Terms of Use

Your use of CompuServe and any product or service provided to you via the CompuServe service (“the Services”) constitutes acceptance of these Terms of Use and any other policies posted on the CompuServe service, including any amendments, modifications or new policies or terms posted from time to time.

CompuServe and the Services are provided to you free of charge, "as is".

You may only use CompuServe and the Services for legal purposes. You may not use CompuServe or the Services to publish, post, distribute or disseminate any information which may, in CompuServe's absolute discretion, cause annoyance or anxiety to any person or any defamatory, obscene, or other unlawful material or information, including another's proprietary information, including trade marks or copyright information, without express authorization from the rights holder. Additionally, you may not use CompuServe or any of the Services to collect or harvest personal information, including Internet addresses, about users of CompuServe or the Services.

CompuServe reserves the right to remove any material you publish on or circulate using CompuServe or the Services where in CompuServe's sole discretion such material violates or is likely to violate these Terms of Use or any applicable law. You must abide by any and all policies posted on CompuServe or the Services.

CompuServe Interactive Services Ltd. and its affiliated companies uses their best efforts to maintain CompuServe and the Services, but are not responsible for the results of any defects that exist in CompuServe or the Services. You should not assume that CompuServe or the Services or their content are error-free or that they will be suitable for the particular purposes that you have in mind when using them. CompuServe may, in its absolute discretion and at any time, modify or discontinue CompuServe or the Services; limit, terminate or suspend your use of or access to CompuServe or the Services; and/or make changes to these Terms of Use or any other policies posted on CompuServe and/or the Services. Please note that any such changes to these Terms of Use will only be effective when the changed Terms of Use are posted on CompuServe. The Terms of Use may not be changed in any individual communication by any CompuServe representative.

COMPUSERVE AND/OR THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. COMPUSERVE AND ITS AGENTS, AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS AND CONTENT PROVIDERS DISCLAIM TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS REGARDING COMPUSERVE AND/OR THE SERVICES AND THE INFORMATION OBTAINED THEREFROM, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE PROVIDED THAT THESE TERMS OF USE WILL NOT LIMIT COMPUSERVE'S LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY ARISING FROM NEGLIGENCE. NEITHER COMPUSERVE NOR ANY OF ITS PARTNERS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS OR CONTENT PROVIDERS SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF REVENUE OR LOSS OF DATA ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY USE OF THE COMPUSERVE SERVICE.

You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, permanently store, publish or otherwise transfer, or commercially exploit, any software, file, information, communication or other content received or accessed through CompuServe or the Services. You agree to indemnify CompuServe and its partners, agents, affiliates, suppliers and content providers against all claims, liability, damages, costs and expenses, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or relating to your use or the use by any minor for whom you are responsible of CompuServe or the Services.

You are responsible for keeping confidential any passwords assigned to you in your use of CompuServe or the Services. In the event of any unauthorised use of your password, you must notify CompuServe immediately.

These Terms of Use, and any dispute arising hereunder, will be governed by the English law. The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute arising out of or relating to the CompuServe service or these Terms of Use.

These Terms of Use (along with any other policies posted on the CompuServe service from time to time) constitute the entire agreement 1) between CompuServe and a user of the Services; and/or 2) between CompuServe and a non-member who uses the CompuServe online service, with respect to the subject matter thereof. If any part of these Terms of Use is unenforceable the enforceability of all other parts of these Terms of Use will be unaffected.

Copyright-Notice

The documents and information on CompuServe and the Services are copyright materials of CompuServe Interactive Services Inc., CompuServe Interactive Services Ltd and their associated companies and information providers. Information retrieved from the CompuServe service may not be reproduced or stored without the express permission of the copyright owner. "CompuServe" is a registered trademark in the United Kingdom and other countries. All rights are reserved.

GUIDELINES FOR NON-MEMBERS: ONLINE CONDUCT ON THE COMPUSERVE SERVICE

If you are not a subscribing member of CompuServe then, as well as the Terms of Use, you must comply with these Guidelines which set out standards of online behavior for users of the CompuServe service. Although you will have access to content on the CompuServe service via URL:www.compuserve.co.uk, you will not be able to set up an e-mail account with CompuServe and other parts of the CompuServe service may be unavailable to you because you are not a CompuServe member. This is because a CompuServe email account – and certain other parts of the CompuServe service - are only available to CompuServe members.

If you do have a member account then please refer to the CompuServe member agreement and accompanying Guidelines for the rules which apply to your use of the CompuServe service (GO RULES).

These Guidelines apply to online conduct on the CompuServe service by non-members and consist of the following:

1. Proper online conduct
2. Illegal Behaviour
3. Unsolicited E-mail
4. Protection of copyrights and trademarks
5. Content and Behaviour
6. Notifying CompuServe

1. Proper online conduct

Online conduct should be guided by common sense and basic etiquette. You must not do any of the following:

* Post, transmit, promote, or distribute content that is illegal.

* Harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another user or member of the CompuServe service that is unwanted. This means: don't say bad things about them, don't keep sending them unwanted Instant Message notes, don't attack their race, heritage, etc. If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person.

* Transmit or facilitate distribution of content that is harmful, abusive, racially or ethnically offensive, vulgar, sexually explicit, or in a reasonable person's view, objectionable. Community standards may vary, but there is no place on the service where hate speech is tolerated.

