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Effective March 1, 2007:
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net are social networking services that allows Members to create
unique personal profiles online in order to find and communicate with old and new friends. The services
offered by PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net ("PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net" or "we") include
the PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net websites (the "PublicDecision Websites"), the PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net Internet messaging service, and any other features, content, or applications offered from
time to time by PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net in connection with the PublicDecision Websites
(collectively, the "PublicDecision Services"). The PublicDecision Services are hosted in the U.S.
This Terms of Use Agreement ("Agreement") sets forth the legally binding terms for your use of the
PublicDecision Services. By using the PublicDecision Services, you agree to be bound by this Agreement,
whether you are a "Visitor" (which means that you simply browse the PublicDecision Websites) or you are
a "Member" (which means that you have registered with PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net). The term
"User" refers to a Visitor or a Member. You are only authorized to use the PublicDecision Services
(regardless of whether your access or use is intended) if you agree to abide by all applicable laws and
to this Agreement. Please read this Agreement carefully and save it. If you do not agree with it, you
should leave the PublicDecision Website and discontinue use of the PublicDecision Services immediately.
If you wish to become a Member, communicate with other Members and make use of the PublicDecision
Services, you must read this Agreement and indicate your acceptance during the Registration process.
This Agreement includes PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net's policy for acceptable use of the
PublicDecision Services and Content posted on the PublicDecision Websites, your rights, obligations and
restrictions regarding your use of the PublicDecision Services and PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net's
Privacy Policy. In order to participate in certain PublicDecision Services, you may be notified that you are required
to download software or content and/or agree to additional terms and conditions. Unless otherwise provided by the
additional terms and conditions applicable to the PublicDecision Services in which you choose to participate, those
additional terms are hereby incorporated into this Agreement. You may receive a copy of this Agreement by emailing us at:
privacy@publicdecision.com, Subject: "Send me Terms of Use Agreement."
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net may modify this Agreement from time to time and such modification shall be
effective upon posting by PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net on the PublicDecision Websites. You agree to be bound to
any changes to this Agreement when you use the PublicDecision Services after any such modification is posted. It is
therefore important that you review this Agreement regularly to ensure you are updated as to any changes.
Please choose carefully the information you post on PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net and that you provide to other
Users. Your PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net profile may not include the following items: telephone numbers,
street addresses, last names, and any photographs containing nudity, or obscene, lewd, excessively violent, harassing,
sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable subject matter. Despite this prohibition, information provided by other
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net Members (for instance, in their Profile) may contain inaccurate, inappropriate,
offensive or sexually explicit material, products or services, and PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net assumes no
responsibility or liability for this material. If you become aware of misuse of the PublicDecision Services by any person,
please contact PublicDecision or click on the "Report Abuse" link at the bottom of any PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net
page or on an Issue or User Profile.
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net reserve the right, in its sole discretion, to reject, refuse to post or remove any
posting (including private messages) by you, or to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to all or any part of the
PublicDecision Services at any time, for any or no reason, with or without prior notice, and without liability.
- Eligibility. Use of and Membership in the PublicDecision Services is void where prohibited. By
using the PublicDecision Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is
truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older;
and (d) your use of the PublicDecision Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your profile may be
deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning, if we believe that you are under 14 years of age.
- Term. This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the PublicDecision
Services or are a Member. You may terminate your Membership at any time, for any reason, by following the instructions
on the Manage Profile page. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net may terminate your Membership at any time,
without warning. Even after Membership is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect, including sections 5 through 17.
- Fees. You acknowledge that PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net reserves the right to charge for
the PublicDecision Services and to change its fees from time to time in its discretion. If PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net terminates your Membership because you have breached the Agreement, you shall not be entitled to the
refund of any unused portion of subscription fees.
- Password. When you sign up to become a Member, you will also be asked to choose a password. You
are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You agree not to use the account,
username, or password of another Member at any time or to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to
notify PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account or access
to your password. You are solely responsible for any and all use of your account.
- Non-commercial Use by Members. The PublicDecision Services are for the personal use of Members
only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or
approved by PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the PublicDecision Services,
including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of
sending unsolicited email or unauthorized framing of or linking to the PublicDecision Website is prohibited. Commercial
advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation may be removed from Member profiles without notice and
may result in termination of Membership privileges. Appropriate legal action will be taken for any illegal or unauthorized
use of the PublicDecision Services.
- Proprietary Rights in Content on PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net.
- PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net do not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video,
sounds, musical works, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") that you post to the
PublicDecision Services. After posting your Content to the PublicDecision Services, you continue to retain all
ownership rights in such Content, and you continue to have the right to use your Content in any way you choose. By
displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on or through the PublicDecision Services, you hereby grant to
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net a limited license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce,
and distribute such Content solely on and through the PublicDecision Services.
