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Terms of Service
  1. Acceptance of Terms. Welcome to Spotted (the "Site"). Spotted is a service provided by The Augusta Chronicle and its affiliates (the "Provider"), and is provided for your use subject to the following terms and conditions of use (the "Terms"). By using this Site or the services in any way, you accept these Terms and agree to abide by them. Please read them carefully. Additionally, you agree to abide by any applicable posted guidelines for all Spotted-related services, which may change from time to time. Should you object to any of these Terms, any guidelines, or any subsequent modifications thereto or become dissatisfied with this Site in any way, your sole recourse is to discontinue use of this Site and its services. Provider reserves the right to terminate any user account and deny access to the Site to any person who violates these Terms.
  2. Privacy. This Site includes a collection of online resources, and is designed to allow users to post information and photographs about themselves and others for public review and comment. This Site is governed by the Privacy Policy located at http://augustachronicle.com/privacy/. Please review that Privacy Policy to understand our practices.
  3. Links to External Sources. The Site and Content available through it may contain links to other, external websites and sources, which are completely independent of Spotted. Provider makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site that is not a part of this Site. Your linking to any other websites is at your own risk. The inclusion of a link to an external site does not imply, nor should you infer, an endorsement of the external site.
  4. Membership and Registration. Members of Augusta.com are automatically members of Spotted. Others may become members of Spotted by completing the registration process. If you are, or if you become, a Member of Spotted, as a condition for your membership, you must, and do hereby, accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your user name or account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others outside your household may not access the Site using your name in whole or in part without our permission. If you believe someone has accessed the Site using your member name and password without your authorization, e-mail us immediately at webmaster@augusta.com. Further, you agree not to sell, transfer or assign your membership or any membership rights, and agree not to disclose your password, or the password of any registered member, to any person for any reason. Disclosure of your password to any other person shall constitute a violation of the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act (O.C.G.A. § 16-9-90 et seq.), and may subject you to civil and criminal penalties. Provider reserves the right to terminate your membership at any time for any reason.
  5. Use of Member Accounts. You are limited to one member account, which means you are limited to the registration of one user name. Persons discovered to have multiple accounts or user names may be temporarily suspended, or permanently banished, from the Site. Using a name other than your own legal name is prohibited (except in those specific areas of the Site that specifically ask for unique, fictitious names, e.g., your display name, certain message boards and chat rooms).
  6. User-provided Content. All postings, messages, text, files, images, graphics, photos, audio clips, sounds, video or other materials (the "Content") posted on, transmitted through, or linked from the Site, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. More specifically, you are entirely responsible for all Content that you post, email or otherwise make available through the Site. For all Content provided by you, you agree to indemnify Provider as provided below.
  7. No Pre-Screening or Editing. This is a community Site. As such, there are chat rooms, bulletin board and other interactive areas that give users an interesting and stimulating forum to express their opinions and share ideas and information. Given the nature of the Site and the volume of messages and postings, you understand that Provider cannot and does not monitor all of the material posted or transmitted to the Site. Additionally, Provider does not control, and is not responsible for, Content made available through the Site by members, and that by using the Site, you may be exposed to Content that may be - to you - offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of the Site and any of its Content, including but not limited to whether you should rely on said Content. Please use your best judgment when using these forums. You also agree that under no circumstances will Provider or its affiliates be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the Site. You acknowledge that Provider does not pre-screen or approve Content, but that Provider shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any Content that is available via the Site, for violating the letter or spirit of the Terms or for any other reason. Provider reserves the right to delete any posting, message or photograph at any time, for any reason or no reason.
  8. Communications and Postings; Grant of Copyright. By providing information to, communicating with, and/or placing material on, the Site, including but not limited to the registration process, you represent and warrant: (i) you own or otherwise have all necessary rights, including but not limited to copyrights, to the content you provide and the rights to use it as provided in this Terms of Service; (ii) all information you provide is true, accurate, current and complete, and does not violate these Terms of Service; and, (iii) the content will not cause injury to any person or entity. For all such information and material, you grant Provider, its affiliates and related entities, and its affiliated newspaper, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, copy, modify, display, archive, store, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works from such information, in any form, media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future. Without limiting the generality of the previous sentence, you authorize Provider to share the information across all affiliated web sites, to include the information in a searchable format accessible by users of the Site and other affiliated web sites, and to use your name and any other information in connection with its use of the material you provide. You also grant Provider the right to use any material, information, ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communication you send to us for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information. All rights in this paragraph are granted without the requirement of compensation of any sort to you. Subpart (ii) of the above warranties contained in this paragraph numbered 8 shall not apply to those contests where Spotted requests Members submit photos or images which have been manipulated.
  9. Posting Rules. You agree not to post, email, or otherwise make available Content:
    • that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, pornographic, libelous, or invasive of another's privacy, or harms minors in any way;
    • that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
    • that purports to be from any person or entity, including but not limited to a Provider employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
    • that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent.
    • that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, mis-informative, or constitutes "bait and switch";
    • that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships.