* Where you can use chat rooms, disrupt the flow of chat in chat rooms with vulgar language, abusiveness, hitting the return key repeatedly or inputting large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, etc. This is online vandalism, and it ruins the experience for others.

* Pretend to be anyone whom you are not. You may not impersonate another user or member (including celebrities) or a CompuServe employee.

* Attempt to get a password, other account information, or other private information from another user or member. Because a member's account is that person's online existence and persona, it is sacrosanct.

Obey the rules wherever you are. This includes the rules of other interactive services, CompuServe area guidelines, national, local, or foreign or international laws where appropriate. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. "Netiquette" is used all over the Internet. Whether you are on CompuServe or using other Internet functions, it's important to be polite. Many newsgroups, Web communities, and the like have their own community guidelines or standards, and you should consult them before interacting.

2. Illegal behaviour.

The laws that apply in the offline world must be obeyed online as well. We have zero tolerance for illegal behavior on the service. We co-operate with law enforcement on such matters. In addition to providing you with an easy way to report illegal activity, we or our partners may in some instances monitor public areas. Just because we may not be monitoring the area you're in at that point in time doesn't mean we won't uphold our standards. In addition, CompuServe reserves the right to treat as public any private chat room whose directory or room name is published or becomes generally known or available.

3. Unsolicited e-mail

* Unsolicited bulk e-mail is strictly prohibited.

* Chain letters and pyramid schemes are not allowed. Many such things are illegal. Even where chain letters or pyramids are not illegal, they are annoying to most people and tie up online resources, so we don't allow them.

* You may place advertisements only in areas designated for that purpose and only in areas accessible to non-members. Unsolicited advertising is not allowed. This includes the sending of bulk e-mail. You must have permission to send an advertisement from CompuServe and/or the person who is the recipient of the ad.

* You may not use the Member Directory or any other area of CompuServe to harvest or collect information, including User names, about CompuServe members, and the use of such information for the purpose of sending unsolicited bulk e-mail is strictly prohibited. This includes collection of names via a member or other CompuServe web page.

4. Protection of copyrights and trademarks

Some content is owned by others and is protected by copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights. It's very easy to copy things in cyberspace, but just because it's easy doesn't mean it's acceptable or lawful. Unauthorized copying of software is illegal, and you can be subject to criminal penalties. We take this very seriously. Similarly, other content owners may take criminal or civil action against you. Any content which you transmit via CompuServe or to CompuServe members must either be your own or must be transmitted with express authorization for distribution on CompuServe.

Bear in mind that some areas of CompuServe are "public," like message boards, forums, or the Member Directory, and other users and members will have access to your posted material (where you can post material) and might copy, modify or distribute it. By submitting content in these public areas, you grant to CompuServe the complete right to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, etc. the content in any part, anywhere.

5. Content and Behavior

Any content you generate in areas which you have access to and to which you can post content to must reflect our community standards, and we may remove it if, in our best judgment, it does not meet those standards. When we do, you may receive a warning about the violation of CompuServe's standards, and we reserve the right to terminate your use of any products and/or services which you have registered for. As a non-member of CompuServe you may not be able to post content to areas of the CompuServe service, however you may be allowed to view (for example) an online chat in a forum or chat room.

CompuServe applies the same standards to its own and its partners' content that it applies to user and member content. Remember that community standards vary from community to community. Some chat rooms may use stronger language than others.

Adult Areas: obviously, some online areas may deal with more adult-oriented topics and are not suitalbe for children.

Swearing: strong vulgar language, crude or explicit sexual references, hate speech, etc. are not allowed. If you see it, please report it through: GO NOTIFY COMPUSERVE

Nudity: photos containing revealing attire or limited nudity in a scientific or artistic context is okay in some places (not all). Partial or full frontal nudity is not okay. If you see it, please report it through: GO NOTIFY COMPUSERVE.

Sex/Sensuality: there is a difference between affection and vulgarity. There is also a difference between a discussion of the health or emotional aspects of sex using appropriate language, and more crude conversations about sex. The former is acceptable, the latter is not. For example, in a discussion about forms of cancer, the words "breast" or "testicular" would be acceptable, but slang versions of those words would not be acceptable anywhere.

Violence and drug abuse: Graphic images of humans being killed, such as in news accounts, may be acceptable in some areas, but blood and gore, gratuitous violence, etc., are not acceptable. Discussions about coping with drug abuse in health areas are okay, but discussions about or depictions of illegal drug abuse that imply it is acceptable are not.

Please bear in mind that these are only guidelines; there is always a "grey area." Use your best judgment. Ask yourself if this is something that you would say in a room full of people you never met, or in the workplace. However, CompuServe makes the final determination about whether content is objectionable or not.

With all the content posted on CompuServe every day by our members, we can't possibly monitor all of it, and we do not attempt to do so. Therefore, you might occasionally encounter something you don't want to see. You can ignore it, but we prefer you please report it through: GO NOTIFY COMPUSERVE.

Good judgment is important, especially when you encounter the opinions of others. CompuServe doesn't endorse or oppose opinions expressed by our members, but we do sometimes take issue with the manner in which the opinion is expressed. Hate speech is never allowed.

6. How to Notify CompuServe of Problems Online

There are two ways to inform CompuServe's Customer Service Team of violations you have either seen or been subject to online.

You can notify CompuServe of a violation through: GO NOTIFY COMPUSERVE

Remember: CompuServe employees will NEVER ask for your password. Don't give your password or billing information out to anyone. IF you are at all worried about your account security please GO SECURITY.