Without this license, PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net would be unable to provide the PublicDecision Services.
For example, without the right to modify Member Content, PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net would not be able to
digitally compressphoto files that Members submit or otherwise format Content to satisfy technical requirements, and
without the right to publicly perform Member Content, PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net could not allow Users to
view photos, issues, or other Content posted by Members. The license you grant to PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net
is non-exclusive (meaning you are free to license your Content to anyone else in addition to PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net), fully-paid and royalty-free (meaning that PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net are not required to pay
you for the use on the PublicDecision Services of the Content that you post), sublicensable (so that PublicDecision.com
and MySmoodle.net are able to use its affiliates and subcontractors such as Internet content delivery networks to provide
the PublicDecision Services), and worldwide (because the Internet and the PublicDecision Services are global in reach).
This license will terminate at the time you remove your Content from the PublicDecision Services. The license does not
grant PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net the right to sell your Content, nor does the license grant PublicDecision.com
and MySmoodle.net the right to distribute your Content outside of the PublicDecision Services.
- You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the PublicDecision Services or
otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on or through
the PublicDecision Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other
rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any
Content posted by you to or through the PublicDecision Services.
- The PublicDecision Services contain Content of PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net ("PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net Content"). PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade
secret and other laws, and PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net owns and retains all rights in the PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net Content and the PublicDecision Services. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net hereby grant you a limited,
revocable, nonsublicensable license to reproduce and display the PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net Content (excluding any
software code) solely for your personal use in connection with viewing the PublicDecision Website and using the
PublicDecision Services.
- The PublicDecision Services contain Content of Users and other PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net licensors.
Except for Content posted by you, you may not copy, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform,
display, or sell any Content appearing on or through the PublicDecision Services.
- Content Posted.
- PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net may delete any Content that in the sole judgment of PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net violates this Agreement or which may be offensive, illegal or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the
safety of any person. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net assumes no responsibility for monitoring the PublicDecision
Services for inappropriate Content or conduct. If at any time PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net chooses, in its sole
discretion, to monitor the PublicDecision Services, PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net nonetheless assumes no
responsibility for the Content, no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate Content, and no responsibility for
the conduct of the User submitting any such Content.
- You are solely responsible for the Content that you post on or through any of the PublicDecision Services, and any
material or information that you transmit to other Members and for your interactions with other Users. PublicDecision.com
and MySmoodle.net do not endorse and have no control over the Content. Content is not necessarily reviewed by
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net prior to posting and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net make no warranties, express or implied, as to
the Content or to the accuracy and reliability of the Content or any material or information that you transmit to other
Members.
- Content/Activity Prohibited. The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or
prohibited to post on or through the PublicDecision Services. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net reserves the right to
investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net's sole discretion,
violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the PublicDecision
Services and terminating the Membership of such violators. Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to Content that,
in the sole discretion of PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net:
- is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
- harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
- exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;
- contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;
- solicits personal information from anyone under 18;
- provides any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URLs or email addresses;
- promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;
- promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;
- involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing, instant messaging, "spimming," or "spamming";
- contains restricted or password only access pages or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
- furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
- solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other Users;
- involves commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;
- includes a photograph of another person that you have posted without that person's consent; or
- for band and filmmaker profiles, uses sexually suggestive imagery or any other unfair, misleading or deceptive Content intended to draw traffic to the profile.
The following is a partial list of the kind of activity that is illegal or prohibited on the PublicDecision Website and
through your use of the PublicDecision Services. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net reserves the right to investigate and
take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net's sole discretion, violates this
provision, including without limitation, reporting you to law enforcement authorities. Prohibited activity includes, but is
not limited to:
- criminal or tortious activity, including child pornography, fraud, trafficking in obscene material, drug dealing, gambling, harassment, stalking, spamming, spimming, sending of viruses or other harmful files, copyright infringement, patent infringement, or theft of trade secrets;
- advertising to, or solicitation of, any Member to buy or sell any products or services through the PublicDecision Services. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. It is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the PublicDecision Services in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net reserve the right to restrict the number of emails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period to a number which PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net deems appropriate in its sole discretion. If you breach this Agreement and send unsolicited bulk email, instant messages or other unsolicited communications of any kind through the PublicDecision Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net, but that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net $50 for each such unsolicited email or other unsolicited communication you send through the PublicDecision Services;
- covering or obscuring the banner advertisements on your personal profile page, or any PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net page via HTML/CSS or any other means;
- any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to add friends, vote on issues, or send comments or messages;
- interfering with, disrupting, or creating an undue burden on the PublicDecision Services or the networks or services connected to the PublicDecision Services;
- attempting to impersonate another Member or person;
- using the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or disclosing your password to any third party or permitting any third party to access your account;
- selling or otherwise transferring your profile;
- using any information obtained from the PublicDecision Services in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person;
- displaying an advertisement on your profile, or accepting payment or anything of value from a third person in exchange for your performing any commercial activity on or through the PublicDecision Services on behalf of that person, such as placing commercial content on your profile, posting blogs or bulletins with a commercial purpose or sending private messages with a commercial purpose; or
- using the PublicDecision Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.
