Skype-TOS
Retrieved from https://www.skype.com/en/legal/ios/tos/ (2016-09-09)
Table of contents:
1. Your agreement with Skype
2. Acceptance of the Terms
3. Changes to the Terms
4. Licence
5. Use of the software and products and Skype websites
6. Your obligations
7. Proprietary rights
8. Charges
9. Payment
10. Refund Policy
11. Ending Your relationship with Skype
12. Exclusion of warranties, limitation of liability and indemnity
13. Third party websites products and services
14. Additional Terms
15. Your confidential information and your privacy
16. For Government users only
17. How to contact Skype
18. Miscellaneous
19. Product specific terms
20. Pay by mobile
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE DOWNLOADING THE SOFTWARE OR USING THE PRODUCT(S)
OR SKYPE WEBSITES
Key Points
It is important that you read the entirety of and understand this
document. There are, however, a few key points that we need to
emphasise:
NO ACCESS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES: The Software is not a replacement for
your ordinary mobile or fixed line telephone. In particular, apart from
in the very limited circumstances set out in paragraph 5.6 of these
Terms (applicable to Skypeâs Internet Communications Software only),
the Software does not allow you to make emergency calls to emergency
services. You must make alternative communications arrangements to
ensure that you can make emergency calls if needed.
CHECK RESTRICTIONS ON USE: In some countries there are restrictions on
the use of the Software. It is your responsibility to ensure that you
are legally allowed to use the Software where you are located.
NO OWNERSHIP OF NUMBERS: If Skype allocates to you a Skype Number
(previously known as âOnline Numberâ) or Skype To Go Number, you do not
own the number or have a right to retain that number forever. Skype may
need to change or withdraw the number allocated to you from time to
time. You will not transfer or attempt to transfer your Skype Number or
Skype To Go Number to anyone else. You must ensure you comply with any
allocation requirements displayed when purchasing a Skype Number as
failure to do so could result in the number being withdrawn. Please see
also paragraph 19.1.
SKYPE CREDIT BECOMES INACTIVE AFTER 180 DAYS: If you purchase Skype
Credit please be aware that it becomes inactive after 180 days of
inactivity. Please see also paragraph 9.2.
ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER: If you live in the USA and
select Pay by Mobile (see paragraph 20), a binding arbitration clause
and class action waiver affects your rights to resolve a dispute with
Skype, its corporate affiliates, or other third parties including
mobile phone carriers. Please read paragraph 20.3 carefully.
1. YOUR AGREEMENT WITH SKYPE
1.1 Skypeâs internet communication software applications (âInternet
Communications Softwareâ), other âSkypeâ branded software applications
(together the âSkype Softwareâ), the âQikâ branded software
applications (âQik Softwareâ) and associated documentation (whether in
printed or electronic form) including any improvements, modifications,
enhancements, fixes, updates, upgrades and future versions thereto
(âUpdatesâ) and whether made available for free or for a fee,
(collectively the âSoftwareâ) are licensed (not sold) to you by Skype
Software SÃ rl.
1.2 The features and products that are made available through the
Software for free (excluding products or features available for free on
a trial basis only) (âFree Productsâ) are provided to you by Skype
Software SÃ rl.
1.3 Any additional products or features of the Skype Software or Qik
Software, or other âSkypeâ or âQikâ branded products, that you pay for
(including products or features available for free on a trial basis
only) (âPaid For Productsâ) are provided to you by Skype Communications
SÃ rl.
1.4 âSkype Websitesâ means www.skype.com, www.qik.com (both of which
are operated by Skype Communications SÃ rl) and any other websites
authorised by Skype which link to these Terms.
1.5 âSkypeââ means Skype Software SÃ rl, 23 â 29 Rives de Clausen,
L-2165 Luxembourg or Skype Communications SÃ rl, 23 â 29 Rives de
Clausen, L-2165 Luxembourg as the context requires;
âProductsâ means collectively the Free Products and Paid For Products;
âyouâ or âyourâ means you, the registered holder of the User Account
(as described in paragraph 6.1) and licensee under these Terms.
