make available through Our Site either now or in the future.  This may include, but is not limited to, contact forms, email, live chat and Forums;
“User” means a user of Our Site; and
“We/Us/Our” means Bitmatters Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under 11201046, whose registered address is 86 - 90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE

 

  1. Access to Our Site

2.1          Access to Our Site (excluding the membership area). is free of charge

2.2          It is your responsibility to make any and all arrangements necessary in order to access Our Site.

2.3          Access to Our Site is provided “as is” and on an “as available” basis.  We may alter, suspend or discontinue Our Site (or any part of it) at any time and without notice.  We will not be liable to you in any way if Our Site (or any part of it) is unavailable at any time and for any period.

  1. Our Policy Towards Minors

3.1          If you are under the age of 16, you may not use Our Site. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16 If you are between the ages of 16 and 18, please let your parent or guardian know about Our Site and get his or her permission before you give us any of your personal identifiable information. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with personal information without their consent, he or she should contact us. If we become aware that a minor has provided us with personal information, we will delete such information from our files.

  1. Accounts

4.1          Certain parts of Our Site (including the ability to submit Posts to a Forum) may require an Account in order to access them.

4.2          You may not create an Account if you are under 18 years of age.  If you are under 18 years of age and wish to use the parts of Our Site that require an Account, your parent or guardian should create the Account for you and you must only use the Account with their supervision.

4.3          When creating an Account, the information you provide must be accurate and complete.  If any of your information changes at a later date, it is your responsibility to ensure that your Account is kept up-to-date.

4.4          We recommend that you choose a strong password for your Account, consisting of a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.  It is your responsibility to keep your password safe.  You must not share your Account with anyone else.  If you believe your Account is being used without your permission, please contact Us immediately at [email protected].  We will not be liable for any unauthorised use of your Account.

4.5          You must not use anyone else’s Account without the express permission of the User to whom the Account belongs.

4.6          Any personal information provided in your Account will be collected, used, and held in accordance with your rights and Our obligations under Our Privacy Policy.

4.7          If you wish to close your Account, you may do so at any time.  Closing your Account will result in the removal of your information.  Closing your Account will also remove access to any areas of Our Site requiring an Account for access.

  1. Intellectual Property Rights

5.1          With the exception of Posts (see Clause 6), all Content on Our Site and the copyright and other intellectual property rights subsisting in that Content, unless specifically labelled otherwise, belongs to or has been licensed by Us.  All Content (including Posts) is protected by applicable United Kingdom and international intellectual property laws and treaties.

5.2          Subject to the licence granted to Us under sub-Clause 5.4, Users retain the ownership of copyright and other intellectual property rights subsisting in Posts submitted by them (unless any part of such Posts is owned by a third party who has given their express permission for their material to be used in the Post).

5.3          For personal use (including research and private study) only, you may access, view and use Our Site in a web browser (including any web browsing capability built into other types of software or app);

5.4          You may not use any Content (including Posts) downloaded, copied, clipped, printed or otherwise saved from Our Site for commercial purposes without first obtaining a licence to do so from Us, our licensors, or from the relevant User, as appropriate.  This does not prohibit the normal access, viewing and use of Our Site (including the Forums) for general information purposes whether by business users or consumers.

5.5          You may not systematically copy Content from Our Site with a view to creating or compiling any form of comprehensive collection, compilation, directory, or database unless given Our express permission to do so.

5.6          You may not reproduce, copy, distribute, sell, rent, sub-licence, store, or in any other manner re-use Content or any other material from Our Site unless clearly given express permission to do so.  Our status as the owner and author of the Content on Our Site (or that of identified licensors or Users, as appropriate) must always be acknowledged.

  1. Content Policy

6.1          The intent of this clause is to clarify what we consider to be acceptable use of BitMatters.

6.2          If you are found to be in violation of any of the below policies, you will receive a notice via email. Unless you explain or correct your behaviour within 72 hours, your Account will be suspended. We will do our best to work with you and ensure a fair outcome in all cases. We reserve the right to immediately suspend, without notice, any content, account, or IP address which we determine to be systematically generated, spam, or potentially damaging to our service or infrastructure.

6.3          When your account is suspended, public access to your chat is blocked, and your BitMatters admin is also blocked and the ability to add/edit chat settings is also disabled.

6.4          Illegal Use. BitMatters may not be used for illegal purposes. Examples of this include using BitMatters for fraudulent purposes or operating a phishing site (used to obtain account and password information).