- Copyright Policy. You may not post, modify, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted
material, trademarks, or other proprietary information belonging to others without obtaining the prior written consent of
the owner of such proprietary rights. It is the policy of PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net to terminate Membership
privileges of any Member who repeatedly infringes the copyright rights of others upon receipt of proper notification to
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net by the copyright owner or the copyright owner's legal agent. Without limiting the
foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on the PublicDecision Services in a way that
constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Copyright Agent with the following information: (i) an electronic
or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; (ii) a description
of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description of where the material that you claim is
infringing is located on the PublicDecision Services; (iv) your address, telephone number, and email address; (v) a written
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; (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is
accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net's Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached by email: privacy@publicdecision.com,
Subject "Copyright Infringement Policy."
- Member Disputes. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other PublicDecision.com
and MySmoodle.net Members. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor
disputes between you and other Members.
- Privacy. Use of the PublicDecision Services is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is
incorporated into this Agreement by this reference.
- Disclaimers. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net are not responsible for any incorrect or
inaccurate Content posted on the PublicDecision Website or in connection with the PublicDecision Services, whether
caused by Users of the PublicDecision Services or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in
the PublicDecision Services. Profiles created and posted by Members on the PublicDecision Website may contain links to
other websites. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net are not responsible for the Content, accuracy or opinions expressed
on such websites, and such websites are in no way investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net. Inclusion of any linked website on the PublicDecision Services does not imply
approval or endorsement of the linked website by PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net. When you access these third-party
sites, you do so at your own risk. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net take no responsibility for third party
advertisements which are posted on this PublicDecision Website or through the PublicDecision Services, nor does it take any
responsibility for the goods or services provided by its advertisers. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net is not
responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the PublicDecision Services. PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or
transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, any User or
Member communication. PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net are not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of
any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any
email or players due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on any of the PublicDecision Services
or combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Users or to any person's computer related to or resulting from
participation or downloading materials in connection with the PublicDecision Services. Under no circumstances shall
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting
from use of the PublicDecision Services, attendance at a PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net event, from any Content
posted on or through the PublicDecision Services, or from the conduct of any Users of the PublicDecision Services, whether
online or offline. The PublicDecision Services are provided "AS-IS" and as available and PublicDecision.com and
MySmoodle.net expressly disclaim any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. PublicDecision.com
and MySmoodle.net cannot guarantee and do not promise any specific results from use of the PublicDecision Services.
- Limitation on Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL PUBLICDECISION.COM AND MYSMOODLE.NET BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY
THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT
DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF PUBLICDECISION.COM AND MYSMOODLE.NET HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, PUBLICDECISION.COM AND MYSMOODLE.NET'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 PUBLICDECISION.COM AND MYSMOODLE.NET FOR THE PUBLICDECISION SERVICES DURING THE TERM OF
MEMBERSHIP.
- U.S. Export Controls. Software available in connection with the PublicDecision Services (the
"Software") is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the PublicDecision 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. If there is any dispute about or involving the PublicDecision Services, you agree that the
dispute shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to conflict of law provisions and you
agree to exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue in the state and federal courts of the United States located in the
State of California, City of San Francisco. Either PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net or you may demand that any dispute
between PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net and you about or involving the PublicDecision Services must be settled by
arbitration utilizing the dispute resolution procedures of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in San Francisco,
California, USA, provided that the foregoing shall not prevent PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net from seeking injunctive
relief in a court of competent jurisdiction.
- Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net, its subsidiaries, and
affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or
demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the PublicDecision
Services in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement and/or any breach of your
representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any Content that you post on the PublicDecision Website or through
the PublicDecision Services causes PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net to be liable to another.
- Other. This Agreement is accepted upon your use of the PublicDecision Website or any of the PublicDecision
Services and is further affirmed by you becoming a Member. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net regarding the use of the PublicDecision Services. The failure of PublicDecision.com
and MySmoodle.net to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall 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.
PublicDecision.com and MySmoodle.net is a trademark of PublicDecision, 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: privacy@publicdecision.com with any questions regarding this Agreement.
I HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED ABOVE.
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