Date of Last Revision: June 19, 2008

This document between you and Sony Electronics Inc. (“SEL”) sets forth the terms and conditions applicable to your use of the Backstage 101™ ( “Backstage101" or “Website”). Please examine these Terms of Use carefully and understand the contents fully before using Backstage 101. By registering for Backstage101, you are agreeing to be legally bound by these Terms of Use. In addition, the Terms of Use/Privacy Policy found on www.sony.com shall apply to your use herein. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or delete portions of these Terms of Use at any time without further notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to these Terms of Use on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these terms were last revised. Your continued use of the Service or the Site after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of Use.

Disclaimer

Users of this Website are responsible for independently checking the accuracy, completeness, currency and/or suitability of all information. SEL makes no representations, guarantees or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability of the information provided via this Website.

The responsibility for content rests with the persons who are providing the information. SEL does not represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy or reliability of any communications posted by other users or endorse any opinions expressed by users. You acknowledge that any reliance on material posted by other users will be at your own risk.

The inclusion of links from Backstage101 to a third party site does not imply endorsement by SEL of content on that site. SEL makes no effort to independently verify, and does not exert editorial control over, information on pages outside of the "www.sony.com" domain.

SEL is not responsible or liable in any manner for any user content or third party applications, software or content posted Backstage101, whether posted or caused by users of the Website, by third parties or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in Backstage101. Although we provide rules for user conduct and postings, we do not control and are not responsible for what users post, transmit or share on the Website and are not responsible for any offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable content you may encounter on the Website or in connection with any user content or third party applications, software or content. SEL is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user of the Website.

The Website may be temporarily unavailable from time to time for maintenance or other reasons. SEL assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, user communications. SEL is not responsible for any technical malfunction or other problems of any telephone network or service, computer systems, servers or providers, computer or mobile phone equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any site or combination thereof, including injury or damage to user's or to any other person's computer, mobile phone, or other hardware or software, related to or resulting from using or downloading materials in connection with the Web. Under no circumstances will SEL be responsible for any loss or damage, including any loss or damage to any User Content or personal injury or death, resulting from anyone's use of the Website, any user content or third party applications, software or content posted on or through the Website or transmitted to users, or any interactions between users of the Website, whether online or offline.

THE WEBSITE AND THE WEBSITE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND SEL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SEL CANNOT GUARANTEE AND DOES NOT PROMISE ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS FROM USE OF THE WEBSITE AND/OR ANY APPLICATIONS. SEL DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT SOFTWARE, CONTENT OR MATERIALS ON THE WEBSITE OR ANY APPLICATIONS ARE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, CURRENT OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS SERVERS OR ANY APPLICATIONS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN THE USE AND DOWNLOADING OF ANY SOFTWARE, CONTENT OR MATERIALS AND USE INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED SOFTWARE TO DETECT AND DISINFECT VIRUSES.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU DOWNLOAD OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN CONTENT, MATERIAL, DATA OR SOFTWARE FROM OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND ANY APPLICATIONS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE THEREOF AND ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR MOBILE DEVICE OR COMPUTER SYSTEM, LOSS OF DATA OR OTHER HARM OF ANY KIND THAT MAY RESULT.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you.

Message Board Maintenance

SEL does not screen communications in advance and is not responsible for screening or monitoring material posted by users. If notified by a user of communications that allegedly do not conform to this Agreement, SEL may investigate the allegation and determine in good faith and its sole discretion whether to remove or request the removal of the communications. SEL has no liability or responsibility to users for performance or nonperformance of such activities. SEL reserves the right to expel users and prevent their further access to the Backstage101 Website for violating this Agreement or any laws and the right to remove any communications for any reason.

SEL reserves the right to change or delete any and all content, software and other items used or contained in Backstage101 and any applications offered through the Website at any time without notice. Reference to any products, services, processes or other information by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by SEL.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL SEL OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY APPLICATIONS OR ANY OF THE WEBSITE CONTENT OR OTHER MATERIALS ON, ACCESSED THROUGH OR DOWNLOADED FROM THE WEBSITE, EVEN IF SEL IS AWARE OR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, SEL’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 SEL, BUT IN NO CASE WILL SEL’S LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED $500. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IF NO FEES ARE PAID TO SEL, YOU SHALL BE LIMITED TO INJUNCTIVE RELIEF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE PERMITTED BY LAW, AND SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO DAMAGES OF ANY KIND FROM SEL, REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OF ACTION.

Conduct Policy

As a user, you are responsible for your own communications and are responsible for the consequences of your posting. You agree to not do the following things: post material that is copyrighted, unless you are the sole copyright owner or have the permission of the copyright owner to post it; post material that reveals trade secrets, unless you own them or have the permission of the owner; or post material that infringes on any other intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others.

You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind submitted through your account or otherwise posted, transmitted, or shared by you on or through Backstage101 will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights; or contain libelous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful material.

In addition, you agree that you will not:

  • upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish through, the Website any content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive or violates any law or standards of public decency, or which contains viruses, "worms," "Trojan horses" or any other harmful properties;
  • use the Website for, or to further, any illegal, unethical or immoral purposes;
  • use the Website in any unlawful manner or in any other manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair it;
  • use automated scripts to collect information from or otherwise interact with the Website;
  • upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any content that SEL deems to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
  • upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any videos other than those of a personal nature that: (i) are of you or your friends, (ii) are taken by you or your friends, or (iii) are original art or animation created by you or your friends;
  • register for more than one user account, register for a user account on behalf of an individual other than yourself, or register for a user account on behalf of any group or entity;
  • impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity;
  • upload, post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
  • upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make publicly available on the Website any private information of any third party, including, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers;
  • solicit personal information from anyone under 18 or solicit passwords or personally identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
  • upload, post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  • intimidate, harass, threaten, embarrass or cause distress or discomfort upon another;
  • upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
  • use or attempt to use another's account, service or system without authorization from SEL;
  • upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available content that, in the sole judgment of SEL is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Website, or which may expose SEL or its users to any harm or liability of any type.

