Terms of Service

Welcome to Whirled! The following agreement (this "Agreement" or the "Terms of Service") describes the terms on which Three Rings Design, Inc. ("Three Rings") offers you access to its services. This offer is conditioned on your agreement to all of the terms and conditions contained in the Terms of Service, including your compliance with the policies and terms linked to (by way of the provided URLs) from this Agreement. By using Whirled, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not so agree, you should decline this agreement, in which case you are prohibited from accessing or using Whirled. Three Rings may amend this Agreement at any time in its sole discretion, effective upon posting the amended Agreement at the domain or subdomains of http://whirled.com where the prior version of this Agreement was posted, or by communicating these changes through any written contact method we have established with you.

=THE SERVICES AND CONTENT OF WHIRLED=

1.1 Basic description of the service: Whirled, a multi-user environment, including software and websites.
"Whirled" is the multi-user online service offered by Three Rings, including the software provided to you by Three Rings (collectively, the "Three Rings Software") and the online environments that support the service, including without limitation: the server computation, software access, messaging and protocols that simulate the Whirled environment (the "Servers"), the software that is provided by Three Rings and installed on the local computer or other device you use to access the Servers and thereby view or otherwise access the Whirled environment (the "Client"), application program interfaces provided by Three Rings to you for use with Whirled (the "APIs"), and access to the websites and services available from the domain and subdomains of http://whirled.com (the "Websites"). The Servers, Client, APIs, Websites and any other Three Rings Software collectively constitute the "Service" as used in this Agreement.

1.2 Three Rings is a service provider, which means, among other things, that Three Rings does not control various aspects of the Service.
You acknowledge that Three Rings is a service provider that may allow people to interact online regarding topics and content chosen by users of the service, and that users can alter the service environment on a real-time basis. Three Rings generally does not regulate the content of communications between users or users' interactions with the Service. As a result, Three Rings has very limited control, if any, over the quality, safety, morality, legality, truthfulness or accuracy of various aspects of the Service.

==1.3 Content available in the Service may be provided by users of the Service, rather than by Three Rings. Three Rings and other parties have rights in their respective content, which you agree to respect.==

You acknowledge that: (i) by using the Service you may have access to graphics, sound effects, music, video, audio, computer programs, animation, text and other creative output (collectively, "Content"), and (ii) Content may be provided under license by independent content providers, including contributions from other users of the Service (all such independent content providers, "Content Providers"). Three Rings does not pre-screen Content.

You acknowledge that Three Rings and other Content Providers have rights in their respective Content under copyright and other applicable laws and treaty provisions, and that except as described in this Agreement, such rights are not licensed or otherwise transferred by mere use of the Service. You accept full responsibility and liability for your use of any Content in violation of any such rights. You agree that your creation of Content is not in any way based upon any expectation of compensation from Three Rings.

1.4 Whirled "currencies" are a limited license right available for purchase or free distribution at Three Rings' discretion, and are not redeemable for monetary value from Three Rings.
You acknowledge that the Service presently includes a component of in-world fictional currencies ("Coins", "Bars", collectively known as "Whirled Currencies"), which constitute a limited license right to use a feature of our product when, as, and if allowed by Three Rings. Three Rings may charge fees for the right to use Whirled Currencies, or may distribute Whirled Currencies without charge, in its sole discretion. Regardless of terminology used, Whirled Currencies represent a limited license right governed solely under the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from Three Rings at any time. You agree that Three Rings has the absolute right to manage, regulate, control, modify and/or eliminate such Currency as it sees fit in its sole discretion, in any general or specific case, and that Three Rings will have no liability to you based on its exercise of such right.

1.5 Whirled is subject to scheduled and unscheduled service interruptions. All aspects of the Service are subject to change or elimination at Three Rings' sole discretion.
Three Rings reserves the right to interrupt the Service with or without prior notice for any reason or no reason. You agree that Three Rings will not be liable for any interruption of the Service, delay or failure to perform, and you understand that except as otherwise specifically provided in Three Rings' billing policies posted at http://wiki.whirled.com/Billing_FAQ, you shall not be entitled to any refunds of fees for interruption of service or failure to perform. Three Rings has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Service as it sees fit in its sole discretion.

