Date of Last Revision: 10 December 2009
Terms of Use
THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBES THE TERMS ON WHICH COUCHSURFING INTERNATIONAL, INC. OFFERS YOU ACCESS TO OUR SITE AND SERVICES.
Welcome to the Web site operated by CouchSurfing International, Inc. ("we," "us"), a New Hampshire non-profit corporation. We maintain this Web site, CouchSurfing.org (our "Site"), as a service to our visitors (our Site and such services, collectively, our "Services"). By using this Site, you agree to comply with and be legally bound by the following terms of use ("Terms"), whether or not you become a registered user of the Services.
Please review the following terms carefully. If you do not agree to these terms, you have no right to obtain information from or otherwise continue using this Site. Failure to use this Site in accordance with the following terms of use may subject you to severe civil and criminal penalties. We reserve the right to make changes to these terms at any time. Your continued use of our Services constitutes your acceptance of such changes. Accordingly, you should review these terms from time to time for such changes.
1. USER RESPONSIBILITY
1.1 Our Site is a Venue. Our Services do not include the introduction of users to one another. Our Site is merely a venue for users to learn about one another and, if they wish, arrange stays with one another. We are not involved in the actual contact between users. As a result, we have no control over the conduct of our users or the truth or accuracy of the information that users post on the Site.
1.2 Identity Verification. Because user verification on the Internet is difficult, we cannot and do not confirm each user’s purported identity. Although we provide tools intended to assist you, such as our address-verification tool (see Section 1.4) and our "vouching" system, you are responsible for determining the identity and suitability of others with whom you may match by means of this Site. We do not endorse any persons who use or register for our Services. We do not investigate any user’s reputation, conduct, morality, criminal background, or verify the information such user may submit to the Site (other than the address-verification tool). We encourage you to communicate directly with potential hosts and guests through the tools available on the Site and to take the same precautions you would normally take when meeting a stranger in person for the first time.
1.3 Your Experience with Other Users. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of our Services. We will not be responsible for any damage or harm resulting from your interactions with other users of our Services. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor interactions between you and other users of our Services and to take any other action in good faith to restrict access to or the availability of any material that we or another user of our Services may consider obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable.
1.4 Our Address-Verification Tool. Our "verification" tool is intended merely to confirm that the postal address a user submits to us is an address at which such user receives mail. While this is one of many ways to reduce the risk of misconduct by such user, it is not a guarantee of the user’s identity or good faith or even that the address verified is really the user’s actual residential address.
1.5 Release. Because our Site is merely a venue, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more users, you release us (and our officers, directors, members, employees, agents and affiliates) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code 1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."
2. USER CONDUCT. In your use of our Services, you must act responsibly and exercise good judgment. By way of example and not limitation, you shall not:
(a) violate any applicable law or regulation;
(b) infringe the rights of any third party, including without limitation, intellectual property, privacy, publicity or contractual rights;
(c) use information obtained through our Services for any unauthorized purpose;
(d) interfere with or damage our Services, including, without limitation, through the use of viruses, cancel bots, Trojan horses, harmful code, flood pings, denial-of-service attacks, packet or IP spoofing, forged routing or electronic mail address information or similar methods or technology;
(e) use our Services to transmit, distribute, post or submit any information concerning any other person or entity, including without limitation, photographs of others without their permission, personal contact information or credit, debit, calling card or account numbers;
(f) use our Services in connection with the distribution of spam (which we define as unsolicited bulk e-mail or any other e-mail of a commercial, religious or political or other nature not within the intended purposes of the Services);
(g) "stalk" or harass any other user of our Services;
(h) collect or store any information about any other user other than for purposes of the permitted use of our Services;
(i) use our Services for any commercial purpose whatsoever;
(j) assist any third party in doing any of the foregoing;
(k) register for more than one user account or register for a user account on behalf of an individual other than yourself;
(l) impersonate any person or entity, or falsify or otherwise misrepresent yourself or your affiliation with any person or entity, whether by providing or omitting to provide information or ; or
(m) attempt to defeat any security or verification measure relating to use of the Services.
