Affinity Toolbar Products - Terms of Use

Effective date: June 8, 2012


PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING ANY AFFINITY TOOLBAR PRODUCT, APPLICATION OR RELATED SERVICE. YOUR ACCESS OR OTHER USE OF ANY AFFINITY RELATED PRODUCT CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF USE SET FORTH BELOW. BY ACCESSING, BROWSING AND/OR USING THE AFFINITY TOOLBARS, PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICES, YOU ARE DEEMED TO ACCEPT THESE TERMS OF USE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS, BROWSE OR USE OUR AFFINITY BRANDED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.
Welcome to the Affinity branded suite of products, operated by Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. ("Mindspark", "we" or "us"). Please note that use of any Affinity toolbar, product or related service is not available to persons under the age of 13. By using these services, you represent that you meet the minimum age requirements and are at least 13 years old.
These Terms of Use, including any revisions that we may post from time to time, ("Terms of Use" or "TOU") state the terms and conditions under which Mindspark provides you with access to its Affinity branded suite of products and services. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time. You can always check out the most current version of these Terms of Use at this page. You can determine when these Terms of Use were last revised by referring to the "Last Updated" date at the top of these Terms of Use.
Mindspark provides you with access to its Affinity products and services, including versions of the Affinity toolbars and related products which utilize, or are co-branded, with third party products or bear other third party brand assets owned by or licensed to Mindspark (each, an "Affinity Product" and collectively, the "Affinity Products"). The library of Affinity Products currently available for download may be found here. Unless otherwise stated, use of the Affinity Products is governed by these Terms of Use; use of each Affinity Product itself is governed by an End User License Agreement (available here) and Privacy Policy (available here).
Ownership of Affinity Products and Protection of Our Intellectual Property Rights Use of the Affinity Products is intended for the personal, noncommercial use of our users. All Affinity Products are owned by Mindspark. All right, title and interest to the content displayed on each of the Affinity Products, including but not limited to the look and feel, data, information, text, graphics, images, sound or video materials, photographs, designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, URLs and content provided by third parties, are the property of Mindspark, or the respective third parties, and are protected by copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights and laws. You hereby acknowledge that these rights are valid and protected in all forms, media and technologies existing now or hereafter developed. All Mindspark-generated content and content provided to Mindspark by its partners and licensors is copyrighted individually and/or as a collective work under the U.S. copyright laws; further, Mindspark owns a copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement and enhancement of all content as a whole. Subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use, and solely for so long as you are permitted by us to access and use the Affinity Products, you may download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Unless otherwise specified, modification or use of the content found on or accessed through the Affinity Products for any other purpose, including use of any such content on any other Web site or networked computer environment is strictly prohibited.
The Mindspark name and logo are the exclusive property of Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. All other trademarks appearing on the Affinity Products are trademarks of their respective owners. Our partners or service providers may also have additional proprietary rights in the content which they make available through the Affinity Products. The trade names, trademarks and service marks owned by us, whether registered or unregistered, may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not ours, in any manner that is likely to cause confusion. Nothing contained on any Affinity Product should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any of our trade names, trademarks or service marks without our express prior written consent.
Except as expressly authorized by Mindspark, you agree not to copy, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, assign, distribute, perform, display, license, reverse engineer or create derivative works based on an Affinity Product or any content (including without limitation any software) available through an Affinity Product.
Changes To This Agreement Mindspark may make changes to these Terms of Use from time to time in its sole discretion. Each time changes are made, the revised Terms of Use will be posted on the Affinity Product's Terms of Use page. Your continued use of the Affinity Products following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of any such changes. Please check this page from time to time for current terms of use.
Our Privacy Policy The information that we obtain through your use of the Affinity Products, whether through a registration process or otherwise, is subject to our privacy policy which may be found here (the "Privacy Policy"). Among other things, the Privacy Policy sets forth our data collection and use policies. Please review the Privacy Policy before you use any Affinity Product. If you are unwilling to accept the terms and conditions of the Privacy Policy, please do not use an Affinity Product.