1.6 In the event you choose to use paid aspects of the Service, you agree to the posted pricing and billing policies on the Websites.
Certain aspects of the Service are provided for a fee or other charge. These fees and charges are described on the Websites, and in the event you elect to use paid aspects of the Service, you agree to the pricing, payment and billing policies applicable to such fees and charges, posted or linked at http://wiki.whirled.com/Billing_FAQ. Three Rings may add new services for additional fees and charges, or proactively amend fees and charges for existing services, at any time in its sole discretion.

=ACCOUNT REGISTRATION AND REQUIREMENTS=

2.1 You must establish an account to use Whirled, using true and accurate registration information.
You must establish an account with Three Rings (your "Account") to use the Service, except for those portions of the Websites to which Three Rings allows access without registration. You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the registration form ("Registration Data") and maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. You may establish an Account with Registration Data provided to Three Rings by a third party through the use of an API, in which case you may have a separate, additional account relationship with such third party. You authorize Three Rings, directly or through third parties, to make any inquiries we consider necessary to validate your Registration Data. Three Rings reserves all rights to vigorously pursue legal action against all persons who misrepresent personal information or are otherwise untruthful about their identity, and to suspend or cancel Accounts registered with inaccurate or incomplete information. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you acknowledge that Three Rings cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information submitted by any user of the Service, nor any identity information about any user.

2.2 You must be 13 years of age or older to access Whirled. Three Rings cannot absolutely control whether minors or adults gain unauthorized access to the Service.
You must be at least 13 years of age to participate in the Service.

By accepting this agreement in connection with an Account, you represent that you are (i) you are at least 13 years of age; (ii) you have read and accept this Agreement; (iii) if under the age of 18, your parent or legal guardian has consented to you having an Account for participating in the Service, and to providing your personal information for your Account; and (iv) your parent or legal guardian has read and accepted this Agreement.

Three Rings cannot absolutely control whether minors gain access to the Service, and makes no representation that users are not minors. Three Rings cannot ensure that other users or any non-employee of Three Rings will not provide Content or access to Content that parents or guardians may find inappropriate or that any user may find objectionable.

==2.3 You need to use a display name and and may choose a permanent name ('permaname') in Whirled which are not misleading, offensive or infringing. You must select and keep secure your account password.==

You must choose a display name to identify yourself in Whirled, which will also serve as the name for the graphical representation of your body in the Service (such representation, an "Avatar"). You may also choose a permanent name which cannot be changed and is used to identify you on the Whirled Wiki and in URLs that you might provide to link to Whirled.

You may not select as your display name or permanent name the name of another person to the extent that could cause deception or confusion; a name which violates any trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right; a name which may mislead other users to believe you to be an employee of Three Rings; or a name which Three Rings deems in its discretion to be vulgar or otherwise offensive. Three Rings reserves the right to delete or change any display name or permanent name for any reason or no reason. You are fully responsible for all activities conducted through your Account.

At the time your Account is opened, you must select a password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and are responsible for any harm resulting from your disclosure, or authorizing the disclosure of, your password or from use by any person of your password to gain access to your Account or Account Name. At no time should you respond to an online request for a password other than in connection with the log-on process to the Service. Your disclosure of your password to any other person is entirely at your own risk.

2.4 You may delete your account at any time; however, there are no refunds.
Accounts may be deleted by you at any time. There will be no refunds for any unused currency or any prepaid fees for any portion of the Service.

2.5 Three Rings may suspend or terminate your account at any time, without refund or obligation to you.
Three Rings has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to suspend or terminate your Account, terminate this Agreement, and/or refuse any and all current or future use of the Service without notice or liability to you. In the event that Three Rings suspends or terminates your Account or this Agreement, you understand and agree that you shall receive no refund or exchange for any unused currency, any content or data associated with your Account, or for anything else.