6.5          Spam. Users that do not write meaningful content, use deceptive means to generate revenue or traffic, or whose primary purpose is affiliate marketing, will be suspended.

6.6          Identity Theft and Privacy. Users that misleadingly appropriate the identity of another person are not permitted.

6.7          Users may not post other people's personally identifying or confidential information, including but not limited to credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, and driver's and other license numbers. You may not post information such as other people's passwords, usernames, phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses unless already publicly accessible on the Web.

6.8          Hate Content, Defamation, and Libel. Hate speech and other objectionable content. that is unlawful, defamatory, and fraudulent. Note that an allegation of defamatory expression, in and of itself, does not establish defamation. The truth or falsehood of a bit of expression is a key element in establishing defamation, and we are not in a position to make that sort of fact-based judgment. That said, if we have reason to believe that a particular statement is defamatory (a court order, for example), we will remove that statement.

6.9          Disruptions and Exploits. We will terminate accounts and block chat addresses of those who attempt unauthorized use of Our Site.

6.10       Copyright. Using copyrighted material does not constitute infringement in all cases. In general, however, users should be careful when using copyrighted content without the permission of those who created it.

6.11       Mass Registration and Automation. Accounts that are registered automatically or systematically will be removed and access will be permanently suspended.

6.12       Sexually Explicit Video. Accounts that use BitMatters’ video upload feature to upload and/or host sexually explicit or pornographic material will be suspended.

  1. Forum Posts

7.1          An Account is required if you wish to submit Posts to Our Forum(s).  Please refer to Clause 4 for more information.

7.2          You agree that you will be solely responsible for your Posts.  Specifically, you agree, represent and warrant that you have the right to use the content of a Post and that your Post will comply with Our Acceptable Usage Policy, detailed below in Clause 8.

7.3          You agree that you will be liable to Us and will, to the fullest extent permissible by law, indemnify Us for any breach of the warranties given by you under sub-Clause 7.2.  You will be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by Us as a result of such breach.

7.4          You (or your licensors, as appropriate) retain ownership of the content of your Posts and all intellectual property rights subsisting therein.  By submitting a Post, you grant Us an unconditional, non-exclusive, fully transferable, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide licence to use, store, archive, syndicate, publish, transmit, adapt, edit, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works from, display, perform and sub-licence the content of your Post for the purposes of operating and promoting Our Site and Forum(s).

7.5           You may not remove a Post once it has been accepted on Our Site.

7.6          We may reject, reclassify, or remove any Posts submitted to Our Site where, in Our sole opinion, the content of those Posts violates Our Acceptable Usage Policy, or if We receive a complaint from a third party and determine that the Post(s) in question should be removed as a result.

  1. Acceptable Usage Policy

8.1          You may only use Our Site in a manner that is lawful and that complies with the provisions of this Clause 8.  Specifically:

8.1.1      you must ensure that you comply fully with any and all applicable local, national and international laws and/or regulations;

8.1.2      you must not use Our Site in any way, or for any purpose, that is unlawful or fraudulent;

8.1.3      you must not use Our Site to knowingly send, upload, or in any other way transmit data that contains any form of virus or other malware, or any other code designed to adversely affect computer hardware, software, or data of any kind; and

8.1.4      you must not use Our Site in any way, or for any purpose, that is intended to harm any person or persons in any way.

8.2          When submitting Posts (or communicating in any other way using Our Site), you must not submit, communicate or otherwise do anything that:

8.2.1      is sexually explicit;

8.2.2      is obscene, deliberately offensive, hateful or otherwise inflammatory;

8.2.3      promotes or incites acts of terror

8.2.4      promotes violence;

8.2.5      promotes or assists in any form of unlawful activity;

8.2.6      discriminates against, or is in any way defamatory of, any person, group or class of persons, race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;

8.2.7      is intended or otherwise likely to threaten, harass, annoy, alarm, inconvenience, upset, or embarrass another person;

8.2.8      is calculated or is otherwise likely to deceive;

8.2.9      is intended or otherwise likely to infringe (or threaten to infringe) another person’s right to privacy;

8.2.10   misleadingly impersonates any person or otherwise misrepresents your identity or affiliation in a way that is calculated to deceive (obvious parodies are not included within this definition provided that they do not fall within any of the other provisions of this sub-Clause 8.2);

8.2.11   implies any form of affiliation with Us where none exists;

8.2.12   infringes, or assists in the infringement of, the intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to, copyright, patents, trade marks and database rights) of any other party; or

8.2.13   is in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party including, but not limited to, contractual duties and duties of confidence.