3. MINORS MAY NOT USE SERVICES. You must be at least 18 years old to register to use the Services. By registering to use our Services, you represent that you are over 18.
4. PRIVACY. We understand the concerns that you may have about your privacy and respect your right to protect your personal information while online. However, our Services are designed to allow users to post photographs and information about themselves for public review and comment. Accordingly, by submitting your photograph and/or any other personal information, you waive any privacy expectations you have with respect to use of such likeness or personal information. If you do not wish to have your picture or information about yourself viewed by or disclosed to others, do not use our Services. We may collect certain other personal information from you that we do not post on our Site. In most cases, we do not intentionally transfer this information to unaffiliated third parties without your consent. However, we reserve the right to transfer such information without your consent to prevent an emergency, to protect or enforce our rights, to protect or enforce the rights of a third party or in response to a court order or subpoena as otherwise required or permitted by law. In addition, we provide this personal information to third-party service providers who help us maintain our Services and deliver information and services to you and other users of our Services.
5. YOUR CONTENT
5.1 You Grant Us a License. By submitting any content (including without limitation, your photograph) to our Site, you hereby grant us a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, distribute, have distributed and promote such content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created and for any purpose.
5.2 Content Restrictions. You are solely responsible for any content that you submit, post or transmit via our Services. You may not post or submit any content that:
(a) is defamatory;
(b) contains nudity or sexually explicit content;
(c) may disparage any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious group by stereotypical depiction or otherwise;
(d) exploits images or the likeness of individuals under 18 years of age;
(e) depicts use of illicit drugs;
(f) makes use of offensive language or images;
(g) characterizes violence as acceptable, glamorous or desirable;
(h) provides a link to any commercial websites; or
(i) contains any of your personal contact information, except as specifically required or requested as part of your registration on this site.
5.3 No Obligation to Post Content. We have no obligation to post any content from you or anyone else. In addition, we may, in our sole and unfettered discretion, edit, remove or delete any content that you post or submit.
6. THIRD-PARTY CONTENT. In using our Services, you may be exposed to content from other users or third parties ("Third-Party Content"), either at our Site or through links to third-party websites. We do not control, and shall have no responsibility for, Third-Party Content, including material that may be misleading, incomplete, erroneous, offensive, indecent or otherwise objectionable. You must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, Third-Party Content, including without limitation, profiles of other users of our Services.
7. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
7.1 Our Intellectual Property. All material on our Site are protected by rights of publicity, copyright, trademarks, service marks, patents, trade secrets or other proprietary rights and laws, as may be applicable. Except as expressly authorized by us, you may not sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from such material. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may use such material in the course of your normal, personal, non-commercial use of our Services.
7.2 Your Use of Our Intellectual Property. You may not systematically retrieve data or other content from our Site to create or compile, directly or indirectly, in single or multiple downloads, a collection, compilation, database, directory or the like, whether by manual methods, through the use of "bots" or otherwise. You may not use of any of our trademarks as metatags on other websites, written materials or otherwise. You may not display any portion of our Site in a frame (or any content from our Site through in-line links) without our prior written consent, which may be requested by contacting us at info@couchsurfing.org. You may, however, establish ordinary links to the homepage of our Site without our written permission.
8. USERNAME AND PASSWORD. You will select a username and password as part of the registration process. You are solely responsible for thrge confidentiality and use of your username and password. You must: (a) log off from your account at the end of each session on our Site; and (b) notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your username and password or any other breach of security.
9. TERMINATION. We may, in our discretion and without liability to you, with or without cause (such cause may include your breach of these Terms), with or without prior notice and at any time: (a) terminate your access to our Services, (b) deactivate or delete any of your accounts and all related information and files in such accounts and (c) bar your access to any of such files or Services.
10. DISCONTINUANCE OF SERVICES. We may, in our discretion and without liability to you, with or without prior notice and at any time, modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, any portion of our Services.
11. LEGAL COMPLIANCE. You shall use our Services in a manner consistent with any and all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, United States export-control laws. You hereby represent and warrant to us that you are not (a) located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country to which the United States has embargoed goods or services, (b) identified as a "Specially Designated National", or (c) placed on the Commerce Department’s Denied Persons List. Without limiting the foregoing, you are solely responsible for determining whether you have complied with travel restrictions to and from certain countries, including travel to and from countries other than the U.S.