2.6 Accounts affiliated with delinquent accounts are subject to remedial actions related to the delinquent account.
In the event an Account is suspended or terminated for your breach of this Agreement or your payment delinquency (in each case as determined in Three Rings' sole discretion), Three Rings may suspend or terminate the Account associated with such breach and any or all other Accounts held by you or your affiliates, and your breach shall be deemed to apply to all such Accounts.

2.7 You are responsible for your own Internet access.
Three Rings does not provide Internet access, and you are responsible for all fees associated with your Internet connection.

=LICENSE TERMS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TERMS=

3.1 You have a nonexclusive, limited, revocable license to use Whirled while you are in compliance with the terms of service.
Subject to the terms of this Agreement, Three Rings grants to you a non-exclusive, limited, fully revocable license to use the Three Rings Software and the rest of the Service during the time you are in full compliance with the Terms of Service. Additional terms may apply to use of the APIs or other separate elements of the Service (i.e. elements that are not required to use the Client or the Servers); these terms are available where such separate elements are available for download from the Websites. Nothing in this Agreement, or on Three Rings' websites, shall be construed as granting you any other rights or privileges of any kind with respect to the Service or to any Content. You acknowledge that your participation in the Service, including your creation or uploading of Content in the Service, does not make you a Three Rings employee and that you do not expect to be, and will not be, compensated by Three Rings for such activities.

==3.2 You retain copyright and other intellectual property rights with respect to Content you create in Whirled, to the extent that you have such rights under applicable law. However, you must make certain representations and warranties, and provide certain license rights, forbearances and indemnification, to Three Rings and to other users of Whirled.==

Users of the Service can create Content on Three Rings' servers in various forms. Three Rings acknowledges and agrees that, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you will retain any and all applicable copyright and other intellectual property rights with respect to any Content you create using the Service, to the extent you have such rights under applicable law.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand and agree that by submitting your Content to any area of the service, you automatically grant (and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant) to Three Rings: (a) a royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to (i) use, reproduce and distribute your Content within the Service as permitted by you through your interactions on the Service, and (ii) use and reproduce (and to authorize third parties to use and reproduce) any of your Content in any or all media for marketing and/or promotional purposes in connection with the Service, provided that in the event that your Content appears publicly in material under the control of Three Rings, and you provide written notice to Three Rings of your desire to discontinue the distribution of such Content in such material (with sufficient specificity to allow Three Rings, in its sole discretion, to identify the relevant Content and materials), Three Rings will make commercially reasonable efforts to cease its distribution of such Content following the receipt of such notice, although Three Rings cannot provide any assurances regarding materials produced or distributed prior to the receipt of such notice; (b) the perpetual and irrevocable right to delete any or all of your Content from Three Rings' servers and from the Service, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and for any reason or no reason, without any liability of any kind to you or any other party; and (c) a royalty- free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to copy, analyze and use any of your Content as Three Rings may deem necessary or desirable for purposes of debugging, testing and/or providing support services in connection with the Service. Further, you agree to grant to Three Rings a royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable right and license to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights you have in your account information, including any data or other information generated by your account activity, in any media now known or not currently known, in accordance with our privacy policy as set forth below.

You also understand and agree that by submitting your Content to any area of the Service, you automatically grant (or you warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted) to Three Rings and to all other users of the Service a non-exclusive, worldwide, fully paid-up, transferable, irrevocable, royalty-free and perpetual License, under any and all patent rights you may have or obtain with respect to your Content, to use your Content for all purposes within the Service. You further agree that you will not make any claims against Three Rings or against other users of the Service based on any allegations that any activities by either of the foregoing within the Service infringe your (or anyone else's) patent rights.

