Welcome to Beliefnet.com, which is operated by Beliefnet (“Beliefnet” or “we”). The services Beliefnet provides on Beliefnet.com include newsletters and emails with special offers and updates, contests and any other features, content and applications offered from time to time by Beliefnet in connection with Beliefnet.com (collectively, the "Beliefnet Services"). Beliefnet is based in the United States and the Beliefnet Services are hosted in the United States. Beliefnet is a part of the United States based operations of BN Media, LLC.
Beliefnet furnishes Beliefnet.com and the Beliefnet Services for your personal enjoyment and entertainment. By visiting Beliefnet.com (whether or not you are a registered member) or using the Beliefnet Services, you accept and agree to be bound by this Agreement, including any future modifications ("Agreement"), and to abide by all applicable laws, rules and regulations (“Applicable Law”). Please read through this Agreement carefully. Beliefnet may modify this Agreement at any time, and each such modification will be effective upon posting on Beliefnet.com. All material modifications will apply prospectively only. Your continued use of Beliefnet.com or the Beliefnet Services following any such modification constitutes your acceptance and agreement to be bound by the Agreement as so modified. It is therefore important that you review this Agreement regularly. If you do not agree to be bound by this Agreement and to abide by all Applicable Law, you must discontinue use of the Beliefnet Services immediately. You may receive a copy of this Agreement by emailing us at: feedback@beliefnetstaff.com, Subject: Terms of Use Agreement. Your access to and use of certain Beliefnet Services may require you to accept additional terms and conditions applicable to such Beliefnet Services, in addition to this Agreement, and may require you to download Software or Content (each as defined below).
Eligibility for Beliefnet.com Registration and Account Security
Use of the Beliefnet Services is limited to users aged 13 years and above. All registration information you submit to create an account must be accurate and must be kept updated. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and are responsible for all use of your account. It is therefore critical that you do not share your password with anyone. You agree not to use the account, username, email address or password of another member or subscriber at any time. You agree to notify Beliefnet immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of, or access to, your account or password. Beliefnet shall retain the right to change your username for any reason, including, without limitation, if the username you have selected violates this Agreement.
Termination
This Agreement remains in full force and effect while you use the Beliefnet Services. You may terminate your account/subscription on Beliefnet.com at any time, for any reason, in the following ways: (i) to terminate your community account, please send an email to community@staff.beliefnet.com, Subject: Terminate Community Account; or (ii) to terminate your newsletter subscription please visit: http://www.beliefnet.com/Newsletter/Signup.aspx or use the unsubscribe link on the bottom of the newsletter. Beliefnet may terminate your account and/or access to the Beliefnet Services at any time, for any or no reason, with or without prior notice or explanation, and without liability. Furthermore, even after your user account or access to the Beliefnet Services is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect. You agree that your account is non-transferable and any rights to your account terminate upon your death.
Fees
You acknowledge that Beliefnet reserves the right to charge subscription fees for any portion of the Beliefnet Services. Beliefnet will provide you with five (5) days advance notice of any such fees, including any change in the amount of such fees, and a way to cancel your account or subscription in the event you do not wish to pay the modified fee. If you continue to use Beliefnet Services after the subscription fee has been increased, you are expressly agreeing to the increased subscription fee and you will be responsible for paying such subscription fee for the balance of your subscription. If Beliefnet suspends or terminates your account and/or access to the Beliefnet Services because you have breached the Agreement or violated Applicable Law, you will not be entitled to a refund of any unused portion of such fees or other payments.
Purchasing Beliefnet.com Services or Products
If you purchase any service or product on Beliefnet.com (“Site Product”), you may be required to provide personal information, including credit card and billing information ("Personal Financial Information”), to an independent third party company (or companies) selected by, but not affiliated with, Beliefnet (the “Processor”). Where the Processor is responsible for collecting, transmitting and/or processing your Personal Financial Information and, in some instances, for fulfilling your order, all payment obligations for Site Products shall be governed by the terms of use/service and privacy policy(ies) of the Processor. If you make a purchase from Beliefnet.com, you are warranting that you are authorized to make the purchase using the form of payment card that you provide to the Processor. You must be 18 years of age or older to purchase a Site Product.
