1.  Web Site Provider

Welcome to our Online Community.  This Service is provided to you by the Public School of Germantown, d/b/a Germantown Academy, and its service provider, Global Internet Management (Gim.net or the Provider). Germantown Academy reserves the right to modify this User Agreement at any time.  Such modifications will be posted on the Web Site and members will be notified through the Service.

2.   Access and Use Limitations

This community and the services represented within are for individuals considered alumni of Germantown Academy.  To ensure that this is an exclusive community, we compare our online registration records with our alumni database to ensure that only alumni are registered and are considered Users.  If our records do not show that you are an alum, we will contact you for additional information to verify your status with Germantown Academy.  If we cannot substantiate that you are part of our alumni base, then your registration information, home page and additional data or information you have posted to the web site will be deleted.

3.   Policy for Online Conduct

By using the Service, you agree that you will not be post to the Online Community or use this Service to participate in any of the following:

• Sending “Spam” email – Sending “spam” email through the Germantown Academy systems or using the Germantown Academy or Gim.net or  trademarks in connection with sending “spam” email is a serious violation of Netiquette, as well as a violation of applicable laws.  Germantown Academy will take appropriate legal action under the circumstances, which may involve referring the matter for criminal prosecution.   “Spam” is defined as an annoying, unnecessary or unrequested message that is sent to a large number of people.
• Causing spam email to be sent by someone else;
• Displaying material containing nudity or pornographic material of any kind;
• Providing material that is grossly offensive to the Online Community, including blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, racism, hatred or excessive profanity;
• Displaying material that exploits children under 18 years of age;
• Promoting or providing instructional information about illegal activities, promoting physical harm or injury against any group or individual, or promoting any act of cruelty to animals; This includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
• Providing instructions on how to assemble bombs, grenades and other weapons;
• Disseminating personal information about another individual for malevolent purposes;
•  Creating “Crush” sites;
• Providing computer software viruses or software designed to create a virus;
•  Providing satellite TV cracks;
• Providing programs to “nuke” or create a denial of service attack against another individual or ISP;
• Facilitating the delivery of “spam” e-mail;
• Soliciting passwords from other members.
•  Committing acts of copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other intellectual property infringement; This includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
• Providing pirated computer programs or links to such programs (this also includes files which are solely intended for game emulation);
• Providing information used to circumvent manufacturer-installed copy-protect devices, including serial or registration numbers for software programs;
• Providing any type of cracker utility;
• Providing pirated music or links to such files.
• Defaming any person or group;
• Developing restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to from another accessible page);
• Using your home page (or directory) as storage for remote loading or as a door or signpost to another home page, whether inside or beyond the Online Community;
• Developing home pages or session posts that consist of hyperlinks to content not allowed in the Online Community;
• Using the Online Community for the purpose of gathering personal identifying information from individuals for commercial or unlawful purposes;
• Posting or disclosing any personal identifying information belonging to children [Kids: For your safety, please do not put your real name, address, phone number, e-mail address or other personal identifying information on your Personal Home Page or give it to strangers];
• Violating Internet standards for the purpose of promoting your home page;
• Harvesting or collecting information, including User names, about other Users, and using such information for the purpose of sending spam emails or for other commercial purposes;
• Engaging in commercial activities (with the exception of enrolling in Business Card Exchange);  This includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
• Offering for sale any products or services;
• Soliciting for advertisers or sponsors;
• Conducting raffles or contests that require any type of entry fee;
• Displaying a sponsorship banner of any kind, including those that are generated by banner or link exchange services, with the sole exceptions of the Sponsorship Banners agreed upon by Germantown Academy and placed by the Provider;
• Displaying banners for services that provide cash or cash-equivalent prizes to users in exchange for hyperlinks to their web sites;
• Promoting, soliciting or participating in multilevel marketing or pyramid schemes.

Postings that violate the above terms will be deleted from the Service upon discovery.  Users who violate the terms of this Service may receive a warning from Germantown Academy stating that User has committed a violation and that further violations may result in termination of User’s account.  After one or more warnings, Germantown Academy, in its sole discretion, may terminate User’s account.  Germantown Academy does not guarantee, however, that it will monitor all postings and cannot guarantee that material in violation of its policy will not be posted.

