Terms and Conditions

Welcome to Ballz.com ('Ballz' or 'we'), the social networking service for all sports that allows Members to connect online through its Ballz.com website (the 'Site'). The services offered by Ballz include the Site and any other features, content, or applications offered from time to time by Ballz in connection with the Site (collectively, the 'Services'). The Services are hosted in the United Kingdom and owned and operated by Ballz.com Ltd.

This Terms of Use Agreement ('Agreement') sets forth the legally binding terms for your use of the Services and Content posted on the Site. By using the Services, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, whether you are a 'Visitor' (which means that you simply browse the Site) or you are a 'Member' (which means that you have registered with Ballz on the Site). The term 'User' refers to a Visitor or a Member. You are only authorized to use the Services (regardless of whether your access or use is intended) if you agree to abide by all applicable laws and to this Agreement. Please read this Agreement carefully and save it. If you do not agree with it, you should leave the Site and discontinue use of the Services immediately. If you wish to become a Member, communicate with other Members and make use of the Services, you must read this Agreement and indicate your acceptance during the Registration process.

In order to participate in certain Services, you may be notified that you are required to download or upload software or content and/or agree to additional terms and conditions. Unless otherwise provided by the additional terms and conditions applicable to the Services in which you choose to participate, those additional terms are hereby incorporated into this Agreement. You may receive a copy of this Agreement by e-mailing us at: privacy@Ballz.com, Subject: Terms of Use Agreement.

Ballz may modify this Agreement from time to time without notice to you and any modification shall be effective upon the posting by Ballz on the Site. You agree to be bound to any changes to this Agreement when you use the Services after any such modification is posted. It is therefore important that you review this Agreement regularly to ensure you are updated as to any changes.

Please choose carefully the information you post on the Site and that you provide to other Users. Your Site profile may not include the following items: telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, and any photographs containing nudity, or obscene, lewd, excessively violent, harassing, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable subject matter. Despite this prohibition, information provided by other Members (for instance, in their Profile) may contain inaccurate, inappropriate, offensive or sexually explicit material, products or services, and Ballz assumes no responsibility or liability for this material.

Ballz reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject, refuse to post or remove any posting or upload (including private messages) by you, or to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to all or any part of the Services at any time, for any or no reason, with or without prior notice, and without liability.

Use of and Membership in the Services is void where prohibited. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; and (c) your use of the Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation; and subject to the following:

If you are under 16 years of age, you will need your parent’s or guardian’s permission before you provide us with personally identifiable information, create a Ballz account and become a Member, and submit, post or upload any User Content to the Website (the “Restricted Acts”). Prior to doing any of the Restricted Acts, you will be required to tick a box to signify that you are under the age of 16 and that you have your parent’s or guardian’s consent to do the Restricted Acts.

If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child (if under 16 years of age) has undertaken any of the Restricted Acts without the parent or guardian's consent by, for example, misrepresenting his or her age or falsely claiming that the parent or guardian has given his/her consent to undertaking any Restricted Acts, that parent or guardian should contact us on privacy@Ballz.com. If we determine that we have collected personal information of children under the age of 16, we will immediately delete such information, any accounts believed to be held by children under 16 and any User Content which has been uploaded by such child.

This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Services or are a Member. You may terminate your Membership at any time, for any reason, by following the instructions on the Member's Account Settings page. Ballz may terminate your membership at any time, without warning to you. Even after your membership is terminated, this Agreement will remain in effect, including Sections 5-18 below.

You acknowledge that Ballz reserves the right to charge for the Services and to change its fees from time to time in its discretion. If Ballz terminates your Membership because you have breached the Agreement, you shall not be entitled to the refund of any unused portion of subscription fees.

When you sign up to become a Member, you will also be asked to choose a password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You agree not to use the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to notify Ballz immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account or access to your password. You are solely responsible for any and all use of your account.

The Services are for the personal use of Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by Ballz. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the Services, including collecting usernames and/or e-mail addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited e-mail or unauthorized framing of or linking to the Site is prohibited. Commercial advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation may be removed from Member profiles without notice and may result in the termination of membership privileges. Appropriate legal action will be taken for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Services.