Other Policies Your use of the Affinity Products is also subject to any other posted policies, disclaimers and/or guidelines.
Your License to Access Affinity Product Content You are hereby granted a personal, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable, limited license to view, reproduce, print, cache and store content retrieved from or through the Affinity Products via a generally available consumer web browser, provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Affinity Products or remove or obscure the copyright notice or other notices displayed on the Affinity Products or the related content made available to you. You may not reproduce, print, cache, store, distribute or otherwise use any content retrieved from the Affinity Products for any commercial use without the prior written permission of Mindspark or the copyright holder identified in the relevant copyright notice.
You agree not to modify the Affinity Products in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Affinity Products, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Affinity Products or portion thereof. You agree not to access the Affinity Products by any means other than through the interface that is provided by Mindspark for use in accessing the Affinity Products.
Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, nothing contained herein or on or via the Affinity Products shall be construed as conferring any other license or right, expressly, by implication, by estoppel or otherwise, with respect to any of Mindspark's content or the content of any third party. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved to Mindspark.
No Automated Querying You may not send automated queries of any sort to any Mindspark product or website without express permission in advance from Mindspark. Note that "sending automated queries" includes, among other things:
  • using any software which sends queries to our website(s) to determine how a website or webpage "ranks" for various queries;
  • "meta-searching"; and
  • performing "offline" searches on any Mindspark website.
You agree not to use Affinity Products to:
  • Post any posting that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;
  • Harm or threaten to harm users in any way;
  • "Stalk" or otherwise harass any other person or entity;
  • Impersonate any person or entity (including a Mindspark agent, enthusiast, or moderator), or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  • Post any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of solicitation except in areas that are expressly designated by Mindspark for such purpose;
  • Disseminate or transmit any content that infringes or violates any party's copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or other proprietary right, including, but not limited to, using third party copyrighted materials, without appropriate permission, using third party trademarks without appropriate permission or attribution, or using or distributing third party information (whether or not protected as a trade secret) in violation of a duty of confidentiality;
  • Disseminate or transmit any worms, viruses or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files, code or programs;
  • Violate any law (whether local, state, national, or international), whether or not intentionally;
  • Forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any posting;
  • Post any content that you do not have a right to under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationship (which includes inside information, proprietary or confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
  • Interfere with or disrupt the Affinity Products or servers or networks connected to the Affinity Products, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected to the Affinity Products;
  • Collect or store personal data about other users;
  • Engage in any activities that would violate the personal privacy rights of others, including but not limited to, collecting and distributing information about Internet users without their permission, except as permitted by applicable law; or
  • Post any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.
You acknowledge that Mindspark does not pre-screen postings, content or other results or materials which may be accessible on or via the Affinity Products, but that Mindspark has the right, but not the obligation, to refuse to make available, to modify or to remove any postings, content, results or materials, or portions of any of the foregoing, in its sole discretion and at any time without notice.
You agree that your use of any information related to the Affinity Products is at your own risk, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information.
If you choose to make any submission or communication to Mindspark or to or via an Affinity Product, you agree that Mindspark may copy, distribute, display, publish, modify or translate such submission for any purpose and in any medium worldwide without any obligation to compensate you or any other third party in any way for any such use. Mindspark may grant other parties these same rights as to the submission.
Registration Certain portions of the Affinity Products may require users to register to access or use certain services. By registering for these services, you agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as requested by the Mindspark registration form (the "Registration Information") and (b) maintain and update the Registration Information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. In addition to other grounds for suspension or termination of your use of any Site services, if you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or Mindspark has reasonable grounds to suspect that information you have provided is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, Mindspark has the right to suspend or terminate your access and refuse you any and all use of our products. Registrants have the right to terminate their account at any time by sending an e-mail to Mindspark at an address provided via an Affinity Product.
