General terms and conditions of business for Lycos Europe services*
(in the version dated September 21st, 2001)
The Lycos Europe services are operated by Lycos Europe GmbH ('Lycos Europe'), of Guetersloh, in Germany. Lycos Europe provides various information and services about the Lycos Europe network to all registered members. This can involve arranging internet access or services offered on internet pages ('Lycos Europe services'), at the same time.
II. Scope
Subscription to the Lycos Europe services is based on the following conditions. By registering with Lycos Europe and using the offered services, the user declares himself to be in agreement with the applicable law and these terms and conditions of business for using Lycos Europe services.
Individual services in the Lycos Europe network will be provided in co-operation with partners. If need be, further conditions of use for these services apply supplementary to these terms and conditions of business, which can be called up by the user via a link. This link is basically located at the end of the web page on which the service is offered.
III. Registration conditions
Certain Lycos Europe services can only be used after registering as a member. A member can be anyone who has fully and truthfully completed the registration form ('registration data'). As a result, the user receives a member name and a password ('user data'). The member is obligated to update the registration data. The member must keep the user data secret. The registration is free.
Every member can only have one membership and claim the advantages associated with it. The membership and services associated with Lycos Europe services, must only be used for the person's exclusive consumption and they are not transferable.
IV. Responsibility for minors
Minors can register to receive free Lycos Europe services for which registration is compulsory, insofar as they are aware of the consequences for consenting to the processing and use of their data. They must also understand the significance of such a consent. The subsequent use of one service by minors (XIII.3 and XIII.6) is not expressly excluded.
In the event that parents or guardians consent to minors using the Lycos Europe services for which registration is compulsory, they accept their responsibility for the conduct of minors online, the access controls, as well as for the consequences arising from misuse of Lycos Europe services by minors. The parents or guardians are also aware of the fact that some offers made by Lycos Europe's network comprise contents which are unsuitable for minors.
The registration for payable Lycos Europe services is reserved for users over the age of majority.*
V. Fees and payment conditions
The Lycos Europe services for which registration is compulsory are free, insofar as nothing else is determined.
Insofar as services for which registration is compulsory, are offered by partners within the scope of the Lycos Europe network, these services require a separate registration and a contractual agreement being reached with the partner directly (e.g., with 'Canbox Kommunikationsdienste GmbH' for the premium e-mail service, which is chargeable).
Insofar as goods or services are offered via Lycos Europe services or via internet access arranged by 'Comundo', any possible contractual agreements must be reached between the customers and the supplier of such business.
* = adults
VI. Data protection
Lycos Europe respects the user's privacy and meets all applicable conditions for data protection most stringently. Personal data which Lycos Europe collects or processes within the scope of registration as well as for carrying out Lycos Europe services, will be only used by Lycos Europe within the scope of legal regulations. Insofar as the laws intend the member's consent for a certain type of data use, the member can refuse his consent by deactivating the appropriate switch panel during the registration process. The member can withdraw a previously given consent at any time, by e-mail to datenschutz@lycos-europe.com.
VII. Material protected by copyright
All material within the Lycos Europe network, including all texts, software, the source codes for HTML, Java and Flash, photos, videos, graphics, music and sounds, is protected by copyright and indeed both for individual usage as well as collection. The downloading and use of material protected by copyright - which has been provided by Lycos Europe or a third party - is permitted for the member's exclusively private consumption; insofar as this activity occurs within the scope of applicable legal stipulations and these business conditions. However, members cannot use this material beyond this scope to duplicate, replicate, transmit, market, publish, or commercially exploit it by other means in an electronic or other form within another data format, or in other ways.
VIII. Links
Lycos Europe or third parties can create links to other web pages ('sites') or sources. Lycos Europe has no means of control whatsoever at its disposal for such sites and sources and it is not responsible or liable for the availability of such external sites or sources. It does not admit contents which are accessible on such sites or from such sources and it excludes any liability or warranty regarding them, insofar as no positive knowledge of the content's illegality exists. The links and search results in particular, are mainly generated by automatic processes and they cannot by checked by Lycos Europe's employees in any way, on account of their large number. In the event that a link to an external page is found on Lycos Europe pages - which is disseminating illegal contents from third party pages - then Lycos Europe will remove the link to such a page, with appropriate advice.