  • Ballz does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively, 'Content') that you post to the Services. After posting your Content to the Services, you continue to retain all ownership rights in such Content, and you continue to have the right to use your Content in any way you choose. By displaying or publishing ('posting') any Content on or through the Services, you hereby grant to Ballz.com a limited license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on and through the Services.
  • Without this license, Ballz would be unable to provide the Services. For example, without the right to modify Member Content, Ballz would not be able to format Content submitted by Members to satisfy technical requirements. The license you grant to Ballz is non-exclusive (meaning you are free to license your Content to anyone else in addition to Ballz), fully-paid and royalty-free (meaning that Ballz is not required to pay you for the use on the Services of the Content that you post), sublicensable (so that Ballz is able to use its affiliates and subcontractors such as Internet content delivery networks to provide the Services), and worldwide (because the Internet and the Services are global in reach). This license will terminate at the time you remove your Content from the Services. The license does not grant Ballz the right to sell your Content, nor does the license grant Ballz the right to distribute your Content outside of the Services.
  • You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on or through the Services does not violate any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademarks, contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Content posted by you to or through the Services.
  • The Services contain Content of Ballz ('Ballz Content'). Ballz Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other laws, and Ballz owns and retains all rights in the Ballz Content and the Services. Ballz hereby grants you a limited, revocable, non-sublicensable license to reproduce and display the Ballz Content (excluding any software code) solely for your personal use in connection with viewing the Site and using the Services.
  • Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any trademark, logo or service mark (collectively, “Marks”) displayed on the Site without the written permission of Ballz or such third party that may own the Marks displayed on the Site. Your misuse of the Marks displayed on the Site, or any other Content on the Site, except as provided herein, is strictly prohibited. You are advised that Ballz will aggressively enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law, including the seeking of criminal prosecution.
  • The Services contain Content of Users and other Ballz licensors. Except for Content posted by you, you may not copy, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any Content appearing on or through the Services.
  • You are solely responsible for the Content that you post on or through any of the Services and any material or information that you transmit to other Members and for your interactions with other Users. Ballz does not endorse and has no control over the Content. Content is not necessarily reviewed by Ballz prior to posting and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Ballz. Ballz makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Content or to the accuracy and reliability of the Content or any material or information that you transmit to other Members.
  • Ballz may delete any Content that in the sole judgment of Ballz violates this Agreement or which may be offensive, slanderous, defamatory, illegal or violates the rights, harm, or threatens the safety of any person. Ballz assumes no responsibility for monitoring the Services for inappropriate Content or conduct. If at any time Ballz chooses, in its sole discretion, to monitor the Services, Ballz assumes no responsibility for the Content, no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate Content, and no responsibility for the conduct of the User submitting any such Content.

The following is a partial list of the Content that Users may not post on or through the Services (“Prohibited Content”). Ballz reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Ballz's sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending communication from the Services and terminating the Membership of such violators. The Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to, Content that, in the sole discretion of Ballz:

  • is criminal or tortious activity, including child pornography, fraud, trafficking in obscene material, drug dealing, gambling, harassment, stalking, spamming, spimming, sending of viruses or other harmful files, copyright infringement, patent infringement, or theft of trade secrets;
  • is defamatory or patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
  • harasses or advocates harassment of another person or uses any information obtained from the Services to harass, abuse, or harm another person;
  • exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;
  • contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;
  • solicits personal information from anyone under 16;
  • provides any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URLs or e-mail addresses;
  • promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene or defamatory;
  • promotes the illegal or unauthorized copying of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;
  • contains restricted or password only access pages or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
  • furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
  • solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other Users;
  • involves commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;
  • displays an advertisement on your profile, or accepts payment or anything of value from a third person in exchange for your performing any commercial activity on or through the Services on behalf of that person, such as placing commercial content on your profile, posting blogs or bulletins with a commercial purpose, selecting a profile with a commercial purpose as one of your 'Top' friends, or sending private messages with a commercial purpose;
  • advertises to, or solicits, any Member to buy or sell any products or services through the Services, including using any information obtained from the Services to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any Member without their prior explicit consent;
  • involves the transmission of 'junk mail,' 'chain letters,' or unsolicited mass mailing, instant messaging, 'spimming,' or 'spamming'. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, Ballz reserves the right to restrict the number of e-mails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period. If you breach this Agreement and send unsolicited bulk e-mail, instant messages or other unsolicited communications of any kind through the Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to Ballz, but that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay Ballz £25 for each such unsolicited e-mail or other unsolicited communication you send through the Services;
  • includes a photograph of another person that you have posted without that person's consent;
  • covers or obscures the banner advertisements on your personal profile page, or any Site page via HTML/CSS or any other means;
  • engages in any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to add friends or send comments or messages;
  • interferes with, disrupts, or creates an undue burden on the Services or the networks or services connected to the Services;
  • attempts to impersonate another Member or person;
  • uses the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or discloses your password to any third party or permits any third party to access your account;
  • sells or otherwise transfers your profile; or
  • uses the Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

