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Big Brain Answers
Terms of Service
Last revised: November 13, 2008 This is a binding, legal agreement (this "Agreement"). Please read these terms and conditions of use carefully before using this application. This Agreement is by and between you and The Big Brain, LLC (referred to herein as "Big Brain", "we", "us", or "our") and sets forth the terms and conditions governing your use of Big Brain's knowledge-exchange service located on Facebook.com (referred to herein as "the Application" or "the Site"). BY CHECKING THE "I ACCEPT" BOX OR ACCESSING THE SITE, YOU ACCEPT, WITHOUT LIMITATION OR QUALIFICATION, ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT. If you do not accept all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, do not use the Application. From time to time, changes in law or in the The Big Brain business may require us to update this Agreement. We appreciate your use of the Application and respect your choice of whether to accept such changes. Upon each such change, you will find the modified version of this Agreement here. You accept this Agreement and Big Brain's Privacy Policy by accessing or using Big Brain's services, and your continued use of these services signifies your continued acceptance of any revisions to this Agreement. Big Brain at it's sole discretion, may also add, delete or change some or all of the features of the Application or Big Brain's services at any time. This Agreement applies to all countries Big Brain services. The terms "you" and "your" as used herein refer to all individuals and/or entities accessing the Site for any reason. ABILITY TO ACCEPT AGREEMENT If you are under 13 years old you may not use this Application. If you are at least 13 but younger than 18, you may not use this application without your parents consent. By using this Application, you affirm that you are either at least 18 years of age or possess legal or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, and obligations set forth in this Agreement. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF MATERIALS Other than materials submitted by you and other users of the Application (collectively, "Users"), which materials remain the property of such Users, all materials contained in the Application are the copyrighted property of Big Brain, or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies and/or third party licensors. No material from the Application or any Internet site owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by us or our affiliates may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way. For purposes of this Agreement, the use of any such material on any other Big Brain, Internet, intranet, extranet or other site or computer environment is prohibited. All trademarks, service marks, trade names and trade dress used in connection with the Application are proprietary to us. You may not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any of our trademarks, logos, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) without our prior express written consent. You may not use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing our name, trademarks or other proprietary information without our prior express written consent. EXPERTS While we pride ourselves on the breadth and quality of our experts, we cannot guarantee the qualifications of our experts or the effectiveness or quality of the advice provided to you and our Users. You may always refer to the Big Brain Profile page of our Users to see the opinions of other Users with respect to our experts and their advice. Your use of the Application and its services should not be viewed as a substitute for obtaining professional advice on health, legal, financial and other professional matters. Big Brain acts as a venue for entertainment purposes to allow anyone to ask or answer just about any question, at anytime, from anywhere. EMERGENCY QUESTIONS AND CRISIS SITUATIONS (particularly regarding medical or mental health) should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. The Application is not the appropriate venue to deal with emergency or crisis situations. Your use of the information and advice you receive through the use of the Application is purely at your own risk, and Big Brain shall not be responsible for any consequence of such reliance whatsoever, as further discussed below. Big Brain does not review any of the advice that an expert may provide to you, and specifically disclaims any warranties that might otherwise be associated therewith. If you are an expert on our Application and you feel that a User is using the Application to harass you or otherwise communicate with you in a manner inconsistent with this Usage Agreement, please notify us using the contact information set forth below. Upon satisfactory verification of your complaint, we shall suspend or terminate such User's access to the Site, and this shall constitute your sole and exclusive remedy against us in this respect. YOUR CONTENT Your "Content" includes any information, questions, responses or other materials you provide to us in any public message area (including, without limitation, the message boards). You are solely responsible for your Content. We act as a passive conduit for the online distribution and publication of your Content. However, we may take any action we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion if we believe your Content creates a risk of liability to Big Brain. Big Brain may, in appropriate circumstances and at its sole discretion, remove or disable access to material on the Application that infringes on the rights of third parties or is otherwise harmful to Big Brain. Big Brain may also, at its sole discretion, terminate your access to the Application for posting material that infringes upon the rights of third parties. COPYRIGHT VIOLATION If you believe that your Content, or any other information or content owned by you, has been used on the Application in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide Big Brain's Copyright Agent with a written notice (e-mail is sufficient) that includes the following information: (a) an electronic or physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed; (c) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site; (d) your address, telephone number, and e-mail address; (e) a 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 (f) a statement by you, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. Please send this request to: management@thebigbrain.net OTHER SUBMISSIONS While we do value your feedback on the Application and the services and products offered in connection therewith, we request that you be specific in your comments with respect to the same, and not submit any creative ideas, suggestions, or materials (unless specifically requested by us). If, at our request, you send certain specific submissions or, despite our request, you send us creative suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts, or other information (collectively, the "Submissions"), the Submissions shall be deemed, and shall remain, our property. None of the Submissions shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on our part and we shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Submissions. Without limitation of the foregoing, we shall exclusively own all now known or hereafter existing rights to the Submissions of every kind and nature throughout the universe and shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the Submissions for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the provider of the Submissions. COMMUNICATIONS "Forum" means a chat area, message board, e-mail, or any other messaging function offered as part of the Site. If you participate in a Forum within the Site, if applicable, you must not: (i) defame, abuse, harass or threaten others; (ii) make any bigoted, hateful or racially offensive statements; (iii) advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them; (iv) post or distribute any material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any law; (v) post or distribute any vulgar, obscene, discourteous or indecent language or images; (vi) advertise or sell to, or solicit others; (vii) use the Forum for commercial purposes of any kind other than to facilitate a transaction on the Site; (viii) post or distribute any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful component; or (ix) post material or make statements that do not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of any chat room or bulletin board. You shall remain solely responsible for the content of your messages and posts and shall indemnify and hold Big Brain and its employees, agents and affiliates harmless for the content of such messages. We reserve the right to remove or edit content from any Forum at any time and for any reason. By uploading Content to any Forum or submitting any Content to us, you automatically grant (or warrant that the owner of such materials expressly granted) us a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and display, create derivative works from and distribute such Content or incorporate such Content into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed throughout the universe. In addition, you warrant that all so-called "moral rights" in that Content have been waived. BIG BRAIN ACCOUNT Big Brain reserves the right to place reasonable restrictions on your Big Brain monetary account, including but not limited to, setting the minimum withdrawal value and the execution date of the withdrawal. Big Brain currently implements a $25 minimum withdrawal policy and a weekly payment cycle; however, Big Brain reserves the right to make reasonable amendments to this policy in the future. All amended terms shall automatically be effective upon posting. Your continued use of the Service will signify your acceptance of the revised Terms or related Agreement, as the case may be. If you do not accept the revised terms, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Service. The latest Terms and related Agreements will be posted on the Site, and you should always review them prior to using the Site. Big Brain reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify or discontinue the Services, for any reason, without notice. ANSWER REWARDS When you post a question, and add a cash reward ("Reward") for the best answer to your question, Big Brain will deduct service fees according to the fee schedule below. Big Brain currently sets a default deadline of 5 days for Premium Group Questions, but reserves the right to make reasonable changes to this deadline at anytime. It is your responsibility to be aware of the deadline by which you must pick the best answer to your question, after which time if you have not chosen one, Big Brain will choose the best answer and process the Reward. Big Brain has final authority over all Rewards. When you answer a question with a cash reward you will not receive any consideration for you answer unless your answer is chosen as the best answer by the user who submitted the question or by Big Brain. Your earnings will also be subject to service fees according to the Fee Schedule below. QUESTION AUCTIONS Big Brain's Question Auction system allows you to find an expert to answer your question. You are under no obligation to chose an expert; and your Big Brain account will be reimbursed if you do not find a suitable expert or do not receive an answer from your chosen expert. If you receive an answer that is illegible, offensive, strikingly incomplete or spam, you can also request a full refund by contacting us at: disputes@thebigbrain.net. Big Brain provides make all determinations regarding refunds at its sole. If you bid on a Question Auction it is your responsibility to provide an answer within the timeframe you selected. Big Brain will administer penalties to users who fail to provide an answer within the selected timeframe, such as, a 50 point deduction and a $.30 charge to your Big Brain Account. FEE SCHEDULE Big Brain currently charges the