Any User who receives spam email and wants to report it should simply use the “Forward” button on the email screen and send the email to screen name _____________.  Germantown Academy also reserves the right to take any and all legal and technical remedies to prevent spam email from entering, utilizing or remaining within the Germantown Academy system.

4.  Free Services

At present, the Services may be freely accessed via the Internet.  At some point in the future, Germantown Academy may restrict entry based on membership level for certain services.  Such services that are determined by membership level will be fee-based.  You will be notified in advance if such a change occurs.

5.  Copyrighted Materials

The downloading of copyrighted materials from this web site, including without limitation text, photographs, sound, video, and music, is permitted by Users only for Users’ own use.  Users may not copy, reproduce, retransmit, distribute, publish, commercially exploit or otherwise transfer any such copyrighted material.  The burden of determining that any information, software or any other content on the Service is not protected by copyright rests with User.  User acknowledges that Germantown Academy, Provider and/or third-party content providers remain the owners of the posted materials, and that User does not acquire any of those ownership rights by downloading copyrighted materials.  Making unauthorized copies of any content found on Germantown Academy can lead to the termination of User’s account and may even subject User to further legal action beyond the termination of that account.  Similarly, other content owners may take criminal or civil action against User.  In that event, User agrees to hold harmless Germantown Academy, the Provider, and their respective employees, officers, directors, agents and affiliates.

6.  Non-Transferability of Membership

Germantown Academy grants to User a personal, non-exclusive, non-assignable and non-transferable license to use and display the software relating to the web site (the “Software”) on any machine(s) of which User is the primary user.  Unauthorized copying of the Software, or of any written materials associated therewith, is expressly forbidden.  User acknowledges that User may not sublicense, transfer, sell or assign this license or the Software.  Any attempt to sublicense, transfer, sell or assign the license is void.

7.  Export

The U.S. Export control laws, rules and regulations regulate the export and re-export of technology originating in the United States.  This includes the electronic transmission of information and software to foreign countries and to certain foreign nationals.  User agrees to abide by these laws, rules and regulations – including but not limited to the Export Administration Act, the Arms Export Control Act and their implementing regulations – and agrees not to transfer, by electronic transmission or otherwise, and any of the content derived from the Service to either a foreign national or a foreign destination without first obtaining any required government authorization.

8.  Third Party Sales and Service

Users may order and purchase merchandise or services from other Users of the Online Community who are not affiliated with Germantown Academy or Gim.net .  All transactions concerning third-party Merchant goods or services, including, but not limited to, purchase terms, payment terms, warranties, guarantees, maintenance and delivery, are solely between the specific Merchant and User.  Neither Germantown Academy nor Gim.net make any warranties or representations whatsoever with regard to any goods or services provided or offered by any other Merchant.  The Online Community will not be a party to any transaction between User and any Merchant, or be liable for any cost or damage arising either directly or indirectly from any action or inaction of any such Merchant.

9.  Limitations of Liability and Warranty

USER AGREES THAT THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT USER’S OWN RISK.  THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” FOR USER’S OWN USE, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTY FOR INFORMATION, SERVICES, OR PRODUCTS PROVIDED THROUGH OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED TO USER AND/OR ANY RESULTS OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH THE SERVICE, UNLESS SUCH WARRANTIES ARE LEGALLY INCAPABLE OF EXCLUSION.  SPECIFICALLY, GERMANTOWN ACADEMY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION;  1) ANY WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY OR CONTENT OF INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES; AND 2) ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

GERMANTOWN ACADEMY PROVIDES THE SERVICE ON A COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE BASIS AND DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT USERS WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICE AT TIMES OR LOCATIONS OF THEIR CHOOSING, OR THAT GERMANTOWN ACADEMY WILL HAVE ADEQUATE CAPACITY FOR THE SERVICE AS A WHOLE OR IN ANY SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREA.  GERMANTOWN ACADEMY’S ENTIRE LIABILITY AND USER’S EXCLUSIVE REMEDY WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF ANY SOFTWARE PROVIDED OR USED BY GERMANTOWN ACADEMY SHALL BE THE REPLACEMENT OF ANY GERMANTOWN ACADEMY SOFTWARE FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE.  USER’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY OTHER DISPUTE WITH GERMANTOWN ACADEMY IS THE CANCELLATION OF USER’S ACCOUNT.

