Effective Date of this version: October 12, 2007

 

Thank you for visiting matthewsplace.com (the “Site”).  This Site is operated by the Matthew Shepard Foundation (“the Foundation”), located at ”), located at 1580 Lincoln Street, Suite 1150, Denver, CO 80203.  Your access to and use of this Site is subject to the following terms of use (“Terms of Use”) and all applicable laws.

 

The terms “the Foundation,” “we,” “us” and “our” when used in these Terms of Use means the Foundation and its parent, subsidiaries, divisions, branches, affiliates or companies under common ownership or control of the Foundation.  The terms “you” and “your” when used in these Terms of Use means any user of this Site.

 

AGREEMENT

Access to and use of this Site and the information, materials, products and services available through this Site are subject to all applicable laws and regulations and to these Terms of Use. By accessing, browsing, and shopping at this Site, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms of Use, which form a legally binding agreement.  If you do not agree, please exit this Site.

These Terms of Use may be changed by us from time to time without specific notice to you. The latest Terms of Use will be posted on the Site, and you should always review these Terms of Use prior to using the Site to ensure that you have a current understanding of the Terms of Use under which you are permitted to access this Site. If you cannot access the Terms of Use via the Internet, we can provide a copy of the most recent Terms of Use by e-mail upon request. Please e-mail us at the e-mail address listed at the end of these Terms of Use.

ACCESS TO THIS SITE (OR PORTIONS THEREOF) AND THE USE OF INFORMATION, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PROVIDED THROUGH THIS SITE (OR PORTIONS THEREOF), IS NOT INTENDED, AND IS PROHIBITED, WHERE SUCH ACCESS OR USE VIOLATES APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS.

MINORS

 

This Site is intended for individuals aged 13-22.  As such, it is not intended for children or minors under the age of 13 years without the permission of a parent or guardian.  In addition, you must be at least 18 years of age to make a purchase on our Site’s online store.

 

All references on this Site to information, materials, products and services apply to information, materials, products and services available in the countries or jurisdictions specified with respect to such information only, unless otherwise stated.  Nothing in this Site constitutes an offer to buy or sell any products or services in any jurisdiction.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, this Site and its design, text, content, selection and arrangement of elements, organization, graphics, design, compilation, magnetic translation, digital conversion and other matters related to this Site (“Content”) are protected under applicable copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary (including, but not limited to, intellectual property) laws, including without limitation those of the United States, and all Content and intellectual property rights therein are the property of the Foundation or the material is included with the permission of the rights owner and is protected pursuant to applicable copyright and trademark laws.

 

The posting of Content on this Site does not constitute a waiver of any right in such Content. You do not acquire ownership rights to any Content viewed through this Site. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Content may not  be used, copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, modified, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without our express prior written permission.

Permission is hereby granted to the extent necessary to lawfully access and use this Site and/or information, materials, products and/or services available on it to display, download, archive and print in hard copy, portions of this Site on a temporary basis and for your individual use only, provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain any and all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the materials.

 

The Foundation’s logo(s), all page headers, all custom graphics, all button icons, all trademarks, service marks and logos appearing on this Site, unless otherwise noted, are trademarks (whether registered or not) of the Foundation (the "Marks").  All other trademarks, product names, company names, logos, service marks and/or trade dress mentioned, displayed, cited or otherwise indicated on the Site are the property of their respective owners. You are not authorized to display or use the Marks in any manner without our prior written permission. You are not authorized to display or use trademarks, product names, company names, logos, service marks and/or trade dress of other owners without the prior written permission of such owners. The use or misuse of the Marks or other trademarks, product names, company names, logos, service marks and/or trade dress or any other materials contained herein, except as permitted herein, is expressly prohibited.

 

HYPERLINK DISCLAIMER

This Site may contain links and/or advertisements to other websites maintained by us in addition to links to websites maintained by unrelated companies and persons. An advertisement of, or link to, a website not operated by the Foundation does not mean that we approve, endorse or accept any responsibility for that website, its content or use, or the use of products and services made available through such website.