You shall not use using the Services if the laws of your country prohibit you from doing so in accordance with these Terms (for example, if you are not allowed to provide the types of personal information that we require, or if you are prohibited from participating in certain Internet activity). By using the Services, you represent and warrant to us that such use will not violate, or cause us to violate, the laws of your country.
12. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. You hereby represent and warrant to us that: (a) you have the full power and authority to enter into and perform under these Terms; (b) your use of our Services will not infringe the copyright, trademark, right of publicity or any other legal right of any third party; (c) you will comply with all applicable laws in using our Services and in engaging in all other activities arising from, relating to or connected with these Terms, including, without limitation, contacting other users of our Services; and (d) you own or otherwise have all rights necessary to license the content you submit and that the posting and use of your content by us will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party.
13. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
13.1. IF YOU USE OUR SERVICES, YOU DO SO AT YOUR SOLE RISK. OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM, AND YOU WAIVE, ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
13.2. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT (A) OUR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (B) OUR SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; (C) ANY INFORMATION THAT YOU MAY OBTAIN THROUGH OUR SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; (D) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH OUR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS; (E) ANY INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE OR WE COLLECT WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED TO THIRD PARTIES; OR (F) ANY ERRORS IN ANY DATA OR SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED.
13.3. IF YOU ACCESS OR TRANSMIT ANY CONTENT THROUGH THE USE OF OUR SERVICES, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND YOUR SOLE RISK. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE ARISING OUT OF SUCH ACCESS OR TRANSMISSION.
13.4. NO DATA, INFORMATION OR ADVICE OBTAINED BY YOU IN ORAL OR WRITTEN FORM FROM US OR THROUGH OR FROM OUR SERVICES WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.
14. LIMITS ON LIABILITY
14.1. WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, GENERAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES) EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO: (A) THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE OUR SERVICES; (B) THE COST OF REPLACEMENT OF ANY GOODS, SERVICES OR INFORMATION PURCHASED OR OBTAINED AS A RESULT OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM OUR SERVICES; (C) DISCLOSURE OF, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR CONTENT; (D) DAMAGES FOR LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA OR PROGRAMS, SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS OR PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE KNOW OR HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES; (E) STATEMENTS, CONDUCT OR OMISSIONS OF ANY SERVICE PROVIDERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTY ON OUR SERVICES; (F) YOUR OR ANYONE ELSE’S CONDUCT OR ACTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, BODILY INJURY, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, DEATH OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM COMMUNICATIONS OR MEETINGS WITH OTHER REGISTERED USERS OF OUR SERVICES OR PERSONS INTRODUCED TO YOU BY OUR SERVICES, WHETHER ON-LINE OR OFF-LINE; OR (G) ANY OTHER MATTER ARISING FROM, RELATING TO OR CONNECTED WITH OUR SERVICES OR THESE TERMS.
14.2. WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY FAILURE OR DELAY IN PERFORMING UNDER THESE TERMS, WHETHER OR NOT SUCH FAILURE OR DELAY IS DUE TO CAUSES BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL.
14.3. IN NO EVENT WILL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY IN ANY MATTER ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO WITH OUR SERVICES OR THESE TERMS EXCEED THE SUM OF ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100).
14.4. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS 13 AND 14 MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
15. INDEMNITY. You shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless us (and each of our officers, directors, members, employees, agents and affiliates) from any claim, demand, action, damage, loss, cost or expense, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out or relating to your use of our Services or alleging facts or circumstances that could constitute a breach of any provision of these Terms by you. If you are obligated to indemnify us, we will have the right, in our sole and unfettered discretion, to control any action or proceeding and determine whether we wish to settle it, and if so, on what terms.