Beliefnet makes no warranty, and accepts no liability for any loss or damages whatsoever, relating to or in connection with your placement of an order for a Site Product with the Processor. Beliefnet provides no refunds for purchases you make on Beliefnet.com. You are solely responsible for any and all transactions utilizing your Personal Financial Information, including, but not limited to, any and all charges. You acknowledge and agree that in the event Processor experiences a data breach that affects your Personal Financial Information, Beliefnet will in no way be responsible or liable to you for any such breach.
Beliefnet will not store any record of Personal Financial Information related to purchases or other transactions you make through the Beliefnet Services. You should therefore maintain records of all your transactions. If you have any questions regarding your transactions or believe that there is an error or unauthorized transaction or activity associated with transactions utilizing your Personal Financial Information, you must contact the Processor.
Beliefnet Content
The Beliefnet Services contain information, text, files, images, images, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, and any other materials or content (collectively, “Content”) of Beliefnet ("Beliefnet Content"). Beliefnet Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other laws, and as between you and Beliefnet, Beliefnet owns and retains all rights in the Beliefnet Content and the Beliefnet Services. Beliefnet hereby grants you a limited, revocable, nonsublicensable license to access and display the Beliefnet Content (excluding any software code) solely for your personal, non-commercial use in connection with viewing Beliefnet.com and using the Beliefnet Services. The Beliefnet Services may also contain Content of users and other Beliefnet licensors. Except as provided in this Agreement or as explicitly allowed on the Beliefnet Services, you may not copy, download, stream capture, reproduce, duplicate, archive, upload, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, retransmit, distribute, perform, display, sell or otherwise use any Content appearing on or through the Beliefnet Services.
Except as explicitly and expressly permitted by Beliefnet, you are strictly prohibited from creating works or materials (including but not limited to fonts, icons, link buttons, wallpaper, desktop themes, on-line postcards, montages, mash-ups and similar videos, greeting cards and unlicensed merchandise) that derive from or are based on the Beliefnet Content. This prohibition applies regardless of whether the derivative works or materials are sold, bartered or given away. You may not either directly or through the use of any device, software, internet site, web-based service or other means remove, later, bypass, avoid interfere with, or circumvent any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices marked on the Content or any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with the Content including geo-filtering mechanisms. Furthermore, you may not create, recreate, distribute or advertise an index of any significant portion of the Content unless authorized by Beliefnet. You may not build a business utilizing the Content, whether or not for profit.
Your Use of Beliefnet Services
The Beliefnet Services are offered for your personal use only and may not be used for commercial purposes unless specifically endorsed or authorized by Beliefnet. Beliefnet reserves the right to remove commercial content in its sole discretion. You understand that you are responsible for all Content that you post, upload, transmit, email or otherwise make available on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services (collectively, “User Content”). Accordingly, please choose carefully the information that you post on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services. You understand that Beliefnet does not control the User Content posted by users via the Beliefnet Services and, as such, you understand you may be exposed to offensive, indecent, inaccurate or otherwise objectionable Content. Beliefnet assumes no responsibility or liability for this type of Content. If you become aware of misuse of the Beliefnet Services, please report this immediately to Beliefnet at feedback@beliefnetstaff.com.
Beliefnet assumes no responsibility for monitoring the Beliefnet Services for inappropriate Content or conduct. If at any time, Beliefnet chooses in its sole discretion to monitor the Beliefnet Services, Beliefnet nonetheless assumes no responsibility for Content other than Beliefnet Content, assumes no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate Content, and no responsibility for the conduct of any user.