1.6 Your agreement with Skype is made up of the terms and conditions
set out in this document, together with any fair usage policies
described in this document and Additional Terms referred to in
paragraph 14 (collectively the âTermsâ). To the extent of any
inconsistency between the fair usage policies or any Additional Terms
and this document, this document shall take precedence.
2. ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS
2.1 In order to download and/or use the Software, Products and/or Skype
Websites you must first accept these Terms. These Terms are accepted by
you (a) when you click to accept or agree to the Terms; or (b) when you
download and/or use the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites. We
advise you to print a copy of these Terms for your records. These Terms
remain effective from the date of acceptance until terminated by you or
Skype in accordance with paragraph 11.
2.2 You cannot accept these Terms if: (a) you are not lawfully entitled
to use the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites in the country in
which you are located or reside or (b) if you are not of legal age to
form a binding agreement with Skype.
2.3 In some countries the Products may be provided to you by Skypeâs
local partner. If so, that local partner may ask you to accept its own
terms of service (âlocal termsâ). If there is any inconsistency between
those local terms and these Terms, then the local terms shall govern to
the extent of that inconsistency.
3. CHANGES TO THE TERMS
3.1 Skype may make changes to these Terms from time to time. Skype will
publish the changes at www.skype.com/go/tou. Changes to the fair usage
policies and/or Additional Terms will be posted on the applicable Skype
Website. The changes will be effective when published. Please review
the Terms on a regular basis. You understand and agree that your
express acceptance of the Terms or your use of the Software, Products
and/or Skype Websites after the date of publication shall constitute
your agreement to the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the
amended Terms, you may terminate your relationship with Skype in
accordance with paragraph 11 below.
4. LICENCE
4.1 Licence. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, you are
granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-assignable,
free of charge license to download and install the Software on a
personal computer, mobile phone or other device; and personally use the
Software through your individual Skype or Qik user account (as
applicable) (âUser Accountâ). For the avoidance of doubt, (a) IT
administrators working on behalf of a company may download and install
the Skype Software onto personal computers or other devices used by
personnel of such company; and (b) you are permitted to use the
Software at a university or other educational institution, or at work.
Skype reserves all rights not expressly granted to you under these
Terms.
4.2 Restrictions. You may not and you agree not to:
(a) sub-license, sell, assign, rent, lease, export, import, distribute
or transfer or otherwise grant rights to any third party in the
Software;
(b) undertake, cause, permit or authorise the modification, creation of
derivative works or improvements, translation, reverse engineering,
decompiling, disassembling, decryption, emulation, hacking, discovery
or attempted discovery of the source code or protocols of the Software
or any part or features thereof (except to the extent permitted by
law);
(c) remove, obscure or alter any copyright notices or other proprietary
notices included in the Software;
(d) use the Software or cause the Software (or any part of it) to be
used within or to provide commercial products or services to third
parties. The foregoing shall not preclude you using the Software for
your own business communications, subject to paragraph 4.1 above;
(e) other than for the purposes of download and installation, use the
Software except through your User Account.
4.3 Third-Party Technology. If you are using Software pre-loaded on,
embedded in, combined, distributed or used with or downloaded onto
third party products, hardware, software applications, programs or
devices (âThird-Party Technologyâ), you agree and acknowledge that: (a)
you may be required to enter into a separate licence agreement with the
relevant third party owner or licensor for the use of such Third-Party
Technology; (b) some Products and/or functionality may not be
accessible through the Third-Party Technology and (c) Skype cannot
guarantee that the Software shall always be available on or in
connection with such Third-Party Technology.
4.4 Third Party Notices. The Software may include third party code that
Skype, not the third party, licenses to you under this agreement.
Notices, if any, for the third party code are included for your
information only. Third party scripts, linked to, called or referenced
from the Software, are licensed to you by the third parties that own
such code, not by Skype.