 

We are not responsible for the actions, content, accuracy, opinions expressed, privacy policies, products or services provided through these links or made available through these resources or appearing in such websites, nor for any damages or losses, directly or indirectly, caused or alleged to have been caused as a result of your use or reliance on such websites.

 

Such websites are not investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy, completeness or conformance with applicable laws and regulations by us. We do not make any representations whatsoever, or give any warranties of any kind, expressed, implied, or otherwise about other websites which you may access through this Site, the content thereof, or the products and/or services made available through such websites. If you decide to leave our Site and access these other websites, you do so at your own risk. All rules, policies (including privacy policies) and operating procedures of such websites will apply to you while on such websites.

 

Any materials uploaded, posted, submitted, or otherwise made available by individual users of the Site, including without limitation postings on message boards or blogs, or other content which does not originate with the Foundation or its licensors (“User Content”), is the sole responsibility of the person who made such User Content available on the Site. Under no circumstances will the Foundation be liable in any way for any User Content made available through this Site by you or any third party.

 

Since the Foundation does not control the User Content posted on the Site, it cannot and does not warrant and/or guarantee the truthfulness, integrity, suitability, or quality of that User Content. You also agree and understand that by accessing the Site, you may encounter User Content that you may consider to be obscene, improper, or for other reasons deemed objectionable. The Foundation has no responsibility for any User Content, including without limitation any errors or omissions therein. The Foundation is not liable for any loss or damage of any kind you claim was incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available on the Site, whether by the Foundation, individual users of the Site, or third party contractors or licensors of the Foundation.

You agree that you will not use the Site to transmit or make available any User Content that:

 

 - violates any laws, contains any threats, is abusive, tortuous, harassing, vulgar, obscene, indecent, violates any person's rights of privacy or publicity, is defamatory, libelous, hateful, contains any disparaging statements or opinions regarding racial, gender or ethnic background, is otherwise objectionable, or which you know or have reason to know is false, misleading, or fraudulent;

 - infringes any intellectual property rights of any party, including, but not limited to any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights, or which you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;

 - contains any private information about an identifiable person without that person's permission, or any content soliciting any personal or private information from any individual under the age of 18;

 - contains forged headers or employs other techniques whose purpose is to disguise the origin of the Content submitted;

 - contains any information posted primarily for advertising, promotional, or other commercial purposes, including without limitation any request for or solicitation of money, goods, or services for private gain;

 - incorporates within it any software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs whose purpose or function is to interrupt, destroy or otherwise impair the operability of any software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

 -contains links to any websites containing content violating any of the foregoing requirements, or links to any websites for purposes of disrupting the operations of such website, harassing the owners of such website, or other objectionable or illegal purposes.

 

You further agree not to use the Site to:

 - engage in any conduct which might be harmful to minors;

 - impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

 -engage in or facilitate any conduct that could be deemed to constitute "stalking" or otherwise harassing conduct aimed at another person or entity;

 -engage in or transmit any material that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law or regulation;

- interfere with or disrupt the Site, or servers or networks connected thereto.

 

The Foundation reserves the right (but has no obligation) in its sole discretion to pre-screen, edit, refuse, move or remove any User Content that is posted on the Site. The exercise by the Foundation of such discretion will not convert User Content to Content owned or provided by the Foundation, and the user who provided such User Content will retain ownership thereof as described below.

 

With respect to any information you provide to the Foundation, including personal data and information, you agree and accept that the Foundation may retain, maintain and/or disclose such information and User Content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such retention, preservation and/or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) respond to any legal process; (b) enforce these Terms of Use; (c) respond to any claims that any User Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for inforrmation; or (e) protect the rights, property or personal safety of the Foundation, its users and the public.