You agree not to use the Beliefnet Services to:
- Post, upload or otherwise transmit or link to Content that is: unlawful; threatening; harmful; abusive; pornographic or includes nudity; offensive; harassing; excessively violent; tortuous; defamatory; invasive of another’s privacy, publicity, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, contract or other rights; false or misleading; obscene; vulgar; libelous; hateful; or discriminatory;
- Violate the rights of others including patent, trademark, trademark, trade secret, copyright, privacy, publicity or other proprietary rights;
- Harass or harm another person;
- Exploit or endanger a minor;
- Impersonate or attempt to impersonate any person or entity;
- Introduce or engage in activity that involves the use of viruses, bots, worms, or any other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized use of or access to a computer or a computer network;
- Interfere with, damage, disable, disrupt, impair, create an undue burden on, or gain unauthorized access to the Beliefnet Services, including Beliefnet’s servers, networks or accounts;
- Cover, remove, disable, block or obscure advertisements or other portions of the Beliefnet Services;
- Use technology or any automated system such as scripts or bots in order to collect usernames, passwords, email addresses or other data from the Beliefnet Services, or to circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of the Beliefnet Services;
- Send or cause to send (directly or indirectly) unsolicited bulk messages or other unsolicited bulk communications of any kind through the Beliefnet Services. If you do so, you acknowledge you will have caused substantial harm to Beliefnet, but that the amount of harm would be extremely difficult to measure. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay Beliefnet $50 for each actual or intended recipient of such communication;
- Solicit, collect or request any personal information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
- Post, upload or otherwise transmit an image or video of another person without that person’s consent;
- Engage in commercial activity (including but not limited to sales, contests, or sweepstakes) without Beliefnet’s prior written consent;
- Use the Beliefnet Services to advertise or promote competing services;
- Use the Beliefnet Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all Applicable Law;
- Attempt, facilitate or encourage others to do any of the foregoing.
Beliefnet reserves the right, but disclaims any obligation or responsibility, to remove User Content that violates this Agreement, as determined by Beliefnet in its sole discretion. You acknowledge Beliefnet reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Beliefnet’s sole discretion, violates this Agreement, including but not limited to, terminating their user account and/or reporting such User Content, conduct, or activity to law enforcement authorities.
You acknowledge, consent and agree that Beliefnet may access, preserve or disclose information you provide to Beliefnet.com, including User Content, when Beliefnet has a good faith belief that such access, preservation or disclosure is necessary in order to: (i) protect or defend the legal rights or property of Beliefnet, its parent, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates (“Affiliated Companies”), or their employees, agents and contractors (including enforcement of our agreements); (ii) protect the safety and security of Users of the Beliefnet Services or members of the public including acting in urgent circumstances; (iii) protect against fraud or for risk management purposes; or (iv) comply with the law or legal process.
Disclaimer Regarding Professional Advice
The relationship between you and Beliefnet is not a physician-patient relationship or a psychotherapist-patient relationship or a priest-penitent relationship. The Beliefnet Content contains information, data, advice, text and other materials compiled from a variety of third party sources. Beliefnet in no way endorses any of these materials, which are provided for your convenience, and are solely intended to broaden user understanding and knowledge of religious and spiritual topics.
Nothing contained on Beliefnet.com is intended to be, and must not be taken to be, the practice of medicine, including, without limitation, psychology, psychiatry, or psychotherapy, or providing health care advice or instruction for diagnosis or treatment. Beliefnet does not recommend the self-management of health or mental health problems, and the Beliefnet Content is not exhaustive and does not cover all diseases, ailments, physical or mental conditions or their treatments. You should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on Beliefnet.com.
Message Boards and Public Forums
Beliefnet.com offers users the ability to post public messages on message boards and forums (“Forums”), which may be open to the public generally, to all members of Beliefnet.com, or to a select group of members to a specific Forum group. You acknowledge that messages posted on such Forums are public, and Beliefnet cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose through any Forum; you make such disclosures at your own risk. Beliefnet is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any information posted on a Forum, and shall not be responsible for any decisions made based on such information. Beliefnet reserves the right, but disclaims any obligation or responsibility, to prevent you from posting User Content to any Forum and to restrict or remove your User Content from a Forum for any reason at any time.