Passwords and Security Access to certain Affinity Products may require you to choose a user name (or nickname) and password. If you do so, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account and for logging out of your account at the end of each session. In selecting a user name, you agree that you will not (i) select or use a screen name of another person with the intent to impersonate that person; (ii) use a name subject to the rights of any person without their authorization; or (iii) use a screen name that is offensive to people of ordinary sensitivities, illegal, or infringing. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree (a) to notify Mindspark immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. Mindspark cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this section.
Links to Other Web Sites A central part of the Affinity Products includes links to other World Wide Web sites and social networking sites or resources. Because Mindspark has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that Mindspark is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that Mindspark shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource. Finally, you acknowledge that such external sites usually have their own terms and conditions, including privacy policies, over which Mindspark has no control and which will govern your rights and obligations with respect to the use of those Web sites.
Your Contact With Advertisers Or Third Party Vendors Your dealings with advertisers and third party vendors found on or through the Affinity Products or any related services, including your participation in promotions, the purchase of goods, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such activities, are solely between you and the third party. Mindspark does not make any representations or warranties with respect to any goods or web sites that may be obtained from such third parties, and you agree that Mindspark will have no liability for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of any activities you undertake in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, services, information or other materials available, or through such third parties, on our Site. You acknowledge that such external sites usually have their own terms and conditions, including privacy policies, over which Mindspark has no control and which will govern your rights and obligations with respect to the use of those Web sites.
Compliance with Laws You agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding your use of our products including, without limitation, all applicable laws (as well as associated licenses and approvals) regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.
Modifications To Affinity Products Mindspark reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify, suspend, discontinue or terminate access to the Affinity Products (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that Mindspark will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, discontinuation or termination of any Affinity Product.
Termination of Your Access to Affinity Products, Services You agree that Mindspark, in its sole discretion, may terminate your access to any of the Affinity Products or related services, and/or remove, discard or modify any content within the services, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if Mindspark believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms of Use. You agree that any termination of your access to the Affinity Products or related services may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that Mindspark may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and files in your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Affinity Products or services. If you use the Affinity Products in violation of these Terms of Use, Mindspark may, in its sole discretion, retain all data collected from your use of the Affinity Products. Further, you agree that Mindspark shall not be liable to you or any third party for the discontinuation or termination of your access to the Affinity Products.
Information Disclaimer and Disclaimer of Warranties BY USING THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS OR RELATED SERVICES YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:
  • THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS AND RELATED SERVICES ARE PROVIDED FOR PERSONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NO CONTENT IS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, WHETHER MEDICAL, FINANCIAL, LEGAL OR OTHERWISE. MINDSPARK AND THOSE POSTING OR OTHERWISE PROVIDING INFORMATION, SERVICES OR MATERIAL ON OUR SITE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES RELATING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TO ANY ACTION OR INACTION YOU TAKE BASED ON THE INFORMATION, SERVICES OR OTHER MATERIAL ON THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS.
  • THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS AND RELATED SERVICES ARE PROVIDED FOR PERSONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NO CONTENT IS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, WHETHER MEDICAL, FINANCIAL, LEGAL OR OTHERWISE. MINDSPARK AND THOSE POSTING OR OTHERWISE PROVIDING INFORMATION, SERVICES OR MATERIAL ON OUR SITE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES RELATING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TO ANY ACTION OR INACTION YOU TAKE BASED ON THE INFORMATION, SERVICES OR OTHER MATERIAL ON THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS.
  • MINDSPARK MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS OR RELATED SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THAT THEY WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, CURRENT OR ERROR-FREE, THAT THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE THEREOF WILL BE ACCURATE, TIMELY, USEFUL OR RELIABLE, OR THAT THE QUALITY OF ANY POSTINGS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION OR OTHER MATERIAL OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS OR RELATED SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS.
  • ANY MATERIAL OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS OR RELATED SERVICES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO COMPUTER SYSTEMS OR FOR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.
  • NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM OUR SITE OR THROUGH OR FROM THE RELATED SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THEIR TERMS.
  • MINDSPARK EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICES PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTY VENDORS.