16. REPORTING MISCONDUCT. If you stay with or host anyone who you feel is acting or has acted inappropriately, including but not limited to offensive, violent or sexually inappropriate behavior, who steals from you or engages in any other disturbing conduct, you must immediately report such person to the appropriate authorities and to us by contacting us using the form at Contact Us and choosing "Problem with Another Member"; provided that your report shall not obligate us to take any action or cause us to incur any liability.
17. MEETINGS. Many in-person meetings are held by groups of interested members and are not sponsored or organized by us. Members who organize meetings should make clear in their announcements, invitations and signage that their meetings have not been organized or approved, and are not run, by us. We cannot guarantee the quality, organization or safety of any in-person meeting (whether or not sponsored by us). Members attend meetings at their own risk.
18. LANGUAGES. The translation of any portion of this Site into another language is for your convenience only. Like any automated translation technology, the on-line third-party translation application used on this Site is susceptible to inaccuracy. You may rely only on the original, English-language version of this Site.
19. DISPUTES. In the event a dispute arises between you and us, our goal is to provide you with a neutral and cost-effective means to resolve the dispute quickly. Accordingly, any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of these Terms or our Services ("Claim") shall be resolved in accordance with one of the subsections below or as we may otherwise agree in writing. Before resorting to these alternatives, we strongly encourage you to contact us directly to seek a resolution. We will consider reasonable requests to resolve the dispute through alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") procedures, such as mediation, as an alternative to litigation.
(a) Binding Arbitration. For any Claim (excluding Claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) where the total amount of the award sought is less than Ten Thousand US Dollars (US$10,000), you or we may elect to resolve the dispute through binding arbitration conducted by telephone, on-line and/or based solely upon written submissions where no in-person appearance is required. In such cases, the arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its applicable rules, or any other established ADR provider agreed upon by the parties. Any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
(b) Court. Alternatively, any Claim may be adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction located in New Hampshire, USA or where the defendant is located (in our case Carroll County, New Hampshire, USA, and in your case your home address). You and we agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of a state court located in Carroll County, New Hampshire or a US federal court located in Concord, New Hampshire.
(c) Alternative Dispute Resolution. Alternatively, we will consider use of other forms of ADR, such as binding arbitration to be held in New Hampshire, USA or another location agreed upon by the parties.
(d) Attorney’s Fees. All Claims (excluding requests for injunctive or equitable relief) between the parties must be resolved using the dispute-resolution mechanism that is selected in accordance with this Section 19 by the first party to file a Claim. Should either party file an action contrary to this Section 19, the other party may recover attorneys’ fees and costs up to US$5,000, provided that the party seeking the award has notified the other party in writing of the improperly filed Claim, and the other party has failed to withdraw the Claim.
20. NOTICES. Any notices or other communications required or contemplated by these Terms shall be in writing and shall be deemed given (a) three (3) business days after being sent by certified or registered mail with return receipt, or (b) one (1) business day after being sent by reputable express courier service with tracking capability. Such notices shall be addressed to a party as follows, or to such other address as such party may designate by notice from time to time:
(a) to us at
CouchSurfing International Inc.,
Attention: Legal Notices
PO Box 7775
ECM #86600
San Francisco, California 94120-7775
United States
and (b) to you, if you are a registered user, at the latest address you have provided in connection with your registration to use our Services.
21. MISCELLANEOUS. These Terms shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of New Hampshire, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. These Terms contain the entire agreement, and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, between the parties regarding their subject matter. Our failure or delay in exercising any right, power or privilege under these Terms shall operate as a waiver thereof. The invalidity or unenforceability of any of these Terms shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other of these Terms, all of which shall remain in full force and effect. We may assign our agreement with you. Headings of sections are for convenience only and shall not be used to limit or construe such sections. Sections 1.5 (Release), 4 (Privacy), 5.1 (License), 6 (Third-Party Content), 7 (Proprietary Rights), 14 (Limits on Liability), 15 (Indemnity), 18 (Languages), 19 (Disputes), 20 (Notices) and this Section 21 (Miscellaneous) shall survive any termination or expiration of these Terms.
Please Contact Us with any questions regarding these Terms.
Your continued use of this Site and registration to use our Services is contingent upon your agreement to be bound by the foregoing Terms of Use.