 

If any User Content is your original work, then you own the copyright in that work. The Foundation does not claim any copyrights in original works created and posted by individual visitors to this Site. However, by uploading, posting, transmitting or otherwise making any User Content available on or through this Site, you are granting the Foundation, and its parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, an irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to copy, modify, publish, distribute publicly, and prepare derivative works of such User Content in any medium or form, without any obligation of notice, attribution or compensation to you.

 

OWNERSHIP OF FEEDBACK

All comments, feedback, ideas, questions, designs, data or the like regarding or relating to the Site or the business of the Foundation which you submit to the Foundation (collectively, "Feedback"), will be considered NON-CONFIDENTIAL and NON-PROPRIETARY with regard to you, but the Foundation reserves the right to treat any such Feedback as the confidential information of the Foundation. For this reason, we ask you not to send us any information or materials that you do not wish to assign to us. By submitting Feedback to the Foundation, you assign to the Foundation, and its parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, free of charge, all worldwide rights, title and interest in all copyrights and other intellectual property rights in such Feedback. The Foundation will be entitled to use any Feedback you submit to it, and any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any such Feedback, for any purpose whatsoever without restriction and without compensating you in any way.

 

DISCLAIMER REGARDING ACCURACY OF CONTENT

The Foundation makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of User Content on the Site created or provided by third parties. The Foundation makes no warranties or representations whatsoever with regard to any product or service provided or offered by any vendor on the Site (including without limitation advertisers on the Site and individuals or entities placing classified advertisements on the Site) and any reliance on Content provided by any party other than the Foundation will be at your own risk. You expressly agree to hold the Foundation harmless for any claims of damage arising from any product or service provided by any third party.

 

By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy. Before using this Site please read through all these documents carefully. All personal data provided to us as a result of your use of this Site will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.  Posting or transmitting of any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense or violation of any law is strictly prohibited.

We reserve the right to monitor your communications with us whether by mail, voice, fax, e-mail or any other form of transmission for the purposes of quality control, security and other business needs.

 

WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE OR ITS CONTENTS, WHICH ARE PROVIDED FOR USE "AS IS" AND ON AN “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, QUALITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE AND ANY SITE WITH WHICH IT IS LINKED. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THIS SITE, ITS SERVERS OR E-MAIL SENT FROM US WILL BE FREE OF ANY HARMFUL COMPONENTS (INCLUDING VIRUSES). WE ALSO MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO WHETHER THE INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE VIA THIS SITE, OR ANY WEBSITE WITH WHICH IT IS LINKED, IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR CURRENT. WE DO NOT PROVIDE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AGAINST THE POSSIBILITY OF DELETION, MISDELIVERY OR FAILURE TO STORE COMMUNICATIONS, PERSONALIZED SETTINGS, OR OTHER DATA. YOU ACCEPT THAT OUR SHAREHOLDERS, OWNERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES WILL HAVE THE BENEFIT OF THIS CLAUSE.

 

The information and all other materials on this Site are provided for general information purposes only and do not constitute professional advice. It is your responsibility to evaluate (or take professional advice on) the accuracy and completeness of all information, statements, opinions and other material on this Site or any website with which it is linked.

Your statutory rights as a consumer, if any, are not affected by these provisions, and we do not seek to exclude or limit liability for fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAWS WE, ON BEHALF OF OUR EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, AND CONTRACTORS, EXCLUDE AND DISCLAIM LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSSES, OR INJURY EXPENSES OF WHATEVER NATURE AND HOWSOEVER ARISING INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS CAUSED BY A VIRUS, LOSS OF INCOME OR PROFIT, LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, HARM TO PERSON OR PROPERTY, CLAIMS OF THIRD PARTIES, OR OTHER LOSSES OF ANY KIND OR CHARACTER, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THIS SITE OR ANY WEBSITE WITH WHICH IT IS LINKED. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ESTABLISHING SUCH PROCEDURES FOR DATA BACK UP AND VIRUS CHECKING AS YOU CONSIDER NECESSARY. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER BASIS.