8.3          We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your Account and/or your access to Our Site if you materially breach the provisions of this Clause 8 or any of the other provisions of these Terms and Conditions.  Specifically, We may take one or more of the following actions:

8.3.1      suspend, whether temporarily or permanently, your Account and/or your right to access Our Site;

8.3.2      remove any Post(s) submitted by you that violate(s) this Acceptable Usage Policy;

8.3.3      issue you with a written warning;

8.3.4      take legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of any and all relevant costs on an indemnity basis resulting from your breach;

8.3.5      take further legal action against you as appropriate;

8.3.6      disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as required or as We deem reasonably necessary; and/or

8.3.7      any other actions that We deem reasonably appropriate (and lawful).

8.4          We hereby exclude any and all liability arising out of any actions (including, but not limited to those set out above) that We may take in response to breaches of these Terms and Conditions.

  1. Links to Our Site

9.1          You may link to Our Site provided that:

9.1.1      you do so in a fair and legal manner;

9.1.2      you do not do so in a manner that suggests any form of association, endorsement or approval on Our part where none exists;

9.1.3      you do not use any logos or trade marks displayed on Our Site without Our express written permission; and

9.1.4      you do not do so in a way that is calculated to damage Our reputation or to take unfair advantage of it.

9.2           You may not link to any page other than the homepage of Our Site, www.bitmatters.online.  Deep-linking to other pages requires Our express written permission.

9.3          Framing or embedding of Our Site on other websites is not permitted without Our express written permission.  Please contact Us at [email protected] for further information.

9.4          You may not link to Our Site from any other site the content of which contains material that:

9.4.1      is sexually explicit;

9.4.2      is obscene, deliberately offensive, hateful or otherwise inflammatory;

9.4.3      promotes violence;

9.4.4      promotes or assists in any form of unlawful activity;

9.4.5      discriminates against, or is in any way defamatory of, any person, group or class of persons, race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;

9.4.6      is intended or is otherwise likely to threaten, harass, annoy, alarm, inconvenience, upset, or embarrass another person;

9.4.7      is calculated or is otherwise likely to deceive another person;

9.4.8      is intended or is otherwise likely to infringe (or to threaten to infringe) another person’s privacy;

9.4.9      misleadingly impersonates any person or otherwise misrepresents the identity or affiliation of a particular person in a way that is calculated to deceive (obvious parodies are not included in this definition provided that they do not fall within any of the other provisions of this sub-Clause 9.4);

9.4.10   implies any form of affiliation with Us where none exists;

9.4.11   infringes, or assists in the infringement of, the intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to, copyright, trade marks and database rights) of any other party; or

9.4.12   is made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party including, but not limited to, contractual duties and duties of confidence.

  1. Links to Other Sites

Links to other sites may be included on Our Site.  Unless expressly stated, these sites are not under Our control.  We neither assume nor accept responsibility or liability for the content of third party sites.  The inclusion of a link to another site on Our Site is for information only and does not imply any endorsement of the sites themselves or of those in control of them.

  1. Advertising

We may feature advertising on Our Site.  We are not responsible for the content of any advertising on Our Site.  Each advertiser is responsible for the content of their own advertising material.  We will not be responsible for any advertising on Our Site including, but not limited to, any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions.

  1. Disclaimers and Legal Rights

12.1       Nothing on Our Site constitutes advice on which you should rely.  It is provided for general information purposes only.

12.2       Insofar as is permitted by law, We make no representation, warranty, or guarantee that Our Site will meet your requirements, that it will not infringe the rights of third parties, that it will be compatible with all software and hardware, or that it will be secure.

12.3       If, as a result of Our failure to exercise reasonable care and skill, any digital content from Our Site damages your device or other digital content belonging to you, as a consumer you may be entitled to certain legal remedies.

12.4       We make reasonable efforts to ensure that Our Content on Our Site is complete, accurate, and up-to-date.  We do not, however, make any representations, warranties or guarantees (whether express or implied) that the Content is complete, accurate, or up-to-date.

