2012 - 10/10

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY. BY CLICKING "SIGN UP" OR BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE AND ALL TERMS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THESE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES.

These Terms of Use ("Terms") apply to your access to and use of any website, mobile application or other online or mobile product or service (collectively, the "Services") of CouchSurfing International, Inc. ("CouchSurfing," "we" or "us"). If you are using the Services on behalf of any entity, you represent and warrant that you are authorized to accept these Terms on such entity's behalf, and that such entity will be responsible for your violation of these Terms. Failure to use our Services in accordance with these Terms may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Services and may subject you to legal action by CouchSurfing and/or severe civil and/or criminal penalties.

We reserve the right to make changes or modifications to these Terms, or any policy or guideline of our Services, at any time and in our sole discretion.¹ Any changes or modifications will be effective immediately upon posting the revisions on our Services, and you waive any right you may have to receive specific notice of such changes or modifications. Your continued use of our Services following the posting of changes or modifications will constitute your acceptance of such changes or modifications. Accordingly, you should frequently review these Terms and applicable policies and guidelines to understand the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the Services.

Please refer to our Privacy Policy for information about how CouchSurfing collects, uses and discloses information about our members.² In addition, by accessing or using our Services, you agree to adhere to the Community Guidelines.

Please Contact Us with any questions regarding these Terms.

1. ELIGIBILITY, REGISTRATION AND ACCOUNT

You must be at least 18 years old to access or use the Services. By registering to use our Services, you represent that you are over 18.

In order to access certain areas and features of our Services, you will need to register for an account. You agree to (a) create a unique password that you do not use with any other online product or service; (b) provide accurate, truthful, current and complete information when creating an account; (c) maintain and promptly update your account information; (d) maintain the security of your account by protecting your password and restricting access to your account; (e) promptly notify CouchSurfing if you discover or otherwise suspect any security breaches related to the Services; and (f) take responsibility for all activities that occur under your account and accept all risks of any authorized or unauthorized access.

1. THIRD PARTY TERMS

CouchSurfing may offer the opportunity to purchase products and services through the CS Shop. You acknowledge that the CS Shop is operated by a third party and that all products within the CS Shop are offered and sold to you by this third party. For more information, please refer to the third party's terms of sale and privacy policy that are presented as part of the checkout process.

1. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER MEMBERS

3.1 You Have Sole Responsibility When Interacting with Other Members. Our Services provide a platform for members to learn about one another, arrange stays and travel, engage in activities and communicate with one another. CouchSurfing is not a party to, has no involvement or interest in, makes no representations or warranties as to, and has no responsibility or liability with respect to any communications, transactions, interactions, disputes or any relations whatsoever between you and any other member, person or organization. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other members of our Services. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor interactions between you and other members of our Services.

3.2 Identity Verification. We cannot and do not confirm each member’s identity. Although we provide tools intended to assist with identity verification, such as our address verification tool (as described in Section 3.3), you are solely responsible for determining the identity and suitability of others with whom you may interact through our Services. CouchSurfing does not represent or warrant that our tools are sufficient to determine whether it is appropriate for you to interact with another member. Further, we do not endorse any persons who use or register for our Services. We do not investigate or verify any member’s reputation, conduct, morality, criminal background, or any information members may submit to the Services (other than the address-verification tool as described in Section 3.3). We encourage you to take precautions when interacting with other members, particularly when meeting a stranger in person for the first time.

3.3 Our Address-Verification Tool. Our address-verification tool is intended merely to confirm that the postal address a member submits to us is an address at which that member is able to access or receive mail. CouchSurfing's address-verification tool is not intended to confirm that a member actually resides at a particular address. While this is one of many ways to reduce the risk of misconduct by a member, it is not a guarantee of any member’s identity or good faith.

3.4 Member-Hosted Events; CouchSurfing Ambassadors. Members may organize in-person meetings and host events for other CouchSurfing members; however, these events are not sponsored or endorsed by CouchSurfing and members attend such meetings and events at their own risk. In addition, CouchSurfing members may sign up to become CouchSurfing Ambassadors and contribute their time to activities that support the CouchSurfing community, such as meeting new members, organizing events and answering questions. CouchSurfing Ambassadors are not agents of CouchSurfing and CouchSurfing is not responsible or liable for any acts or omissions of these Ambassadors.

3.5 Release. Because our Services are merely a platform, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more members, 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."

1. MEMBER CONDUCT AND CONTENT

The Services include interactive areas where you or other members can create, post or store content, messages, materials, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, videos, graphics or other items or materials on the Services (collectively, "Member Content"). You are solely responsible for your use of such interactive areas and agree that your use of these areas is at your own risk.