You further understand and agree that: (i) you are solely responsible for understanding all copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property or other laws that may apply to your Content hereunder; (ii) you are solely responsible for, and Three Rings will have no liability in connection with, the legal consequences of any actions or failures to act on your part while using the Service, including without limitation any legal consequences relating to your intellectual property rights; and (iii) Three Rings' acknowledgement hereunder of your intellectual property rights in your Content does not constitute a legal opinion or legal advice, but is intended solely as an expression of Three Rings' intention not to require users of the Service to forego certain intellectual property rights with respect to Content they create using the Service, subject to the terms of this Agreement.

3.3 Three Rings retains ownership of the account and related data, regardless of intellectual property rights you may have in content you create or otherwise own.
You agree that even though you may retain certain copyright or other intellectual property rights with respect to Content you create while using the Service, you do not own the account you use to access the Service, nor do you own any data Three Rings stores on Three Rings servers (including without limitation any data representing or embodying any or all of your Content). Your intellectual property rights do not confer any rights of access to the Service or any rights to data stored by or on behalf of Three Rings.

3.4 Three Rings licenses its example content to you for your use in creating content in-world.
During any period in which your Account is active and in good standing, Three Rings gives you permission to re-use its example source code and art assets (found on the Whirled wiki and on the service itself), for use only as a part of the Service.

=CONDUCT BY USERS OF WHIRLED=

4.1 You agree to abide by certain rules of conduct, including the Community Standards and other rules prohibiting illegal and other practices that Three Rings deems harmful.
You agree to read and comply with the Community Standards posted on the Whirled wiki; http://wiki.whirled.com/Community_Standards

In addition to abiding at all times by the Community Standards, you agree that you shall not: (i) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that infringes or violates any third party rights; (ii) impersonate any person or entity without their consent, including, but not limited to, a Three Rings employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; (iii) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that violates any law or regulation; (iv) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content as determined by Three Rings at its sole discretion that is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, causes tort, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (v) take any actions or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that contains any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (vi) take any action or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Content that would violate any right or duty under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); (vii) upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, or promotional materials, that are in the nature of "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation that Three Rings considers in its sole discretion to be of such nature; (viii) interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service; (ix) attempt to gain access to any other user's Account or password; or (x) "stalk", abuse or attempt to abuse, or otherwise harass another user. Any violation by you of the terms of the foregoing sentence may result in immediate and permanent suspension or cancellation of your Account. You agree that Three Rings may take whatever steps it deems necessary to abridge, or prevent behavior of any sort on the Service in its sole discretion, without notice to you.

==4.2 You agree to use Whirled as provided, without unauthorized software or other means of access or use. You will not make unauthorized works from or conduct unauthorized distribution of the Three Rings Software.==

Three Rings has designed the Service to be experienced only as offered by Three Rings at the Websites or partner websites. Three Rings is not responsible for any aspect of the Service that is accessed or experienced using software or other means that are not provided by Three Rings. You agree not to create or provide any server emulators or other software or other means that provide access to or use of the Servers without the express written authorization of Three Rings. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may use and create software that provides access to the Servers for substantially similar function (or subset thereof) as the Client; provided that such software is not used for and does not enable any violation of these Terms of Service. Three Rings is not obligated to allow access to the Servers by any software that is not provided by Three Rings, and you agree to cease using, creating, distributing or providing any such software at the request of Three Rings. You are prohibited from taking any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on Three Rings' infrastructure.

You may not charge any third party for using the Three Rings Software to access and/or use the Service, and you may not modify, adapt, reverse engineer (except as otherwise permitted by applicable law), decompile or attempt to discover the source code of the Three Rings Software, or create any derivative works of the Three Rings Software or the Service, or otherwise use the Three Rings Software except as expressly provided in this Agreement. You may not copy or distribute any of the written materials associated with the Service. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may copy the Client that Three Rings provides to you, for backup purposes and may give copies of the Client to others free of charge. Further, you may use and modify the source code for the Client as permitted by any open source license agreement under which Three Rings distributes such Client source code.