 

These Terms of Use give you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from country to country. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, or certain kinds of limitations or exclusions of liability, so the limitations & exclusions set out in these Terms of Use may not apply to you. Other jurisdictions allow limitations and exclusions subject to certain conditions. In such a case the limitations and exclusions set out in these Terms of Use will apply to the fullest extent permitted by the laws of such applicable jurisdictions.

 

YOUR OBLIGATIONS

You are responsible for providing and maintaining all personal computer and communications equipment and Internet access accounts necessary to gain access to this Site.

 

As a condition of your right to use the Site, you represent that you are of legal age to enter into a binding contract, or if you are not, that you have the consent of your parent or legal guardian to use this Site, and that you are not a person barred from visiting the Site and accessing the Content under the laws of the United States or other country.  If you wish to register on our Site you agree to provide accurate, current and complete personal data and information about yourself (such as name, age, address, etc.) as required by our registration form(s). The Foundation reserves the right to suspend or terminate your use of the Site if it discovers, or has a reasonable basis to believe that any of the data you have provided is inaccurate, incomplete or untrue.

 

Your account, including your username and password, are personal to you and may not be used by anyone else. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and username and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or username by you or by anyone else using your username and password, whether or not authorized by you. You agree to immediately inform us of any apparent breaches of security such as loss, theft or unauthorized disclosure or use of your username or password (contact the Foundation at info@matthewsplace.com) and until we are so notified you will remain liable for any unauthorized use of your account.

 

You agree to indemnify, release and hold us harmless as well as our officers, directors, agents, representatives and employees from any claim, liability, loss, expense or demand, including legal fees, related to your violation of these Terms of Use or your access or use of this Site (including any information, materials, products or services available through this Site).

 

If you are the parents of children under the age of 13, and you wish to allow your children access to the Site, you will be required to certify that you are the legal guardian of the child/children accessing the Site. As your child's legal guardian, you are responsible for determining whether any of the Content on the Site is, or is not, appropriate for your child.

 

MODIFICATION AND DISCONTINUATION

We reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify, edit, delete, suspend or discontinue, temporarily or permanently this Site (or any portion thereof) and/or the information, materials, products and/or services available through this Site (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any such modification, editing, deletion, suspension or discontinuance of this Site.

 

These Terms of Use (together with our Privacy Policy, which is expressly incorporated herein) contain the entire understanding between you and us with respect to use of this Site and no representation, statement, inducement oral or written, not contained herein will bind any party to this agreement.

 

Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms of Use will not be deemed a waiver of such provision nor of the right to enforce such provision, and a waiver by us of any right under these Terms of Use on any occasion will not in any way constitute a waiver of such right or any other right on any other occasion.  In the event any provision of these Terms of Use is determined to be invalid, such invalidity will not affect the validity of the remaining portions of these Terms of Use, and the parties will substitute for the invalid provision a provision which most closely approximates the intent and economic effect of the invalid provision. These Terms of Use will apply in lieu of and notwithstanding any specific legend or statement associated with any particular document or information exchanged.

 

These Terms of Use will be subject to, governed by and construed under the laws of the State of Colorado in the United States of America, without regard to conflict of law principles. This Site is operated from the State of Colorado and is intended to be accessed only by persons in the United States and Canada.  Access to or use of this Site or information, materials, products and/or services on this Site may be prohibited by law in certain countries or jurisdictions. You are responsible for compliance with any applicable laws of the country from which you are accessing this Site.

 

You hereby consent and waive all objection to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts in the State of Colorado and venue therein to resolve any controversy or claim of whatever nature arising out of or relating to use of this Site. However, we retain the right to bring legal proceedings in any jurisdiction where we believe that infringement of this agreement is taking place or originating.

 

If you have any questions regarding these Terms of Use or any other matter, you may refer to our Customer Service page or email us at info@matthewsplace.com.

You may also contact us at:

 

Matthew Shepard Foundation
1580 Lincoln Street, Suite 1150
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 830-7400

 

We always enjoy hearing from you.