Your Proprietary Rights
Beliefnet does not claim any ownership rights in the User Content that you post, upload, email transmit, or otherwise make available on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services; provided, however, that User Content shall not include any Content posted by a user that is already owned by Beliefnet or any Affiliated Company. By posting any User Content on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services, you hereby grant to Beliefnet and our Affiliated Companies, licensees and authorized users, a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable (in whole or in part), worldwide license to use, modify, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and compilations based upon, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such User Content on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services or in connection with any distribution or syndication thereof to Third Party Services (as defined below), on and through all media formats now known or hereafter devised, for any and all purposes including, but not limited to, promotional, marketing, trade or commercial purposes. Beliefnet‘s use of such User Content shall not require any further notice to you and such use shall be without the requirement of any permission from or payment to you or to any other person or entity. Beliefnet reserves the right to limit the storage capacity of User Content that you post on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services.
You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the User Content posted by you on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services, or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this Section, and (ii) the posting of User Content by you on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services and Third Party Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person or entity. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person or entity by reason of the use of any User Content posted by you on or through the Beliefnet Services or Third Party Services.
Copyrights and Other Intellectual Property
Beliefnet respects the intellectual property of others, and requires that our users do the same. You may not upload, embed, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that infringes any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights of any person or entity. Beliefnet has a policy of terminating repeat infringers’ access to the Beliefnet Services in appropriate circumstances.
If you believe that any material residing on or linked to from Beliefnet.com infringes your copyright, please send Beliefnet's Copyright Administrative Department a notification of claimed infringement with all of the following information: (a) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (b) identification of the claimed infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material on the Beliefnet Services (such as the URL(s) of the claimed infringing material); (c) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address; (d) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (e) a statement by you that the above information in your notification is accurate and a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed or are authorized to act on the owner's behalf; and (f) your physical or electronic signature. Beliefnet's Copyright Administrative Department for notification of claimed infringement can be reached as follows: Beliefnet, Inc., 2037 Laskin Rd. Virginia Beach, VA 23454; Facsimile: (757) 965-4542; Phone: (757) 200-9944; Attn: Beliefnet's Copyright Administrative Department for notification of claimed infringement can also be reached electronically at copyrightagent@beliefnetstaff.com.
Third Party Links and Services
The Beliefnet Services may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other websites, applications, resources or other services created by third parties (“Third Party Services”). When you engage with a Third Party Service, you are interacting with the third party, not with Beliefnet. If you choose to use a Third Party Service and share information with it, the Third Party Services may use and share your data in accordance with the Third Party Service’s privacy policy and your privacy settings on such Third Party Service. In addition, the third party providing the Third Party Service may use other parties to provide portions of the application or service to you, such as technology, development or payment services. Beliefnet is not responsible for and makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Third Party Services or the providers of such Third Party Services (including, but not limited to, the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by such Third Party Service or the privacy practices thereof). Inclusion of any Third Party Service or a link thereto on the Beliefnet Services does not imply approval or endorsement of the Third Party Service. Beliefnet is not responsible for the content or practices of any websites other than Beliefnet.com, even if the website links to Beliefnet.com and even if it is operated by an Affiliated Company or a company otherwise connected with Beliefnet.com. By using the Beliefnet Services, you acknowledge and agree that Beliefnet is not responsible or liable to you for any content or other materials hosted and served from any website other than Beliefnet.com. When you access Third Party Services, you do so at your own risk. Beliefnet encourages you not to provide any personally identifiable information to any Third Party Service unless you know and are comfortable with the party with whom you are interacting. If you are interested in creating hypertext links to Beliefnet.com, you must contact Beliefnet at feedback@beliefnetstaff.com before doing so. In establishing hypertext links, you must not represent in any way, expressly or by implication, that you have received the endorsement, sponsorship or support of Beliefnet.com or Beliefnet, including its respective employees, agents, directors, officers or shareholders.
Member Disputes
You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Beliefnet users, providers of Third Party Services or any other parties with whom you interact on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services. Beliefnet reserves the right, but has no obligation, to become involved in any way with these disputes.
Privacy
Use of the Beliefnet Services is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into this Agreement by this reference.