5. USE OF THE SOFTWARE AND PRODUCTS AND SKYPE WEBSITES
5.1 Equipment: In order to use the Software and the Products you will
need an Internet broadband connection. You are responsible for
providing all equipment required to access the Internet or enable
communications such as headsets, microphones and webcams.
5.2 Use of Your Equipment: The Internet Communications Software may use
the processing capabilities, memory and bandwidth of the computer (or
other applicable device) you are using, for the limited purpose of
facilitating the communication and establishing the connection between
Internet Communications Software users. If your use of the Internet
Communications Software is dependent upon the use of a processor and
bandwidth owned or controlled by a third party, you acknowledge and
agree that your licence to use the Internet Communications Software is
subject to you obtaining consent from the relevant third party for such
use. You represent and warrant that by accepting these Terms, you have
obtained such consent.
5.3 Updates to the Software: Skype may automatically check your version
of the Skype Software. You may be required to enter into an updated
version of these Terms to be able to download or otherwise take
advantage of any Updates. Skype has no obligation to make available any
Updates. However, Skype may (a) require you to download and install
Updates; or (b) download and install Updates from Skype automatically
from time to time unless you have chosen (through your Skype client
settings) not to receive automatic Updates. Microsoft Corporation or
its affiliates and subsidiaries may also automatically download updates
to the Skype Software for Windows, if you have chosen to receive
Microsoft Updates. These updates are required to maintain software
compatibility, provide security updates or bug fixes, or offer new
features, functionality or versions. You agree to receive such updates
from Skype in order to continue using the Skype Software and you agree
to accept such Updates subject to these Terms.
5.4 Suspension, technical improvement and maintenance: From time to
time, Skype may need to perform maintenance on or upgrade the Software,
Products or Skype Websites or the underlying infrastructure that
enables you to use the Software, Products or Skype Websites. This may
require Skype to temporarily suspend or limit your use of some or all
of the Software, Products or Skype Websites until such time as this
maintenance and/or upgrade can be completed. To the extent possible and
unless an intervention is urgently required, Skype will publish the
time and date of such suspension or limitation on the Skype Website in
advance. You will not be entitled to claim damages for such suspension
or limitation of the use of any Software, Product or Skype Website.
5.5 No Access to Emergency Services: Neither the Products nor the
Software are intended to support or carry emergency calls to any type
of hospitals, law enforcement agencies, medical care unit or any other
kind of services that connect a user to emergency services personnel or
public safety answering points (âEmergency Servicesâ). There are
important differences between traditional telephone services and the
Products. You acknowledge and agree that: (i) Skype is not required to
offer access to Emergency Services under any applicable local and/or
national rules, regulations or law; (ii) it is your responsibility to
purchase, separately from the Products, traditional wireless (mobile)
or fixed line telephone services that offer access to Emergency
Services, and (iii) the Software and the Products are not a replacement
for your primary telephone service. Find out more about calling 112,
the dedicated emergency number for the EU at
www.skype.com/go/emergency.
5.6 Limited Emergency Calling (Internet Communications Software Only
and Not Applicable to the Qik Software)
5.6.1 In a very limited number of countries, and for defined Internet
Communications Software versions and platforms only, Skype will try to
provide limited emergency calling as a stand-alone feature but can
provide no commitment in this respect. Click here for the listing of
countries (âEnabled Countriesâ) and software versions and other
platforms (âEnabled Versionsâ) that enable limited Skype emergency
calling. Skype emergency calling is not available for any other
countries, versions or platforms. You should keep traditional wireless
(mobile) or fixed line telephone services available for your calls to
Emergency Services and use Skypeâs limited emergency calling only as an
absolute last resort. In particular, please also note that:
(i) power cut, battery failure or internet connection failure can lead
to a Skype call failure, including your call to Emergency Services.
Additionally, any of the quality limitations set out in paragraph 5.9
below, may otherwise affect successful call connection.
(ii) where available, an emergency call made using the Internet
Communications Software in an enabled country may not receive the same
network priority as a call made using traditional wireless (mobile) or
fixed line telephone services.