4.3 You will comply with the processes of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act regarding copyright infringement claims covered under such Act.
Our policy is to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). Copyright-infringing materials found within the world of Whirled can be identified and removed via Three Rings' DMCA compliance process listed at http://wiki.whirled.com/DMCA_Policy, and you agree to comply with such process in the event you are involved in any claim of copyright infringement to which the DMCA may be applicable.

4.4 You will not use the marks of Three Rings without authorization from Three Rings.
You are not permitted to use the marks "Whirled", "Three Rings", the Whirled logo, or any other trade, service or other marks registered to or owned by Three Rings, except as explicitly authorized by Three Rings and in accordance with guidelines posted at *TBD*.

=RELEASES, DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTY, LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, AND INDEMNIFICATION=

5.1 You release Three Rings from your claims relating to other users of Whirled. Three Rings has the right but not the obligation to resolve disputes between users of Whirled.
As a condition of access to the Service, you release Three Rings (and Three Rings' shareholders, partners, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, distributors) 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 any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more users of the Service. You further understand and agree that: (a) Three Rings will have the right but not the obligation to resolve disputes between users relating to the Service, and Three Rings' resolution of any particular dispute does not create an obligation to resolve any other dispute; (b) to the extent Three Rings elects to resolve such disputes, it will do so in good faith based solely on the general rules and standards of the Service and will not make judgments regarding legal issues or claims; (c) Three Rings' resolution of such disputes will be final with respect to the virtual world of the Service but will have no bearing on any real-world legal disputes in which users of the Service may become involved; and (d) you hereby release Three Rings (and Three Rings' shareholders, partners, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, distributors) 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 Three Rings' resolution of disputes relating to the Service.

5.2 Other service or product providers may form contractual relationships with you. Three Rings is not a party to your relationship with such other providers.
Subject to the terms of this Agreement, you may view or use the environment simulated by the Servers through viewer software that is not the Client provided by Three Rings, and you may register for use of Whirled through websites that are not Websites owned and operated by Whirled. Three Rings is not responsible for any software used with or in connection with Whirled other than Three Rings Software developed by Three Rings. Three Rings does not control and is not responsible for any information you provide to parties other than Three Rings. Three Rings is not a party to your agreement with any party that provides software, products or services to you in connection with Whirled.

5.3 All data on Three Rings' servers are subject to deletion, alteration or transfer.
When using the Service, you may accumulate Content, Currency, objects, items, scripts, equipment, or other value or status indicators that reside as data on Three Rings' servers. THESE DATA, AND ANY OTHER DATA, ACCOUNT HISTORY AND ACCOUNT NAMES RESIDING ON THREE RINGS' SERVERS, MAY BE DELETED, ALTERED, MOVED OR TRANSFERRED AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON IN THREE RINGS' SOLE DISCRETION.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY COPYRIGHT OR OTHER RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE WITH RESPECT TO ITEMS YOU CREATE USING THE SERVICE, AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY VALUE ATTRIBUTED TO SUCH CONTENT OR OTHER DATA BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY, THREE RINGS DOES NOT PROVIDE OR GUARANTEE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS (SUBJECT TO ANY UNDERLYING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN THE CONTENT), ANY VALUE, CASH OR OTHERWISE, ATTRIBUTED TO ANY DATA RESIDING ON THREE RINGS' SERVERS.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THREE RINGS HAS THE RIGHT, BUT NOT THE OBLIGATION, TO REMOVE ANY CONTENT (INCLUDING YOUR CONTENT) IN WHOLE OR IN PART AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE AND WITH NO LIABILITY OF ANY KIND.

5.4 Three Rings provides the Service on an "as is" basis, without express or implied warranties.
THREE RINGS PROVIDES THE SERVICE, THE THREE RINGS SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND ALL OTHER SERVICES STRICTLY ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, PROVIDED AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WRITTEN OR ORAL, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Without limiting the foregoing, Three Rings does not ensure continuous, error-free, secure or virus-free operation of the Service, the Three Rings Software or your Account, and you understand that you shall not be entitled to refunds for fees based on Three Rings' failure to provide any of the foregoing other than as explicitly provided in this Agreement. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, and to that extent, the foregoing disclaimer may not apply to you.