    • that constitutes or contains "affiliate marketing," "link referral code," "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or unsolicited commercial advertisement.
    • that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if (1) posted in areas of the Provider sites which are not designated for such purposes; or (2) emailed to Provider users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests.
    • that includes links to commercial services or web sites, except as allowed in "services".
    • that advertises any illegal services or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by Georgia law;
    • 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;
    • that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service; or
    • that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of Content transmitted through the Service.
    Additionally, you agree not to:
    • contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
    • "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;
    • collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes;
    • use automated means, including scripts, spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from or upload data to the Service;
    • post irrelevant Content, repeatedly post the same or similar Content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
    • post the same item or service in more than one classified category or forum, or in more than one metropolitan area; or
    • attempt to gain unauthorized access to Provider's computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the Service or the Provider website.
  10. No Spam. The posting of spam to the Site, or the sending of spam to members of the Site, is expressly prohibited. Violations of this restriction may result in the permanent banishment from the Site. Additionally, you understand and agree that sending unsolicited email advertisements to members of the Site or through Provider computer systems, which is expressly prohibited by these Terms, will use or cause to be used servers located in Georgia. Any unauthorized use of Provider computer systems is a violation of these Terms and certain federal and state laws, including without limitation the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq.), and the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act (O.C.G.A. § 16-9-90 et seq.). Such violations may subject the sender and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.
  11. Linking to the Site. If you desire to link to Site, you may do so; provided, however, that you follow the following conditions: (i) you agree to cease such link immediately upon request of Provider at any time; (ii) you agree not to frame the target web page in such a fashion to imply that the web page is owned or operated by you or another person or party other than Provider; (iii) you do not scrape or otherwise copy the Content without the prior, written permission of Provider; (iv) all links must be referenced to a web page within the site, not a discrete image or media file.
  12. Unsolicited Submissions. Please note Provider does not accept unsolicited materials or ideas for use or publication in newspapers, and is not responsible for the similarity of any of its content or programming in any media to materials or ideas transmitted to Provider. Should you send any unsolicited materials or ideas, you do so with the understanding no consideration of any sort will be provided to you, and you are waiving any claim against Provider and its affiliates regarding the use of such materials and ideas, even if material or an idea is used that is substantially similar to the idea you sent.
  13. Notification of Claims of Infringement. Provider respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied and posted to the Site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please notify Provider's agent for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement ("Agent"), via email at webmaster@augusta.com or by postal mail at:
    Copyright Agent - Box TEM
    P.O. Box 1564
    Augusta, Georgia 30903-1564
    in your Notice to our Copyright Agent, please:
    • Identify the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
    • Identify the material on the Site that you claim is infringing, with enough detail so that we may locate it;
    • Provide 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;
    • Provide your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
    • Provide your physical or electronic signature; and
    • Provide a statement by you declaring "Under penalty of perjury, (a) the above information is accurate, and (b) I am the owner of the copyright interest involved, or am expressly authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner."
    Provider will investigate all Notices received and may remove infringing posting(s), subject to the procedures outlined in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act ("DMCA").
  14. Payment. Some areas within the Site and our network of websites may require a credit card payment before access is granted. If you sign up for any of these services, you agree to pay all subscription fees and any other charges incurred in connection with your user name and password (including any applicable taxes) at the rates in effect when the charges were incurred. You acknowledge and agree that we may bill charges automatically to your credit card. All fees will be billed at the beginning of your subscription or any renewal (or as soon thereafter as fees or charges are incurred) and are nonrefundable. You are responsible for all fees and charges incurred to access the Site through an Internet access provider or other third party service. Your subscription will renew automatically, unless we terminate it or you notify us by e-mail of your decision to terminate your subscription. You must cancel your subscription before it renews in order to avoid billing of fees for the renewal term to your credit card.
  15. Disclaimer of Warranties. YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE SITE AND THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" OR "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PROVIDER DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SITE AND THE SERVICE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PROVIDER DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE SITE OR THE SITES OR SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINKS ON THE SITE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PROVIDER DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE OR THE SERVICE.

    Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.

  16. Limitations of Liability. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL PROVIDER BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF Provider HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

    In some jurisdiction, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.

  17. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold Provider, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post or make available through the Site, your use of the Site, your violation of the Terms, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.
  18. International Users. This Site is controlled, operated and administered by Provider from its offices within the United States, and is designed to be used primarily by users and members in and around the local community. Provider makes no representation that materials or Content available via the Site are appropriate for use outside the United States, and access to them from territories where such materials or Content may be illegal is prohibited. If you access this Site from outside the United States, you are responsible for complying with all laws that may apply to you.
  19. Miscellaneous. Provider reserves the right to change these Terms at any time