Disclaimers
The Beliefnet Services are provided "AS-IS" and “as available” and Beliefnet does not guarantee or promise any specific results from use of the Beliefnet Services. Beliefnet expressly disclaims any warranties and conditions 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. In particular, Beliefnet makes no warranty that your use of the Beliefnet Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free or that any information obtained by you on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services or Third Party Services (including but not limited to, through User Content or third party advertisements) will be accurate or reliable. Under no circumstances will Beliefnet be responsible for any loss or damage, including but not limited to, property damage, personal injury or death, resulting from use of the Beliefnet Services, problems or technical malfunction in connection with use of the Beliefnet Services, attendance at a Beliefnet event, any material downloaded or otherwise obtained in connection with the Beliefnet Services, any User Content, third party advertisement or Third Party Service posted on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services, or the conduct of any users of the Beliefnet Services, whether online or offline. Your use of User Content, third party advertisements, Third Party Services and the goods or services provided by any third parties is solely your responsibility and at your own risk. User Content, third party advertisements and Third Party Services do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Beliefnet.
Limitation on Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL BELIEFNET BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFIT DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE BELIEFNET SERVICES, EVEN IF BELIEFNET HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, BELIEFNET'S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO BELIEFNET FOR THE BELIEFNET SERVICES DURING THE TERM OF YOUR USE OF THE BELIEFNET SERVICES.
U.S. Export Controls
Software available in connection with the Beliefnet Services (the "Software") is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the Beliefnet Services or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of U.S. export laws. Downloading or using the Software is at your sole risk.
Disputes
The Agreement will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Beliefnet agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in New York, New York to resolve any dispute arising out of the Agreement or the Beliefnet Services. YOU HEREBY KNOWINGLY, VOLUNTARILY AND INTENTIONALLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT YOU MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LITIGATION (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY CLAIMS, COUNTERCLAIMS, CROSS-CLAIMS, OR THIRD PARTY CLAIMS) ARISING OUT OF, UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold Beliefnet, its Affiliated Companies, subcontractors and other partners, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of Beliefnet.com or the Beliefnet Services, your breach of this Agreement, your violation of any rights of another or any Content that you post or otherwise submit on, through or in connection with the Beliefnet Services.
Unsolicited Submissions
Beliefnet does not knowingly accept, via the Beliefnet Services or otherwise, unsolicited submissions including, without limitation, submissions of blog ideas, articles, scripts, story lines, fan fiction, characters, drawings, information, suggestions, proposals, ideas or concepts. Beliefnet's policy is to simply delete any such submission without reading it or forwarding it to other Beliefnet staff or staff of its Affiliated Companies. Therefore, any similarity between an unsolicited submission and any elements in any Beliefnet or Affiliated Company creative work including, without limitation, a film, series, story, title or concept would be purely coincidental. If unsolicited submissions are sent to Beliefnet via the Beliefnet Services (including but not limited to any public forum), however, such submissions and copyright become the property of Beliefnet and may be used, copied, sublicensed, adapted, transmitted, distributed, publicly performed, published, displayed or deleted as Beliefnet sees fit. You agree that you are not entitled to any compensation, credit or notice whatsoever and that by sending an unsolicited submission you waive the right to make any claim against Beliefnet or Affiliated Company relating to unsolicited submissions, including, without limitation, unfair competition, breach of implied contract or breach of confidentiality.
Employment Opportunities
Beliefnet may, from time to time, post Beliefnet employment opportunities on the Beliefnet Services and/or invite users to submit resumes to it. If you choose to submit your name, contact information, resume and/or other personal information to Beliefnet in response to employment listings, you are authorizing Beliefnet to utilize this information for all lawful and legitimate hiring and employment purposes. Beliefnet also reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to forward the information you submit to its Affiliated Companies for legitimate business purposes. Nothing in this Agreement or contained in the Beliefnet Services will constitute a promise by Beliefnet to contact, interview, hire or employ any individual who submits information to it, nor will anything in this Agreement or contained in the Beliefnet Services constitute a promise that Beliefnet will review any or all of the information submitted to it by users of the Beliefnet Services.
Other
The failure of Beliefnet to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement will not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. The Section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. Beliefnet is a trademark of Beliefnet, Inc. This Agreement operates to the fullest extent permissible by law. If any provision of this Agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision is deemed severable from this Agreement and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Please contact us at: feedback@beliefnetstaff.com with any questions regarding this Agreement.
I HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED ABOVE.