IX. Warranty exclusion and liability limitations
The use of Lycos Europe services is made at the user's own risk. Lycos Europe does not undertake any liability for providing Lycos Europe services at any time without interruption, or for any particular time, or securely and faultlessly. Information and advice which the user receives within the scope of Lycos Europe services - whether it be on web sites, by e-mail or fax, in writing or orally - does not justify any warranty whatsoever from Lycos Europe; insofar as this warranty has not been expressly agreed. Lycos Europe is only liable for damages which have arisen to users from a wilful or grossly negligent act of Lycos Europe's representative, employee or Lycos Europe's subcontractors and which are still typical damages to the extent that they are foreseeable. The liability for official measures, labour disputes, force majeure, natural catastrophes and accidental damages is excluded if they arise through no fault of Lycos Europe. The user is aware that Lycos Europe services cannot be provided in the offered form, without the above-mentioned warranty exclusion and liability limitations.
X. Modifications to services
For free services, Lycos Europe can determine at its discretion which services are to be provided and to what extent. Limitations, extensions and other modifications of these services by Lycos Europe are permissible at any time and they are likewise subject to the following conditions for subscribers.
Insofar as free services are offered, Lycos Europe reserves the right to adjust them at any time to the latest technological developments and respective legal situation.
XI. Modifications to terms and conditions of business
Lycos Europe reserves the right to modify these general terms and conditions of business. Lycos Europe will inform the member about a modification by e-mail and request his agreement. If the member continues using the services one month after receipt of the agreement request, then the agreement is considered to be given.
The member consents to the use of his e-mail address by Lycos Europe, for the purpose of giving information about modifications to services and terms and conditions of business. This consent is the necessary precondition for using Lycos Europe services and it applies irrespective of refusing a consent according to clause VI (data protection).
XII. Giving notice for terminating membership
Lycos Europe is entitled to give notice for terminating the contractual agreement with the member at any time, without a time-limit and without information about the reasons for giving the notice of termination. Likewise, it can refuse access to a part of its service or to the whole service. Lycos Europe will make use of this entitlement in particular, if the member does not keep to the applicable law and these terms and conditions of business, or if the member has not used the services within the previous 6 months.
The member can give Lycos Europe notice for terminating the membership at any time by using the web form http://uk.lycos.co.uk/application/interactivefaq/deleteform.html, without giving information about reasons. When the notice of termination becomes effective, Lycos Europe has the right to delete any data which the member has input or sent through the Lycos Europe network.
XIII. Guidelines for individual services
Lycos Europe offers various services on the internet. These services are different according to their purpose and nature. The following conditions apply supplementary for using the individual services.
The member undertakes to protect access to the service from unauthorised use by third parties. In this respect, Lycos Europe refers to the fact that user data (member's name and password) must not be passed on to others. The member is liable for every unauthorised use of his user data caused by his conduct, insofar that a fault occurs. Insofar as the member is aware that his user data could have become accessible to third parties, he is obligated to modify his password. In the event that it is impossible for him to do so, he must immediately inform Lycos Europe by e-mail to changepassword@lycos-europe.
1. Free e-mail service and the WAP mail service
Checking of the contents by Lycos Europe of messages - which are received and sent, as well as stored on the server - within the scope of the e-mail service, is legally forbidden and technically impossible. No checking can therefore be done in particular, as to whether they contain software that causes damage (e.g., viruses), or information which is illegal or immoral.
The following duties are placed on the member in particular, regarding the e-mail services:
a) not using the e-mail address either to call up or disseminate information that is illegal or immoral;
b) observing the regulations for legal protection of children and young persons;
c) respecting the privacy of others and therefore not sending annoying, libellous or threatening contents by e-mail in any circumstances;
d) not carrying out any applications which can lead to an alteration of the physical or logical structure of the networks being used.
Using the e-mail post box for dispatching e-mails en masse ('spamming'), mail bombing and every other form of advertising or marketing messages, is not permitted and it would obligate the member to reimburse the damage thus caused.
The preceding rules about the e-mail service also fully apply to e-mail services based on WAP.