You may not post, modify, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted material, or other proprietary information belonging to others without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights. It is the policy of Ballz to terminate Membership privileges of any Member who repeatedly infringes the copyright rights of others upon receipt of prompt notification to Ballz by the copyright owner or the copyright owner's legal agent. Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on the Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Copyright Agent copyright@Ballz.com with the following information: (i) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; (ii) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Services; (iv) your address, telephone number, and e-mail address; (v) a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Members. Ballz reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Members.

Use of the Services is also governed by our Privacy Policy (http://www.Ballz.com/Privacy), which is incorporated into this Agreement by this reference.

Profiles created and posted by Members on the Site may contain links to other websites. Ballz is not responsible for the Content, accuracy or opinions expressed on such websites, and such websites are in no way investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by Ballz. Inclusion of any linked website on the Services does not imply approval or endorsement of the linked website by Ballz. When you access these third party sites, you do so at your own risk. Ballz takes no responsibility for third party advertisements which are posted on this Site or through the Services, nor does it take any responsibility for the goods or services provided by its advertisers.

The Service includes certain services that are available via your mobile phone, including (i) the ability to upload content to Ballz via your mobile phone (Mobile Uploads), (ii) the ability to receive and reply to Ballz messages, to write posts using text messaging (Mobile Texts), (iii) the ability to browse Ballz from your mobile phone (Mobile Web), and (iv) the ability to access certain Ballz features through a mobile application you have downloaded and installed on your mobile phone (Mobile Client) (collectively the 'Mobile Services'). Your carrier's normal messaging, data and other rates and fees will still apply. You should check with your carrier to find out what plans are available and how much they cost. In addition, downloading, installing, or using certain Mobile Services may be prohibited or restricted by your carrier, and not all Mobile Services may work with all carriers or devices. Therefore, you should check with your carrier to find out if the Mobile Services are available for your mobile devices, and what restrictions, if any, may be applicable to your use of such Mobile Services. By using the Mobile Services, you agree that we may communicate with you regarding Ballz and other entities by SMS, MMS, text message or other electronic means to your mobile device and that certain information about your usage of the Mobile Services may be communicated to us.

Please refer to our Terms of Sale for the terms, conditions and policies applicable to your purchase of products or services through the Site. The Terms of Sale are subject to change without prior notice at any time, in Ballz's sole discretion so you should review the Terms of Sale each time you make a purchase.

Ballz has attempted to provide accurate information on the Site or in connection with the Services and is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate Content posted on the Site or in connection with the Services, whether by Users of the Services or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Services. Ballz may change the programs or products mentioned at any time without notice. Ballz assumes no responsibility for: (i) the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the Services; (ii) any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, any User or Member communication; (iii) any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or players due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on any of the Services or combination thereof, including any injury or damage to a User or to any person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading materials in connection with the Services; (iv) any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from use of the Services, attendance at an Ballz event, from any Content posted on or through the Services, or from the conduct of any User of the Services, whether online or offline; or (v) events beyond our reasonable control. The Services are provided 'As-is' with all faults without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. Ballz expressly disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, those of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement or arising from a course of dealing, usage or trade practice. Ballz cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from using the Services.

IN NO EVENT SHALL BALLZ BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF BALLZ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, BALLZ’S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO BALLZ FOR THE SERVICES DURING THE TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.

If there is any dispute about or involving the Services, you agree that the dispute shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Law of England and Wales and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold Ballz, its subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, damages, or costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any third party claim, action or demands resulting from your use of the Services in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any Content that you post on the Site or through the Services causes Ballz to be liable to a third party. You also agree to indemnify us for any loss, damages, or costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from your use of any data gathering and extraction tools or any other action you take that imposes an unreasonable burden or load on our infrastructure.

This Agreement is accepted upon your use of the Site or any of the Services and is further affirmed by you becoming a Member. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Ballz regarding the use of the Services. The failure of Ballz to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. Ballz is a service mark of Ballz.com Ltd. This Agreement operates to the fullest extent permissible by law. If any provision of this Agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision is deemed severable from this Agreement and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Please contact us at: info@Ballz.com with any questions regarding this Agreement.

These Terms & Conditions are in effect and were last updated on 20 November 2007