(iii) if your emergency call is connected, you will need to tell the
Emergency Services operator that you speak to where you are physically
located so that the correct emergency organisation can respond to your
emergency and knows where to find you. If you do not provide this
information when prompted, you acknowledge that your emergency call may
not be completed and you will not be able to gain access to your
required Emergency Services using the Internet Communications Software.
Skype will have no liability for your failed emergency call in such
circumstances.
(iv) other than for the Enabled Countries and Enabled Versions, Skype
does not provide limited emergency calling in any country or for or in
conjunction with any Products or using any platforms, devices, services
or operating systems (including any products, platforms, devices,
services or operating systems developed by third parties using Skypeâs
APIs, any of Skypeâs software development kits or otherwise).
5.6.2 In Enabled Countries, you should configure the limited emergency
calling functionality by setting your default location for emergency
calling in the Call Settings page of your desktop Internet
Communications Software (if you are using a 4.1 version for Windows (or
later) or version 2.8 for Mac OS X (or later)). It is your
responsibility to ensure that this location information is correct and
kept up-to-date if your physical address changes. Skype does not
support emergency calls in the majority of countries around the world.
Where limited emergency calling is supported Skype will not charge you
to make an emergency call and you do not need to have a Skype Credit
balance. If however your country is not supported for limited emergency
calling then you should not attempt to, and agree not to, make any
emergency calls using your Internet Communications Software. If, with
your permission, another user uses your User Account, it is your
responsibility to inform that user of the limited circumstances in
which limited emergency calling is available.
5.7 Content of Communications: Skype is not the source of, does not
verify or endorse and takes no responsibility for the content of
communications made using the Software. By using the Software, you
agree that any content that you submit may be transmitted to the
recipient of your communication. The content of communications is
entirely the responsibility of the person from whom such content
originated. You therefore may be exposed to content that is offensive,
unlawful, harmful to minors, obscene, indecent or otherwise
objectionable. The content of communications may be protected by
intellectual property rights, which are owned by third parties. You are
responsible for the content you choose to communicate and access using
the Software. In particular, you are responsible for ensuring that you
do not submit material that is (i) copyrighted, protected by trade
secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights,
including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of
such rights or have permission from their rightful owner (ii) a
falsehood or misrepresentation (iii) offensive, unlawful, harmful to
minors, obscene, defamatory, libellous, threatening, pornographic,
harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or that
encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, gives
rise to civil liability, violates any law, or is otherwise
objectionable; (iv) an advertisement or solicitation of business; or
(v) impersonating another person. Skype reserves the right (but shall
have no obligation) to review content for the purpose of enforcing
these Terms. Skype may in its sole discretion block, prevent delivery
of or otherwise remove the content of communications as part of its
effort to protect the Software, Products or its customers, or otherwise
enforce these Terms. Further, Skype may in its sole discretion remove
such content and/or terminate these Terms and your User Account if you
use any content that is in breach of these Terms.
5.8 Notice and Take-Down If Skype receives any notification that any
material that you post, upload, edit, host, share and/or publish on the
Skype Website or through the Software (excluding your private
communications) (âUser Submissionâ) is inappropriate, infringes any
rights of any third party, or if Skype wishes to remove your User
Submission for any reason whatsoever, Skype reserves the right to
automatically remove such User Submission for any reason immediately or
within such other timescales as may be decided from time to time by
Skype in its sole discretion. The User Submission shall be taken down
without any admission as to liability and without prejudice to any
rights, remedies or defenses, all of which are expressly reserved. You
acknowledge and agree that Skype is under no obligation to put back
such User Submission at any time. If User Submissions infringe, or if
you believe that User Submissions infringe any of your rights
(including intellectual property rights) or are unlawful, please
contact us immediately by following our notice and takedown procedure.