5.5 Three Rings' liability to you is expressly limited, to the extent allowable under applicable law.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THREE RINGS OR ANY OF ITS SHAREHOLDERS, PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, LICENSEES OR DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, ARISING (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE) OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ITS MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION), THE THREE RINGS SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT (INCLUDING ITS TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION) OR THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER OR NOT THREE RINGS MAY HAVE BEEN ADVISED THAT ANY SUCH DAMAGES MIGHT OR COULD OCCUR AND NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY. IN ADDITION, IN NO EVENT WILL THREE RINGS' CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR DIRECT DAMAGES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE EXCEED FIFTY DOLLARS (U.S. $50.00). Some jurisdictions do not allow the foregoing limitations of liability, so to the extent that any such limitation is impermissible, such limitation may not apply to you. You agree that Three Rings cannot be held responsible or liable for anything that occurs or results from accessing or subscribing to the Service.

5.6 You will indemnify Three Rings from claims arising from breach of this Agreement by you, from your use of Whirled, from loss of Content due to your actions, or from alleged infringement by you.
At Three Rings' request, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Three Rings, its shareholders, partners, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, distributors, Content Providers, and other users of the Service, from all damages, liabilities, claims and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and costs, arising from any breach of this Agreement by you, or from your use of the Service. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Three Rings, its shareholders, partners, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, and distributors, from all damages, liabilities, claims and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and costs, arising from: (a) any action or inaction by you in connection with the deletion, alteration, transfer or other loss of Content, status or other data held in connection with your Account, and (b) any claims by third parties that your activity or Content in the Service infringes upon, violates or misappropriates any of their intellectual property or proprietary rights.

=PRIVACY POLICY=

6.1 Three Rings uses your personal information to operate and improve Whirled, and will not give your personal information to third parties except to operate, improve and protect the Service.
The personal information you provide to us during registration is used for Three Rings' internal purposes only. Three Rings uses the information it collects to learn what you like and to improve the Service. Three Rings will not give any of your personal information to any third party without your express approval except: as reasonably necessary to fulfill your service request, to third- party fulfillment houses, customer support, billing and credit verification services, and the like; to comply with tax and other applicable law; as otherwise expressly permitted by this Agreement or as otherwise authorized by you; to law enforcement or other appropriate third parties in connection with criminal investigations and other investigations of fraud; or as otherwise necessary to protect Three Rings, its agents and other users of the Service. Three Rings does not guarantee the security of any of your private transmissions against unauthorized or unlawful interception or access by third parties. Three Rings can (and you authorize Three Rings to) disclose any information about you to private entities, law enforcement agencies or government officials, as Three Rings, in its sole discretion, believes necessary or appropriate to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries, or as otherwise required by law. If you request any technical support, you consent to Three Rings' remote accessing and review of the computer onto which you load Three Rings Software for purposes of support and debugging. You agree that Three Rings may communicate with you via email and any similar technology for any purpose relating to the Service, the Three Rings Software and any services or software which may in the future be provided by Three Rings or on Three Rings' behalf. You agree to read the disclosures and be bound by the terms of the additional Privacy Policy information posted on our website at Privacy Policy.

6.2 Three Rings may observe and record your interaction within the Service, and may share aggregated and other general information (not including your personal information) with third parties.
You acknowledge and agree that Three Rings, in its sole discretion, may track, record, observe or follow any and all of your interactions within the Service. Three Rings may share general, demographic, or aggregated information with third parties about our user base and Service usage, but that information will not include or be linked to any personal information without your consent.

