ZotFish's Terms of Service ("TOS") explains how this site is operated, states our information gathering and privacy policy, and states clear obligations you, the user of this site, must accept in order for us to continue to grant you access. By visiting the site you demonstrate that you accept the terms in this document.
1. Description of Service
ZotFish, with web site at zotfish.com ("Site"), allows its users to ask questions of well-known public figures ("contributors"), and allows contributors to selectively respond to questions asked of them. The Site provides a range of features associated with operation of the Site and its content.
2. Your registration obligations
As a condition to participating on the site, you are required to register with ZotFish and provide your real name, in addition to other information. You shall provide ZotFish with accurate, complete, and updated registration information. Failure to do so shall constitute a breach of the Terms of Use, which may result in immediate termination of your ZotFish account. You may not use any name that is not your own. ZotFish reserves the right to refuse registration of, or cancel a ZotFish account in its discretion. You shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your ZotFish password.
Participation on the site is available only to individuals who are at least 13 years old, whether acting on their own behalf or as an authorized employee or representative of a corporation or other business entity. If you do not so qualify, do not attempt to register for or use the Site.
3. User conduct
As a condition of use, you promise not to use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use, or any other purpose not reasonably intended by ZotFish.
By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree not to use the Site:
1. to abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other ZotFish users;
2. to post or transmit, or cause to be posted or transmitted, any Content that is infringing, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, offensive, profane, or otherwise violates any law or right of any third party;
3. for any illegal or unauthorized purpose. If you are an international user, you agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content;
4. to post or transmit, or cause to be posted or transmitted, any communication or solicitation designed or intended to obtain password, account, or private information from any ZotFish user;
5. to create or submit unwanted email ("Spam") to any other ZotFish users or any URL;
6. to violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws);
7. to submit questions or comments linking to affiliate programs, multi-level marketing schemes, sites/blogs repurposing existing stories (source hops), or off-topic content;
8. with the exception of accessing RSS feeds, you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Site for any purpose without our express written permission. Additionally, you agree that you will not: (i) take any action that imposes, or may impose in our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (ii) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or any activities conducted on the Site; or (iii) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Site;
9. with the intention of artificially inflating or altering question or answer vote counts, comments or comment vote counts, or any other ZotFish service, including by way of creating separate user accounts for the purpose of artificially altering ZotFish's services; giving or receiving money or other remuneration in exchange for votes; or participating in any other organized effort that in any way artificially alters the results of ZotFish's services;
10. to advertise to, or solicit, any user to buy or sell any products or services. It is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the Sites in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any user without their prior explicit consent;
11. attempt to impersonate another user or person;
12. sell or otherwise transfer your profile.
ZotFish may remove any Content and ZotFish accounts at any time for any reason (including, but not limited to, upon receipt of claims or allegations from third parties or authorities relating to such Content), or for no reason at all. To report Terms of Use abuse, please email: abuse@ZotFish.com
You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of the Site. ZotFish reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other users.
2. User submissions
If you are a user, then by uploading, submitting or otherwise disclosing or distributing Content (including questions, comments, and profile information) for display or inclusion on the Site, you represent and warrant that you own all rights in the Content and you agree that each individual piece of Content will be dedicated to the public domain under the Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/. For clarity, the foregoing does not apply to the Content on any external sites to which the Sites link.
While each individual user contribution is licensed to the public domain, the collection of questions on the site, in aggregate, is owned by ZotFish and is NOT further licensed in any way, including but not limited to any public domain license.
4. Contributor submissions
If you are a contributor, then you hereby grant ZotFish, its affiliates, distributors, successors and assigns the right to use, copy, display, perform, distribute, adapt, modify and promote such Contributor Submissions in any medium in connection with the operation and promotion of the Site.
You shall be solely responsible for your own Contributor Submissions and the consequences of distributing or publishing them. In connection with Contributor Submissions, you affirm, represent, and warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights (including all intellectual property and other proprietary rights embodied by the Contributor Submissions or represented by the Contributor Submissions), consents, and permissions to use and authorize ZotFish to use such Contributor Submissions in accordance with the license granted to ZotFish above and as contemplated by the Website and these Terms of Service. For clarity, ZotFish does not claim ownership of your Contributor Submissions.
5. Termination or Modification to Service
You, the user, agree that the staff of ZotFish, in its sole discretion, may block submissions from any email address, and remove and discard any content for any reason if ZotFish believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS.