2. Provision of storage space for private home pages and WAP pages
The member will be provided with storage space for setting up a private homepage on the world-wide web.
Insofar as Lycos Europe provides the requisite storage space for members' internet pages, Lycos Europe is not responsible for the contents published there, as long as Lycos has no knowledge of them. These contents are outside contents with respect to Lycos Europe. Lycos Europe does not in any way monitor contents prior to their publication on a member page. Nevertheless, Lycos Europe reserves the right to remove any page supplied by Lycos Europe, at its discretion. Lycos Europe does not undertake any warranty that members' internet pages will always be reachable. Lycos Europe is not liable for damage which arises from interrupted access to member pages, or due to the loss of data which has been input by the member. The member is himself responsible for monitoring and securing his pages. Every member is responsible for his pages being in accordance with all applicable laws.
In particular, the following contents are not allowed:
a)any use of works protected by copyright, without the express permission of the copyright holder or the exploitation right's proprietor: in particular, no musical works or third party's software must be offered for downloading or copied in other ways, without consent (or agreement) for it having been expressly given;
b) the dissemination of any type of commercial advertising;
c) dissemination of contents which it is legally forbidden to disseminate;
d) dissemination of pornographic publications and representations;
e) making requests and committing criminal offences, or contributing to them;
f) material which libels, insults or threatens others.
The member is not allowed to provide storage space to third parties for storing data, or to use the storage space for purposes other than setting up home pages within the scope of Lycos Europe services.
By setting up* a web page and associated contents in the Lycos Europe network, the member grants Lycos Europe unlimited textual rights for the associated contents to be used world-wide, free of charge and non-exclusively i.e., copied, transmitted and publicly presented, integrated in compilations and distributed. This right is limited to the purpose of publishing and applying for the member's web page within - and associated with - the service selected by the member, or within the Lycos Europe network. This licence ends when all of the advertising promotions that are still continuing in the effective notice period, are finished. The member grants Lycos Europe the right to operate advertising on web pages set up in the Lycos Europe network.
* = imputing
Private WAP pages must be endorsed with an imprint that is visible to every caller, which contains the member's complete address. WAP pages are defined as contents filed in WML format, that are intended for calling up on the world-wide web via mobile telephones, palm tops, organisers or emulators. Otherwise, the above rules correspondingly apply to WAP pages via private home pages.
3. Inquiries, chat rooms, conferences and contact advertisements
The prerequisites for functioning communication between members and an optimum use of Lycos Europe services by individuals, are that the members treat each other respectfully and keep to certain rules of conduct. These duties include, that the members do not say or write anything injurious, libellous, insulting, threatening, obscene, racist or otherwise illegal in chat rooms, conferences or contact advertisement ('members' pages'); either by e-mails or by contributions to Lycos Europe inquiries. The members are obligated to take account of the cultural and religious interests and opinions of other subscribers.
The Lycos Europe members' pages shall provide private persons with a forum for expressing and forming their opinions and for becoming mutually acquainted. Therefore, commercials or any other form of commercial advertising by members - especially for other web pages on Lycos Europe members pages too - are not allowed.
Lycos Europe reserves the right to delete contributions or parts of them which do not correspond to the above-mentioned rules and to completely block access to the Lycos Europe member's page.
Lycos Europe makes reference to the fact that identities, statements and information from persons which circulate on the internet can be false and Lycos Europe does not warrant the conduct of third parties in any way whatsoever, irrespective of where it takes place. In particular, Lycos is not liable for third parties handling data and information which a member has made accessible to other members or third parties, within the scope of a Lycos Europe service.
The 'contact advertisements' Lycos Europe service must only be used by members over the age of majority. Every member is obligated to confidentially handle e-mails and other messages, names, telephone and fax numbers, residential, business and e-mail addresses and URLs which are exchanged within the scope of contact advertisements. Such information must only be made accessible to third parties with the express consent of the copyright holder or proprietor. The user of contact advertisements consents to allowing Lycos Europe to process and pass on data, insofar as the implementation of this service is required in the specified manner.
4. Financial information
Among other things, Lycos Europe provides services in co-operation with partners who convey information for investments.