following transaction fees: Asking a paid question: NO FEE Answering a paid question: 2.9% of the question value + .30 cents (PayPal transaction fee) + 8% of the question value (Big Brain service fee). Note that changes in PayPal transaction fees may occur according to PayPal's independent business policy. Though Big Brain is a business that incorporates PayPal services, our fees will change in concert with PayPal fee arrangements. Big Brain encourages users to visit the PayPal user agreement for a schedule of PayPal fees located at https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/ua/USUA-outside Big Brain reserves the right to make reasonable amendments to this fee schedule in the future. All amended terms shall automatically be effective upon posting. Your continued use of the Service will signify your acceptance of the revised Terms or related Agreement, as the case may be. If you do not accept the revised terms, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Service. The latest Terms and related Agreements will be posted on the Site, and you should always review them prior to using the Site. Big Brain reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify or discontinue the Services, for any reason, without notice. TAXES It is your responsibility to determine what, if any, taxes apply to the payments you make or receive, and it is your responsibility to collect, report and remit the correct tax to the appropriate tax authority. Big Brain is not responsible for determining whether taxes apply to your transaction, or for collecting, reporting or remitting any taxes arising from any transaction. ASSIGNMENT OF INTEREST You agree that you will not receive interest or other earnings on the funds that Big Brain handles as your agent and places in your Big Brain account. In consideration for your use of the Service, you irrevocably transfer and assign to Big Brain any ownership right that you may have in any interest that may accrue on funds held in your Big Brain account. This assignment applies only to interest earned on your funds, and nothing in this TOS grants Big Brain any ownership right to the principal of the funds you maintain with Big Brain. INDEMNIFICATION You agree to indemnify and hold Big Brain, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents harmless from and against any and all liability, losses, claims, demands or costs of any kind, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of litigation, arising from (i) your Postings or other content you submit, post, transmit, email, or otherwise make available through the Services, (ii) your use of or reliance on the Services, (iii) your connection to the Services, (iv) your violation of the TOS, or (v) your violation of any rights of another party. DISCLAIMER YOU ACKNOWLEDGE BY USING THIS SERVICE THAT BIG BRAIN USERS HAVE VARYING LEVELS OF EXPERTISE AND HAVE NOT BEEN CERTIFIED AS "EXPERTS" OR "PROFESSIONALS" BY BIG BRAIN. WHILE MANY OF BIG BRAIN USERS MAY BE PROFESSIONALS, BIG BRAIN HAS NOT UNDERTAKEN IN ANY STEPS TO VERIFY THEIR CREDENTIALS OR ABILITIES. THE APPLICATION PROVIDES PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO MEDICAL, LEGAL, AND FINANCIAL. THESE MATERIALS ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS ADVICE. NO ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN BASED UPON ANY THE PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE SERVICES. YOU SHOULD SEEK INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FROM A PERSON WHO IS LICENSED AND/OR KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE APPLICABLE AREA BEFORE ACTING UPON ANY OPINION, ADVICE, OR INFORMATION ACQUIRED FROM THE APPLICATION. THE APPLICATION PROVIDES LINKS AND POINTERS TO INTERNET SITES MAINTAINED BY THIRD PARTIES. BIG BRAIN DOES NOT OPERATE OR CONTROL IN ANY RESPECT ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES ON THESE THIRD-PARTY SITES. THE MATERIALS IN THIS APPLICATION AND THE THIRD-PARTY SITES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL ADVICE, RESEARCH, QUESTIONS AND OTHER INFORMATION, ARE PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND BIG BRAIN SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR YOUR RELIANCE THEREUPON. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, BIG BRAIN DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. BIG BRAIN DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIALS OR THE APPLICATION WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE, INCLUDING FORUMS, OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES, WORMS, TROJAN HORSES, OR OTHER CODE THAT MANIFESTS CONTAMINATING OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES. BIG BRAIN DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS IN THIS APPLICATION OR IN THIRD-PARTY SITES, OR OF THE EXPERT ADVICE PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SITE, IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS AGREEMENT, PLEASE CONTACT MANAGEMENT@THEBIGBRAIN.NET LIMITATION OF LIABILITY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL BIG BRAIN BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT BIG BRAIN IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY USER. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY MATERIAL ON THE APPLICATION OR WITH THE SERVICE, OR WITH ANY OF BIG BRAIN'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SERVICE. IN THE EVENT WE ARE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES RELATED TO SUCH MATTERS, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY WILL BE LIMITED TO REIMBURSEMENT FOR SERVICES OR PRODUCTS PAID FOR BY YOU. YOU HERBY WAIVE ANY AND ALL RIGHTS TO BRING ANY CLAIM OR ACTION RELATED TO SUCH MATTERS IN ANY FORUM BEYOND ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE FIRST OCCURRENCE OF THE KIND OF ACT, EVENT, CONDITION OR OMISSION UPON WHICH THE CLAIM OR ACTION IS BASED. RELEASE By utilizing the site, you and all other Users acknowledge and agree that Big Brain, its employees, agents and affiliates are released, discharged and held harmless from and are not responsible or liable for any liability with respect to all aspects of the Application (including without limitation, any illness, losses, litigation expenses, personal injury, death, property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy) that may occur from use of the Application or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of information, materials, services or products related thereto or acquired therefrom. We reserve the right at any time and without liability to restrict or refuse access to the Application and its services, content, materials and functions to anybody. TERMINATION These terms are effective until terminated by either party. You may terminate these terms at any time by discontinuing use of the Site. Your access to the Application may be terminated immediately without notice from us if in our sole and absolute discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of this Agreement. Upon termination, you must cease use of the Site. PRIVACY Big Brain makes every attempt to strictly adhere to the Facebook Platform's Privacy Policy. We do not store any personally identifiable information other than your Facebook ID, PayPal ID and IP address. We do not share this information with any other party without your consent, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law or to the limited extent described below under "Certain Third Party Transactions". INFORMATION WE DISPLAY Some areas of our Application display information from your Facebook profile to facilitate communications between you and our community of experts and expert-seekers, and to get in touch with you when necessary with respect to services offered through the Application or for other internal purposes. We do not share your information with any third party without your consent, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law, as required by a court of competent jurisdiction or to the limited extent described below under "Certain Third Party Transactions". Billing: In the course of transacting payments in connection with your use of the Site, Big Brain will receive certain payment information, which may include, without limitation, credit card and/or checking information. We do not share any such information with any third party without your consent, unless required by law to a court or governmental agency, as required by a court of competent jurisdiction or to the limited extent described below under "Certain Third Party Transactions". Questions, Answers and Big Brain Profile: In the course of your use of the Site, you may submit questions for which you are seeking answers from our experts and/or responses to questions that users have submitted to Big Brain. We will store and use the content of such questions and responses to facilitate communication between users and experts and otherwise to effectuate the purposes of our Application and services. Expert requests and questions you submit on the Application (including your bids and other specifications you provide) will be searchable and accessible by other users. Biographic information submitted by experts will be searchable and accessible by other users as well. We may also use any information provided by our experts to verify their credentials. INFORMATION SECURITY This Application has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. However, it is not possible to guarantee the security or integrity of information you disclose online since a sufficiently powerful attack from an unauthorized third party could compromise your data. MESSAGE BOARDS This Application makes Forums available to its Users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes available, for non-commercial use, to all Users and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. CERTAIN THIRD PARTY TRANSACTIONS We may disclose personal information to third parties we engage to provide services that involve data processing or credential verification on our behalf. Such third parties do not include advertisers or marketers that would contact or solicit you. For example, we engage a third party to process credit card payments for service fees, and will disclose billing information to such third party only as necessary for them to process such transactions. We will only disclose personal information to such third parties provided that they adhere to the same restrictions regarding use of your personal information as are set forth in this Agreement. CHOICE/OPT-OUT Big Brain may send communications to you regarding its services, the Application or otherwise. Big Brain provides you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving such communications by indicating your desire to opt-out: (a) by updating your settings page to indicate your desire not to receive such communications, (b) by sending an email to support@thebigbrain.net, or If you have any questions about this Agreement, the privacy practices of this Site, or your dealings with this Site, you can contact: Management@thebigbrain.net INTERNATIONAL USAGE Big Brain Answers is controlled and operated by The Big Brain, LLC from its offices within the United States of America. Big Brain makes no representation that it is appropriate or available in locations outside the United States of America. Those who choose to access the Application from other locations do so at their own risk and are fully responsible for compliance with applicable laws. GENERAL This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. Jurisdiction for any claims arising under this Agreement shall lie exclusively with the state or federal courts within Delaware. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of this Agreement shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term. Except as expressly provided in additional terms of use provided by Big Brain for areas of the Site, a particular "Legal Notice," or other notices provided by Big Brain on particular Big Brain pages, this Agreement constitute the entire agreement between you and Big Brain with respect to the use of the Site.