Without limiting any of the foregoing, you also agree to abide by our Official Rules of Conduct that provide further information regarding the authorized conduct of members on Backstage101.

Proprietary Rights in Website Content; Limited License

All content on Backstage101, including designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound and other files, and their selection and arrangement (the "Site Content"), are the proprietary property of SEL, its users or its licensors with all rights reserved. No Site Content may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without SEL’s prior written permission, except that the foregoing does not apply to your own user content that you legally post on Backstage101. Provided that you are eligible for use of the Website, you are granted a limited license to access and use the Site Content and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Site Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep all copyright or other proprietary notices intact. Except for your own user content, you may not upload or republish Site Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation, and any other use of the Site Content is strictly prohibited. Such license is subject to these Terms of Use and does not include use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Any use of the Website or the Site Content other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of SEL, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws including copyright and trademark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms of Use shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable at any time without notice and with or without cause.

SEL Rights to Your Posting

Your user generated content is not confidential or proprietary. You grant to SEL a non-exclusive, non-revocable, worldwide, perpetual, sub-licensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, play, make available to the public, and exercise all copyright and publicity rights in connection with all content that you post to the Website in any manner or media now or later known without limitation, including, but not limited to, the right to sublicense and assign and commercialize without any compensation due to you. You understand that any content you post on the Website shall not be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of SEL, and SEL shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any of that content

Use of Information Submitted

You agree that SEL is free to use any comments, information, designs, ideas or other content contained in any user generated content posted by you to Backstage 101, created by you while accessing the Website, or contained in any communication you may send to SEL or submit to the Backstage101 Website, without notice, compensation or acknowledgement to you for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products and services and creating, modifying or improving the Website or other products or services.

Claims of Copyright Infringement

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the "DMCA") provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe in good faith that materials posted on the Website infringe your copyright, you (or your agent) may send us a notice requesting that the material be removed, or access to it blocked. The notice must include the following information: (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or if multiple copyrighted works located on the site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works); (c) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to allow SEL to locate the material on the Website; (d) the name, address, telephone number, and (if available) email address of the complaining party; (e) a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (f) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. If you believe in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, the DMCA permits you to send SEL a counter-notice. Notices and counter-notices must meet the then-current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA; see http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ for details. Notices and counter-notices with respect to this website should be sent to Sony Electronics Inc., Attn: Megan Soltysinski, 16530 Via Esprillo, San Diego, CA 92024. We suggest that you consult your legal advisor before filing a notice or counter-notice. Also, be aware that there can be penalties for false claims under the DMCA.

Trademarks

Backstage and other SEL graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts and service names are registered trademarks, trademarks or trade dress of SEL in the U.S. and/or other countries. SEL’s trademarks and trade dress may not be used, including as part of trademarks and/or as part of domain names, in connection with any product or service in any manner that is likely to cause confusion and may not be copied, imitated, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of SEL.

Changes to these Terms of Use

These Terms of Use may be modified only by SEL at any time without notice, and any such modification shall be effective immediately upon posting. By accessing and using the Backstage101 you agree to periodically review these Terms of Use and be bound by any modifications or amendments to earlier versions of these Terms of Use.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold SEL, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and each of their directors, officers, agents, contractors, partners and employees, harmless from and against any loss, liability, claim, demand, damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees and court costs, arising out of or in connection with (i) any user content, any third party applications, software or content you post or share on or through the Website, (ii) your use of the Backstage101 Website, (iii) your conduct in connection with the Website or with other users of the Website, or (iv) any violation of these Terms of Use, the Official Rules of Conduct or any law or the rights of any third party.

Terms of Sale

Please refer to our Terms of Sale for the terms, conditions and policies applicable to your purchase of products or services from SEL By ordering products or services from Sony Electronics through SonyStyle.com, you agree to be bound by and accept the Terms of Sale. The Terms of Sale are subject to change without prior notice at any time, in SEL's sole discretion so you should review the Terms of Sale each time you make a purchase.

Privacy

We care about the privacy of our users. Click here to view our Privacy Policy. By using the Website, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Other Terms

You agree to comply with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning your use of the Backstage101 Website.

These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and regarding the use of the Backstage 101 Website, superseding any prior agreements between you and SEL relating to your use of the Website.

You agree that SEL, in its sole discretion, may terminate your use of the Backstage101 Website immediately and without notice if SEL believes that you have acted inconsistently with the spirit or the letter of these Terms of Use.

These Terms of Use and the relationship between you and SEL will be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and SEL agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in Santa Clara County, California.

The failure of SEL to exercise or enforce any right or provision under these Terms of Use will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the these terms and conditions remain in full force and effect.

You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Backstage101 Website must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

You and SEL are independent contractors with respect to one another. Neither of us is an agent, representative, or partner of the other. Neither of us shall have any right, power or authority to enter into any agreement for, or on behalf of, or incur any obligation or liability of, or to otherwise bind, the other. These Terms of Use shall not be interpreted or construed to create an association, agency, joint venture or partnership between you and SEL or to impose any liability attributable to such a relationship upon either of us.


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