Stock exchange prices for securities and fund prices are provided for private use. All stock exchange pricing information is represented differently, depending on the selected stock exchange and type of security; with a usual delay of 15 minutes.
Despite meticulous procurement and provision, Lycos Europe and its partners do not undertake any warranty for the correctness, completeness or accuracy of information about stock exchanges and commerce, that is for calling up by being laid out ready, displayed or dispatched; nor of stock exchange prices, indices, prices, reports, general market data and other accessible contents ('financial information'). The financial information as well as the results generated and displayed by the presentational tools offered, exclusively serve to inform the member and they do not represent any investment advice or other legally binding recommendation.
Advice on copyright and brand designations must not be either altered or removed. All negotiations made about these matters require an advance written approval from Lycos Europe. The setting-up of hyper links from other web pages to one of the web pages belonging to this online offer, is expressly prohibited without the advance, written approval of Lycos Europe. In particular, it is inadmissible to link or represent web pages belonging to this online offer or their contents, by using a hyperlink in a partial window (frame).
Insofar as financial information is dispatched at the member's request as a short message (SMS) to a mobile telephone, the member can arrange for it to be dispatched exclusively to his own mobile telephone number. Otherwise, the following rules apply to sending short messages (SMS), insofar as they are - by nature - usable after the financial information has been sent through Lycos Europe.
The sending of financial information as short messages will be stopped after four weeks, if the member has not used them in the area of 'financial information' within this period.
5. Short messages (SMS)
Lycos Europe enables members to send short messages (SMS) to subscribers of various mobile telephone networks.
It is prohibited to dispatch illegal contents as well as messages with sexual, racist or discriminatory references and advertisements. The member is responsible for his messages according to the general laws. Lycos does not undertake any liability for the contents of transmitted messages. In the event of an infringement against a legal standard, the member shall hold Lycos free from any claims by third parties. The member is obligated not to dispatch short messages with which the addressee is not agreeable to receiving, or which would immorally annoy the addressee. This Lycos Europe service must only be used according to the above-mentioned instructions and not with the help of outside scripts or software.
In the event of a misuse, Lycos reserves the right to exclude individual networks from using the services, or to block individual recipients' numbers. There is no claim whatsoever to the use and availability of this service. Messages will usually be dispatched immediately, but Lycos Europe is not liable for any possible delays with the dispatch. The access to short messages by the recipient is not guaranteed. The dispatch of a message is made at the sender's own risk. The length of a message is limited to 130 characters. A supplement about the message's origin and financing (e.g., powered by www.lycos.co.uk) as well as an advertising message, can be transmitted to the recipient for every message.
6. 'Sonique' media player
The 'Sonique' media player as well as the software for manufacturing plug-ins and skins, are offered to the member as a free download, at the conditions which have been advertised in the installation procedure respectively. A use which extends beyond the licensing agreement or which is contrary to these terms and conditions of business, is prohibited.
It is especially not permitted for the member to duplicate the software or allow access to it by third parties; nor to loan the software or the rights to it; nor to rent or transmit it to third parties in another form; nor to translate it, operate a reverse engine, decompile or dismantle it, or produce other derivatives based on this software.
Lycos Europe is not liable for faults in the 'Sonique' software, nor for any damages arising from it of whatever kind (even not for faulty data transmission, faults in the network infrastructure, system stability, etc.).
Lycos Europe is only liable for damages which arise for the members from a wilful or grossly negligent negotiation by a representative, member or subcontractor of Lycos Europe and which are still typical damages lying within the scope of what is foreseeable. The limitation of liability also applies in favour of the members and subcontractors of Lycos Europe.
Insofar as a member decides to provide skins or plug-ins developed by him in the Lycos Europe network, he grants Lycos Europe the unlimited right world-wide, to copy, distribute, publicly present or perform the skins or plug-ins and to reprocess them. The member guarantees that all parts have been exclusively produced by him for the provided plug-ins or skins and that no rights of copyright or third parties have been violated as a result. The offer of skins is only allowed to members above the age of majority.
Lycos Europe provides music data on the 'Sonique' web page for downloading, through agreements with third parties. This data is subject to copyright and it must only be used for private consumption. A more far-reaching use is prohibited, particularly for public performance, distribution, copying or reprocessing.