This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence, or under any other claim or cause of action whatsoever.

User specifically acknowledges that neither Germantown Academy nor the Provider shall be liable for the defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any users, members or third-parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with User.  Germantown Academy does not endorse, warrant or guarantee any product or service offered through the service and will not be a party to or in any way be responsible for monitoring any transaction between User and third-party providers of products or services

NEITHER GERMANTOWN ACADEMY NOR THE PROVIDER NOR ANY OF THEIR EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF THE SERVICE, ANY INABILITY TO GAIN ACCESS TO OR USE THE SERVICE, OR ANY BREACH OF WARRANTY, OR FOR ANY OTHER CLAIM RELATED IN ANY WAY TO USER’S USE OF THE SERVICE.  BECAUSE SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH STATES OR JURISDICTIONS, GERMANTOWN ACADEMY’S LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

10.  Distribution/Uploading of Third Party Content

The term “content” means the text, software, communications, images, sounds and other information provided online.  Most content on the Service is provided by Germantown Academy, its members, affiliates, or independent content providers under license.  User may upload to the Software files or otherwise distribute on the Online Community only content that is not subject to any copyright or other proprietary rights protection (collectively, “Public Content”), or content for which the author has given express authorization for distribution on the World Wide Web.  Any copyrighted content that is submitted with the consent of a copyright owner should contain a phrase such as “Protected by Copyright, Owned by [name of owner]; Used by Permission.”  The unauthorized submission of copyrighted or other proprietary content is illegal and could subject User to criminal prosecution as well as personal liability for damages in a civil suit.  User, not Germantown Academy or its independent contractors, will be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyright, proprietary rights, or any other harm arising from such submission.  By submitting content to any User Submit Areas, User automatically warrants that the owner of such Content has expressly granted the Online Community a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify adapt, publish, translate and distribute the content, in whole or in part, worldwide and/or to incorporate such content into other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that exists in such content.  User also warrants that the owner of such content has expressly granted all other Users the right to access, view, store and reproduce the content for that User’s personal use.  Subject to these grants of rights, the owner of content placed in the Online Community retains any and all rights which may exist in such content.  In general, Germantown Academy does not pre-screen content available on the Service.  Germantown Academy does not assume any responsibility or liability for content that is provided by others.  Germantown Academy does reserve the right to remove content that, in Germantown Academy’s sole judgment, does not meet its standards, but Germantown Academy is not responsible for any failure or delay in removing such material.

11.  Termination of Service

Germantown Academy may terminate your account or right to access the Service at any time, without notice, for conduct that Germantown Academy believes violates this User Agreement and/or is harmful to other Users, to Germantown Academy, to the Provider’s business, or to other information providers.

12.  Choice of Law

This User Agreement shall be constructed in accordance with and controlled by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania .  User agrees to personal jurisdiction by the state and federal courts sitting in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

13.  Merger Clause

This User Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter contained herein and supersedes all previous and contemporaneous agreements, proposals and communications, written or oral between Germantown Academy and User.  Germantown Academy may amend this User Agreement at any time upon prior notice from Germantown Academy to User as published through the Service.

14.  Indemnification

Upon the request of Germantown Academy, User agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Germantown Academy, the Provider, and their respective employees, officers, directors, agents and affiliates from all liabilities, claims and expenses, including reasonable attorneys fees, that arise from User’s a breach of this User Agreement for which User is responsible or from the User’s use of the Service or in connection with User’s transmission of any content on the Service.  Germantown Academy reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by User.  In that event, the User shall have no further obligation to provide indemnification for Germantown Academy in that matter.