6. Advertisements
ZotFish reserves the right to run advertisements and promotions at any time on the Site. The manner, mode and extent of advertising found on ZotFish shall be subject to change.
7. Links
ZotFish occasionally provides links to other websites or resources. Because ZotFish has no control over external web sites, you, the user, acknowledge and agree that ZotFish does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content on any other website.
8. Proprietary Rights
By using the Site, you, the user, acknowledge and agree that ZotFish may contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable laws governing intellectual property and proprietary rights owned by the software's author or by ZotFish, or both. The look and feel of ZotFish and content on the Site is copyrighted by ZotFish.
9. Copyright complaints
ZotFish respects the intellectual property of others. It is ZotFish's policy to respond expeditiously to claims of copyright and other intellectual property infringement. ZotFish will promptly process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and other applicable intellectual property laws. Upon receipt of notices complying or substantially complying with the DMCA, ZotFish may act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any material claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and may act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any reference or link to material or activity that is claimed to be infringing. ZotFish will terminate access for account holders who are repeat infringers.
Notifying ZotFish of Copyright Infringement: To provide ZotFish notice of an infringement, you must provide a written communication to the attention of "DMCA Infringement Notification Dept." care of abuse@zotfish.com that sets forth the information specified by the DMCA (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512). Please note that you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that an activity is infringing your copyright.
Providing ZotFish with Counter-Notification: If we remove or disable access to content in response to an infringement notice, we will make reasonable attempts to contact the owner or administrator of the affected site or content. If you feel that your material does not constitute infringement, you may provide ZotFish with a counter notification by written communication to the attention of "DMCA Counter Notification Dept." at abuse@zotfish.com that sets forth all of the necessary information required by the DMCA (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512). Please note that you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that an activity is not infringing the copyrights of others. If you are uncertain whether an activity constitutes infringement, we recommended seeking advice of an attorney.
10. ZotFish privacy policy
ZotFish's current privacy policy is available at zotfish.com/privacy.php (the "Privacy Policy"), which is incorporated by this reference.
11. Indemnity
You will indemnify and hold harmless ZotFish, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, customers, vendors, officers and employees from any liability, damage or cost (including reasonable attorneys. fees and cost) from (i) any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of your access to the Site, use of the Services, violation of the Terms of Use by you, or the infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.
12. Warranty disclaimers
You acknowledge that ZotFish has no control over, and no duty to take any action regarding: which users gain access to the Site or use the Services; what effects the Content may have on you; how you may interpret or use the Content; or what actions you may take as a result of having been exposed to the Content. You release ZotFish from all liability for you having acquired or not acquired Content through the Site or the Services. The Site or Services may contain, or direct you to sites containing, information that some people may find offensive or inappropriate. ZotFish makes no representations concerning any content contained in or accessed through the Site or Services, and ZotFish will not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality or decency of material contained in or accessed through the Site or the Services. THE SERVICE, CONTENT, AND SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
13. Limitation of liability
IN NO EVENT SHALL ZOTFISH OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY (I) WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE, THE SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES (HOWEVER ARISING), OR (II) FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF (IN THE AGGREGATE) $100. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
14. Termination
ZotFish may terminate or suspend any and all Services and your ZotFish account immediately, without prior notice or liability, if you breach any of the terms or conditions of the Terms of Use. Upon termination of your account, your right to use the Services will immediately cease. If you wish to terminate your ZotFish account, you may simply discontinue using the Services. All provisions of the Terms of Use which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
15. Miscellaneous
No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of the Terms of Use and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind ZotFish in any respect whatsoever. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. ZotFish shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond ZotFish's reasonable control, including, without limitation, mechanical, electronic or communications failure or degradation (including "line-noise" interference). If any provision of the Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the Terms of Use shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. The Terms of Use is not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with ZotFish's prior written consent. ZotFish may transfer, assign or delegate the Terms of Use and its rights and obligations without consent. The Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of New York, as if made within New York between two residents thereof. Both parties agree that the Terms of Use is the complete and exclusive statement of the mutual understanding of the parties and supersedes and cancels all previous written and oral agreements, communications and other understandings relating to the subject matter of the Terms of Use, and that all modifications must be in a writing signed by both parties, except as otherwise provided herein.
16. Trademarks
ZOTFISH, and ZotFish graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and service names are registered trademarks, trademarks or trade dress of ZotFish in the U.S. and/or other countries. ZotFish's trademarks and trade dress may not be used, including as part of trademarks and/or as part of domain names, in connection with any product or service in any manner that is likely to cause confusion.