Limitation Of Liability YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT MINDSPARK IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, HOWSOEVER CAUSED, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY), OR OTHERWISE RESULTING FROM: (1) THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE AFFINITY PRODUCTS OR RELATED SERVICES, (2) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, GOODS OR AND WEB SITES, (3) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, (4) THE STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY , (5) RELIANCE ON CONTENT OR POSTINGS VIA ANY AFFINITY PRODUCT OR RELATED CONTENT, OR (6) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO ANY AFFINITY PRODUCT OR ANY RELATED SERVICE. THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY WHETHER OR NOT MINDSPARK HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY THE INDEMNITY PROVISIONS HEREIN, IN NO EVENT WILL MINDSPARK'S DIRECT LIABILITY HEREUNDER EXCEED $100.00.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Indemnification of Mindspark You agree to indemnify and hold Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc., its subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their officers, directors, employees and agents harmless from and against any and all liability, losses, claims, demands, disputes, damages or costs of any kind, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of litigation, resulting from or in any way connected with (a) content you submit or that is submitted from your account, (b) your use of or reliance on the Affinity Products or related services, (c) your connection to the Affinity Products, (d) your violation of these Terms of Use, or (e) your violation of any rights of another party.
Third Party Intellectual Property; Copyright Notifications Mindspark respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. Mindspark may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, terminate the accounts of users who infringe the intellectual property rights of others. Mindspark will remove infringing materials in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act if properly notified that content infringes copyright.
If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide Mindspark's Copyright Agent with a written notification containing at least the following information (please confirm these requirements with your legal counsel, or see Section 512(c)(3) of the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3), for more information):
  • an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
  • a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
  • a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Affinity Product(s), sufficient for Mindspark to locate the material;
  • your address, telephone number, and email address;
  • 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; and
  • a statement by you that the above information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
If you believe that your work has been removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, please provide the Mindspark's Copyright Agent with a written counter-notification containing at least the following information (please confirm these requirements with your legal counsel or see Section 512(g)(3) of the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(3), for more information):
  • a physical or electronic signature of the subscriber/user of the Affinity Products or related services;
  • identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
  • a statement made under penalty of perjury that the subscriber/user has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and
  • the subscriber/user's name, address, telephone number, and a statement that the subscriber/user consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the subscriber/user's address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that the subscriber/user will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.
You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the aforementioned notice requirements, your notification or counter-notification may not be valid and that Mindspark may ignore such incomplete or inaccurate notices without liability of any kind.
Under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §512(f), any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing or was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability.
Please contact Mindspark's Copyright Agent for copyright/intellectual property infringement notifications or counter-notifications at:
Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc.
1 North Lexington Ave., 9th Floor
White Plains, NY, 10601
Attn: Legal Dept. - Copyright Agent
Email: dmca@mindspark.com
No Other Agreements Between Us With the exception of our Privacy Policy, these Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and Mindspark for governing your use of the Affinity Products and related services and supersedes any prior agreements between you and Mindspark for that purpose, including any membership agreements or other similar agreements applying to the Affinity Products or related services.
Law Applicable to Interpretations and Disputes This Agreement and the relationship between you and Mindspark are governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Mindspark agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the county of New York County, New York.
Severability of This Agreement If any provision of this Agreement is found by a court or other binding authority to be invalid, you agree that every attempt shall be made to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in that provision, and the remaining provisions contained in this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
Limitation of Actions Brought Against Mindspark You agree that any claim or cause of action arising out of your use of the Affinity Products or these Terms of Use must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or it shall forever be barred, notwithstanding any statute of limitations or other law to the contrary. Within this period, any failure by Mindspark to enforce or exercise any provision of these Terms of Use or related right shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
Contact Information If you have any questions or concerns with respect to these Terms of Use or our Site, you may contact Mindspark at privacy@mindspark.com or by mail at:
Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc.
Attention: Legal Department
One North Lexington Ave., 9th Floor
White Plains, NY 10601
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