6.3 Content Inside Whirled may observe and record your interaction with the Service which may be passed to third parties
Whirled content such as Pets, Toys, Avatars and Games contributed by players may contain software code that, using the Whirled APIs, may observe your actions on the service. For example, Pets can react to chat in a room, a Toy could observe your IP address, or a Game could keep a record of when you play. These player-created items may store this information on Whirled's servers, or transmit and store it elsewhere on third-party servers. Whirled has no control over the use of this information by third parties, and for this reason you should not engage with Whirled with the expectation that your interactions with the service are private from third parties. For more detail on what information can be discerned in this way, please consult the Whirled API documentation.

=DISPUTE RESOLUTION=

If a dispute arises between you and Three Rings, our goal is to provide you with a neutral and cost-effective means of resolving the dispute quickly. Accordingly, you and Three Rings agree to resolve any claim or controversy at law or in equity that arises from or relates to this Agreement or our Service (a "Claim") in accordance with one of the subsections below.

7.1 Governing Law.
This Agreement and the relationship between you and Three Rings shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California without regard to conflict of law principles or the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods.

7.2 Forum for Disputes.
You and Three Rings agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in the City and County of San Francisco, California, except as provided in Subsection 7.3 below regarding optional arbitration. Notwithstanding this, you agree that Three Rings shall still be allowed to apply for injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.

7.3 Optional Arbitration.
For any Claim, excluding Claims for injunctive or other equitable relief, where the total amount of the award sought is less than ten thousand U.S. Dollars ($10,000.00 USD), the party requesting relief may elect to resolve the Claim in a cost-effective manner through binding non-appearance-based arbitration. A party electing arbitration shall initiate it through an established alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") provider mutually agreed upon by the parties. The ADR provider and the parties must comply with the following rules: (a) the arbitration shall be conducted, at the option of the party seeking relief, by telephone, online, or based solely on written submissions; (b) the arbitration shall not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; and (c) any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

7.4 Improperly Filed Claims.
All Claims you bring against Three Rings must be resolved in accordance with this Dispute Resolution Section. All Claims filed or brought contrary to this Dispute Resolution Section shall be considered improperly filed. Should you file a Claim contrary to this Dispute Resolution Section, Three Rings may recover attorneys' fees and costs up to one thousand U.S. Dollars ($1,000.00 USD), provided that Three Rings has notified you in writing of the improperly filed Claim, and you have failed to promptly withdraw the Claim.

=GENERAL PROVISIONS=

The Service is controlled and operated by Three Rings from its offices within the State of California, United States of America. Three Rings makes no representation that any aspect of the Service is appropriate or available for use in jurisdictions outside of the United States. Those who choose to access the Service from other locations are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. The Three Rings Software is subject to all applicable export restrictions. You must comply with all export and import laws and restrictions and regulations of any United States or foreign agency or authority relating to the Three Rings Software and its use.

Three Rings' failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive Three Rings' right to act with respect to that breach or subsequent or similar breaches. No consent or waiver by Three Rings under this Agreement shall be deemed effective unless delivered in a writing signed by a duly appointed officer of Three Rings. All or any of Three Rings' rights and obligations under this Agreement may be assigned to a subsequent owner or operator of the Service in a merger, acquisition or sale of all or substantially all of Three Rings' assets. You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or any or all of your rights hereunder without the prior written consent of Three Rings, and any attempt to do so is void. Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, no default, delay or failure to perform on the part of Three Rings shall be considered a breach of this Agreement if such default, delay or failure to perform is shown to be due to causes beyond the reasonable control of Three Rings.

This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and Three Rings with respect to the subject matter hereof. The section headings used herein, including descriptive summary sentences at the start of each section, are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then in such jurisdiction that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. Three Rings may give notice to you by means of a general notice on our website at http://whirled.com, through the Whirled Client at or after log-in to your Account, by electronic mail to your e-mail address in our records for your Account, or by written communication sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, or overnight courier to your address on record for your Account. All notices given by you or required under this Agreement shall be faxed to Three Rings Legal Department, Attn: Dispute Resolution, at: (415) 615 6895; or mailed to us at: Three Rings Legal Department, Attn: Dispute Resolution, 612 Howard St. Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94105.