12.5       We are not responsible for the content or accuracy, or for any opinions, views, or values expressed in any Posts submitted by Users.  Any such opinions, views, or values are those of the relevant User, and do not reflect Our opinions, views, or values in any way.

 

  1. Our Liability

13.1       To the fullest extent permissible by law, We accept no liability to any User for any loss or damage, whether foreseeable or otherwise, in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising out of or in connection with the use of (or inability to use) Our Site or the use of or reliance upon any Content (whether that Content is provided by Us or whether it is in the form of Posts submitted by Users) included on Our Site.

13.2       To the fullest extent permissible by law, We exclude all representations, warranties, and guarantees (whether express or implied) that may apply to Our Site or any Content (including Posts) included on Our Site.

13.3       Our Site is intended for non-commercial use only.  If you are a business user, We accept no liability for loss of profits, sales, business or revenue; loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; loss of anticipated savings; business interruption; or for any indirect or consequential loss or damage.

13.4       We exercise all reasonable skill and care to ensure that Our Site is free from viruses and other malware, however, We accept no liability for any loss or damage resulting from a virus or other malware, a distributed denial of service attack, or other harmful material or event that may adversely affect your hardware, software, data or other material that occurs as a result of your use of Our Site (including the downloading of any Content (including any provided in Posts) from it) or any other site referred to on Our Site.

13.5       We neither assume nor accept responsibility or liability arising out of any disruption or non-availability of Our Site resulting from external causes including, but not limited to, ISP equipment failure, host equipment failure, communications network failure, natural events, acts of war, or legal restrictions and censorship.

13.6       Nothing in these Terms and Conditions excludes or restricts Our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury resulting from negligence, or for any other forms of liability which cannot be excluded or restricted by law.

  1. Viruses, Malware and Security

14.1       We exercise all reasonable skill and care to ensure that Our Site is secure and free from viruses and other malware.

14.2       You are responsible for protecting your hardware, software, data and other material from viruses, malware, and other internet security risks.

14.3       You must not deliberately introduce viruses or other malware, or any other material which is malicious or technologically harmful either to or via Our Site.

14.4       You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of Our Site, the server on which Our Site is stored, or any other server, computer, or database connected to Our Site.

14.5       You must not attack Our Site by means of a denial of service attack, a distributed denial of service attack, or by any other means.

14.6       By breaching the provisions of sub-Clauses 14.3 to 14.5 you may be committing a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.  Any and all such breaches will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities and We will cooperate fully with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them.  Your right to use Our Site will cease immediately in the event of such a breach.

  1. Privacy and Cookies

Use of Our Site is also governed by Our Privacy Policy, available from Our Privacy Policy.  This Policy is incorporated into these Terms and Conditions by this reference.

  1. Data Protection

16.1       All personal information that We may collect (including, but not limited to, your name and contact details) will be collected, used and held in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and your rights under that Act.

16.2       We may use your personal information to:

16.2.1   Provide and administer your Account;

16.2.2   Reply to any communications you send to Us;

16.2.3   Send you important notices, as detailed in Clause 17;

 16.3       We will not pass on your personal information to any third parties without first obtaining your express permission to do so.

  1. Communications from Us

17.1       If you have an Account, We may from time to time send you important notices by email.  Such notices may relate to matters including, but not limited to, service changes, changes to these Terms and Conditions, and changes to your Account.

17.2       We will never send you marketing emails of any kind without your express consent.  If you do give such consent, you may opt out at any time.  Any and all marketing emails sent by Us include an unsubscribe link.  For questions or complaints about communications from Us (including, but not limited to marketing emails), please contact Us at [email protected].

  1. Changes to these Terms and Conditions

18.1       We may alter these Terms and Conditions at any time.  If We do so, details of the changes will be highlighted at the top of this page.  Any such changes will become binding on you upon your first use of Our Site after the changes have been implemented.  You are therefore advised to check this page from time to time.

18.2       In the event of any conflict between the current version of these Terms and Conditions and any previous version(s), the provisions current and in effect shall prevail unless it is expressly stated otherwise.

  1. Contacting Us

To contact Us, please email Us at [email protected] or using any of the methods provided on Our contact page.

  1. Law and Jurisdiction

20.1       These Terms and Conditions, and the relationship between you and Us (whether contractual or otherwise) shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law.

20.2       Any disputes concerning these Terms and Conditions, the relationship between you and Us, or any matters arising therefrom or associated therewith (whether contractual or otherwise) shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.