eq:EULA
UPDATED AUGUST 21, 2006
Please remember to review the current terms and conditions of the EverQuest User Agreement and Software License. Thank you.
EVERQUEST® USER AGREEMENT AND SOFTWARE LICENSE
THIS AGREEMENT DESCRIBES THE TERMS ON WHICH SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT LLC ("SOE") OFFERS YOU ACCESS TO AN ACCOUNT (THE "ACCOUNT") TO PLAY THE EVERQUEST FANTASY ONLINE ROLE PLAYING COMPUTER GAME AND ANY EXPANSION PACKS (INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY, THE "GAME"). BY PRESSING THE "I ACCEPT" BUTTON, YOU ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BELOW. BY PRESSING THE "DECLINE" BUTTON, YOU DECLINE OUR OFFER, IN WHICH CASE YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR PLACE OF PURCHASE REGARDING ITS RETURN POLICY FOR THE APPLICABLE PRODUCT. If you have any questions regarding these terms and conditions, please contact customer service at eqmail@soe.sony.com.
1. Accounts are available only to adults or, in their discretion, their minor child. If you are a minor, your parent(s) or guardian(s) must complete the registration process, in which case they will take full responsibility for all obligations under this Agreement. By clicking the "I Accept" button and providing us with a credit card number, you represent that you are an adult and are either accepting this Agreement on behalf of yourself or your child. You may not transfer or share your Account with anyone, except that if you are a parent or guardian, you may permit one child to use the Account instead of you (in which case you may not use that Account). You are liable for all activities conducted through the Account, and parents or guardians are liable for the activities of their child. Corporations and other entities are not eligible to procure Accounts.
2. To play the Game, you must (a) purchase or receive through an SOE-authorized promotional offer (such as an authentic disc bundled with a game magazine) the Game DVD-ROM (the "Disc") or applicable files which we may make available for direct download, which includes software required for the Game (the "Software"), (b) have a fully paid Account, and (c) have an Internet connection (which we do not provide) to access your Account. In addition to any fees described herein, you are responsible for paying all applicable taxes (including those we are not required to collect) and for all hardware, software, service and other costs you incur to access your Account. Neither this Agreement nor your Account entitles you to any subsequent releases of the Software, nor to any expansion packs or similar ancillary products, without paying applicable charges. You understand that we may update or otherwise enhance the Software at any time and in doing so incur no obligation to furnish such updates to you pursuant to this Agreement.
3. We may amend this Agreement at any time in our sole discretion. Amendments shall be communicated to you at the time you log into your Account. Such amendments shall be effective whenever we make the notification available for your review.
4. Upon registration, you must select a password. You may not disclose your password to any third party. We never ask you for your password by telephone or email, and you should not disclose it this way if someone asks you to do so. Although we may offer a feature that allows you to "save" or "remember" your password on your hard drive, please note that by using this feature third parties may be able to access your computer and thus your Account.
5. We describe our fees and billing procedures at a hotlink located at www.everquestlive.com, which are incorporated by reference. All fees are stated in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise specified. All fees are prepaid and non-refundable. Upon your acceptance of these terms, we have the right to automatically charge your credit card the Account fee plus any applicable taxes we are required to collect, and you authorize us to do so. Thereafter, each time your Account comes up for renewal, we have the right to charge your credit card the then-current renewal rate plus any applicable taxes we are required to collect, and you authorize us to do so. If we are unable to process your credit card at a renewal period, your Account may be immediately terminated. If we make a Game Card available and you use a Game Card to pay for your Account, the Game Card shall activate your Account for the period stated on the Game Card and, thereafter, you will either need to provide a valid credit card (in which case your credit card will subsequently be charged as referenced above) or purchase another Game Card for subsequent subscription periods, or your Account will be closed. You may terminate your Account at any time through the Account registration process. If you terminate your Account during your initial free period, if any, your account will be closed at the end of the free period and you will not be billed. If you terminate your Account during any subscription cycle, your Account will be closed at the end of the then-current cycle and you will not be billed again unless you affirmatively reopen the Account. We do not give full or partial refunds for subscription periods that you have purchased.
6. We may terminate this Agreement (including your Software license and your Account) and/or suspend your Account immediately and without notice if you breach this Agreement or repeatedly infringe any third party intellectual property rights, or if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us, or upon gameplay, chat or any player activity whatsoever which we, in our sole discretion, determine is inappropriate and/or in violation of the spirit of the Game as set forth in the Game player rules of conduct, which are posted at a hotlink at www.everquestlive.com. If we terminate this Agreement or suspend your Account under these circumstances, you will lose access to your Account for the duration of the suspension and/or the balance of any prepaid period without any refund. We may also terminate this Agreement if we decide, in our sole discretion, to discontinue offering the Game, in which case we may provide you with a prorated refund of any prepaid amounts.
7. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, we hereby grant to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Software solely in connection with playing the Game via an authorized and fully-paid Account. You may not copy (except to make one necessary back-up copy), distribute, sell, auction, rent, lease, loan, modify or create derivative works, adapt, translate, perform, display, sublicense or transfer all or any portion of the Software. You may not copy any of the written materials accompanying the Software. You may not reverse engineer, disassemble or decompile the Software except to the extent that this restriction is expressly prohibited by applicable law. The Software may contain license management software that restricts your use of the Software.