4.1 Member Content Restrictions. You are solely responsible for any Member Content that you submit, post or transmit via our Services. You agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Services, Member Content that we believe, in our sole discretion:

(a) is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;

(b) contains nudity, sexually explicit content or is otherwise obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive or sexually exploitative of minors;

(c) may disparage any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious group by stereotypical depiction or is otherwise abusive or inflammatory;

(d) depicts the use of illicit drugs;

(e) contains offensive language or images or is otherwise objectionable;

(f) incites violence or characterizes violence as acceptable, glamorous or desirable;

(g) contains unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, advertising or solicitations, without our prior written consent;

(h) contains private or personal information about another person, unless such person has agreed to the disclosure of this information;

(i) contains viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files 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;

(j) may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party. By posting Member Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and reproduce such Member Content; or

(k) would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense or violate the rights of any third party.

CouchSurfing is not responsible for any Member Content that you or other members post, transmit or store through the Services. We have no obligation to post Member Content from you or anyone else and we may, in our sole discretion, edit, remove or delete any Member Content without notice. If you become aware of Member Content that violates these Terms, you may report it by clicking on the "Report!" or its successor link located near such content. Enforcement of these Terms, however, is solely in our discretion and the absence of enforcement in some instances does not waive of our right to enforce the Terms in other instances. In addition, these Terms do not create a private right of action on the part of any third party or any reasonable expectation that the Services will not contain any content that is prohibited by such rules.

4.2 Member Conduct. By accessing or using the Services, you agree to act responsibly, exercise good judgment and comply with the Community Guidelines. In addition, you agree not to:

(a) use the Services in violation of any applicable law or regulation, including promoting or encouraging any illegal activity;

(b) infringe the rights of any third party, including without limitation, intellectual property, privacy, publicity or contractual rights;

(c) use the Services in any manner that could interfere with, disrupt, negatively affect or inhibit other members from fully enjoying the Services or that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the functioning of the Services in any manner;

(d) use our Services in connection with the distribution of spam (which we define as unsolicited bulk e-mail or any other unsolicited messages of a commercial, religious, romantic or political or other nature not within the intended purposes of the Services);

(e) stalk, intimidate, threaten or otherwise harass or cause discomfort to any other member of our Services;

(f) collect or store any information about any other member other than as permitted on our Services;

(g) use our Services for any commercial purpose whatsoever, unless with prior written consent from CouchSurfing;

(h) register for more than one member account;

(i) 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;

(j) circumvent or attempt to defeat any security or verification measure relating to use of the Services;

(k) hold yourself out as an agent, representative, employee or affiliate of CouchSurfing, including but not limited to when you host an event for other CouchSurfing members or sign up to be a CouchSurfing Ambassador; or

(l) assist any third party in doing any of the foregoing.

4.3 Member Content License. If you post Member Content to our Services, you hereby grant us a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, have distributed and promote such Member Content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created and for any purpose, including without limitation the right to use your name, likeness, voice or identity. You represent and warrant that (a) you own and control all of the rights to the Member Content that you post or you otherwise have the right to post such Member Content to the Services; (b) the Member Content is accurate and not misleading; and (c) the use and posting of the Member Content you supply does not violate these Terms and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity.

1. SUBMISSIONS
2. We welcome questions, comments, suggestions and ideas about CouchSurfing and our Services ("Submissions"). If you provide a Submission, you agree that it is non-confidential (unless CouchSurfing states otherwise in writing) and shall become the sole property of CouchSurfing. CouchSurfing shall own exclusive rights, including all intellectual property rights, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise. You acknowledge that CouchSurfing is not obligated to provide acknowledgment or compensation to you in exchange for Submissions.
3. COPYRIGHT AND LIMITED LICENSE
4. Unless otherwise indicated, the Services and all content and other materials on the Services, including, without limitation, the CouchSurfing logo, and all designs, text, graphics, pictures, videos, information, data, software, sound files and other files, and the selection and arrangement thereof, (collectively, the "CouchSurfing Materials") are the proprietary property of CouchSurfing or our licensors or members and are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive and non-sublicensable license to access and use the Services and CouchSurfing Materials; however, such license is subject to these Terms and does not include: (a) any resale or commercial use of the Services or the CouchSurfing Materials; (b) the distribution, public performance or public display of any CouchSurfing Materials; (c) modifying or otherwise making any derivative uses of the Services and the CouchSurfing Materials, or any portion thereof, unless modification or derivative use is specifically provided for under separate terms; (d) use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods; (e) downloading (other than the page caching) of any portion of the Services, the CouchSurfing Materials or any information contained therein, except as expressly permitted on the Services; or (f) any use of the Services or the CouchSurfing Materials other than for their intended purposes. Any use of the Services or the CouchSurfing Materials other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of CouchSurfing, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws, including without limitation copyright and trademark laws. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable at any time.

1. REPEAT INFRINGER POLICY

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and other applicable law, CouchSurfing has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and in CouchSurfing's sole discretion, members who are deemed to be repeat infringers. CouchSurfing may also, in our sole discretion, limit access to the Services and/or terminate the accounts of any members who we believe may infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.

1. COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS

If you believe that anything on the Services infringes upon any copyright which you own or control, you may file a notification of such infringement with the CouchSurfing Copyright Agent as set forth below.