8. We and our suppliers shall retain all rights, title and interest, including, without limitation, ownership of all intellectual property rights relating to or residing in the Disc, the Software and the Game, all copies thereof, and all game character data in connection therewith. You acknowledge and agree that you have not and will not acquire or obtain any intellectual property or other rights, including any right of exploitation, of any kind in or to the Disc, the Software or the Game, including, without limitation, in any character(s), item(s), coin(s) or other material or property, and that all such property, material and items are exclusively owned by us.
9. You may not use any third party software to modify the Software to change Game play. You may not create, facilitate, host, link to or provide any other means through which the Game may be played by others, such as through server emulators. You may not take any action which imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure. You may not buy, sell or auction (or host or facilitate the ability to allow others to buy, sell or auction) any Game characters, items, coin or copyrighted material.
10. To obtain an Account, you will be required to choose both a login name and a player name. While you are encouraged to use a pseudonym, especially if you are a minor, you may not pick a name that violates anyone's trademarks, publicity rights or other proprietary rights.
11. As part of your Account, you can upload content to our servers in various forms, such as in the selections you make for the Game and in chat rooms and similar user-to-user areas (collectively, your "Content"). Your Content shall not: (a) infringe any third party intellectual property, other proprietary or publicity/privacy rights; (b) violate any law or regulation; (c) be defamatory, obscene, child pornographic or harmful to minors; or (d) contain any viruses, trojan horses, worms, 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. We may take any action with respect to your Content if we believe it may create liability for us or may cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers. You hereby grant to us a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise all intellectual property rights, in any media now known or not currently known, associated with your Content.
12. We cannot ensure that your private communications and other personally identifiable information will not be disclosed to third parties. For example, we may be forced to disclose information to the government or third parties under certain circumstances, or third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications. Additionally, we can (and you authorize us to) disclose any information about you to private entities, law enforcement or other government officials as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries. You agree that we may communicate with you via telephone, email and any similar technology for any purpose relating to the Game, the Software and any services or software which may in the future be provided by us or on our behalf. You expressly permit SOE to upload CPU, operating system, video card, sound card and memory information from your computer to analyze and optimize your Game experience, improve and maintain the Game and/or provide you with customer service. Furthermore, if you request any technical support, you consent to our remote accessing and review of the computer you load the Software onto for purposes of support and debugging. You may choose to visit www.everquestlive.com or www.station.sony.com, SOE's web sites ("The Station") if such web sites offer services such as an EverQuest game themed chat room or other services of interest to you. You are subject to the terms and conditions, privacy customs and policies of SOE while on such web sites and in connection with use of your Account and the Game, which terms and conditions, policies and customs are incorporated herein by this reference. Since we do not control other web sites and/or privacy policies of third parties, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the personal information you disclose to others. Solely for the purpose of patching and updating the Game, you hereby grant us permission to (i) upload Game file information from the Game directory and (ii) download Game files to you. You acknowledge and agree that we may transfer Game and your Account information (including your personally identifiable information and personal data) to the United States or other countries or may share such information with our licensees and agents in connection with the Game.
13. WE PROVIDE THE DISC, THE SOFTWARE, THE ACCOUNT, THE GAME AND ALL OTHER SERVICES "AS IS." WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Without limiting the foregoing, we do not ensure continuous, error-free, secure or virus-free operation of the Disc, the Software, the Game, your Account or continued operation or availability of any given server. Some states do not allow limitations as to how long an implied warranty lasts and/or exclusions or limitations of consequential damages, so the above limitations and/or exclusions of liability may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal rights which vary from state to state.
We are not liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from any causes beyond our reasonable control. Further, we cannot and do not promise or ensure that you will be able to access your Account whenever you want, and there may be extended periods of time when you cannot access your Account.
14. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE, OUR PARENT, OUR AFFILIATES OR OUR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (HOWEVER ARISING, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE POSSESSION, USE, OR MALFUNCTION OF THE SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT, THE GAME, THE SOFTWARE OR THIS AGREEMENT. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES IS LIMITED TO $100. Some states do not allow the foregoing limitations of liability, so they may not apply to you.
15. You shall comply with all applicable laws regarding your use of the Software, your access to your Account and your playing of the Game. Without limiting the foregoing, you may not download, use or otherwise export or re-export the Software except in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the laws of the United States.
16. This Agreement is governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within California between California residents. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly disclaimed. Both parties submit to personal jurisdiction in California and further agree that any cause of action relating to this Agreement shall be brought in the County of San Diego, State of California (if under State law) or the Southern District of California (if under federal law). If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or your rights hereunder, and any attempt to the contrary is void. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between us and you with respect to the subject matter hereof. Except as provided herein, this Agreement may not be amended except in a writing signed by both parties.
17. All services hereunder are offered by Sony Online Entertainment LLC, located at 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, California 92121. Our phone number is (858) 537-0898. Current rates for using the Game may be obtained from a hotlink at www.everquestlive.com, and such rates are subject to change at any time. If you are a California resident, you may have this same information emailed to you by sending a letter to the foregoing address with your email address and a request for this information.
The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 400 R Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.
Parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. If you are interested in learning about these protections, information is available at http://www.worldvillage.com/wv/school/html/control.htm or other similar sites providing information on such protections.
The Software is a "commercial item" if acquired under agreement with the U.S. Government or any contractor therewith in accordance with 48 CFR 12.212 of the FAR and, if acquired for Department of Defense (DoD) units, 48 CFR 227-7202 of the DoD FAR Supplement, or any succeeding similar regulations.