Click here to view the Notice and Takedown Procedure. Skype reserves
the right to ask for verification of your identity and to seek further
information to verify your complaint. You agree that you are solely
responsible for the consequences resulting from your complaint
(including but not limited to removal or blocking of the User
Submission) and you acknowledge and agree that any complaint may be
used in court proceedings. Any false, misleading or inaccurate
information provided by you may result in civil and criminal liability.
5.9 Quality: Skype cannot guarantee that the Software, Products or
Skype Websites will always function without disruptions, delay or
errors. A number of factors may impact the quality of your
communications and use of the Software, Products (depending on the
Products used) or Skype Websites, and may result in the failure of your
communications including but not limited to: your local network,
firewall, your internet service provider, the public internet, the
public switched telephone network and your power supply. Skype takes no
responsibility for any disruption, interruption or delay caused by any
failure of or inadequacy in any of these items or any other items over
which we have no control.
5.10 Changes to Products: Skype is constantly improving the Software
and Products and may also need to change technical features from time
to time in order to comply with applicable regulations. Accordingly,
you acknowledge and agree that the Products and functionality of the
Software may vary from time to time. Technical requirements for use of
Products and Software and feature descriptions are available on the
Skype Website. If you do not agree with any changes to Software and
Products you may terminate your relationship with Skype in accordance
with paragraph 11. You may need to upgrade to a new version in order to
enjoy the benefit of certain Products. In addition, you acknowledge and
agree that certain Products may be subject to usage limits or
geographical restrictions, which may vary from time to time. Please
check the Skype Website for details of the most up-to-date usage
restrictions that apply to the Products that you are using.
5.11 Unsolicited Ideas Skype does not consider or accept unsolicited
proposals or ideas, including without limitation ideas for new
products, technologies, promotions, product names, product feedback and
product improvements (âUnsolicited Feedbackâ). If you send any
Unsolicited Feedback to Skype through the Skype Website or otherwise,
you acknowledge and agree that Skype shall not be under any obligation
of confidentiality with respect to the Unsolicited Feedback.
5.12 Reports Certain parts of the Skype Websites or the Software may
ask for written suggestions or problem reports such as using our
contact form or problem report form (âReportsâ). Please read carefully
any specific terms, which govern those Reports. The Reports shall be
deemed the property of Skype. Skype shall exclusively own all now known
or hereafter existing rights to the Reports throughout the universe in
perpetuity and shall be entitled to use the Reports for any purpose
whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the
provider of the Reports. Any Reports you send to Skype will not be
treated as confidential and Skype shall not be liable for any
disclosure of the Reports.
5.13 Linking You may link to the Skype Website from another website
owned by you, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and
does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not
establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association,
approval or endorsement by Skype where none exists. You may not frame
the Site on any other site. Skype provides a Qik branded embeddable
flash player feature which you may incorporate into your own personal,
non-commercial website for use in accessing the materials on the Qik
branded Skype Website. Skype may revoke the permission to link to the
Skype Websites at any time at its sole discretion and will notify you
in this respect.
6. YOUR OBLIGATIONS
6.1 User Account. Prior to your first use of the Skype Software and
your first use of the Qik Software, you will be asked to create a User
Account and choose a user ID and password. We recommend that you choose
a password that is hard to guess and consists of letters, numbers and
symbols. You may only use the Software through your User Account. You
are solely responsible and liable for all activities conducted through
your User Account. To prevent unauthorised use, you shall keep your
password confidential and shall not share it with any third party or
use it to access third party websites or services. If you suspect that
someone else knows your password, then you shall immediately change it
in order to protect the security of your User Account. It is your
responsibility to ensure that you do not respond to any unsolicited
requests for credit card details, passwords or other data. Skype takes
no responsibility for your failure to comply with the obligations in
this paragraph 6.1.
6.2 Lawful Use: You must use the Software, Products and Skype Websites
in accordance with the laws of where you are located. In some countries
there are restrictions on the download and use of the Software,
Products and/or Skype Websites. It is your responsibility to ensure
that you are legally allowed to use the Software, Products and/or Skype
Websites where you are located.
6.3 Prohibited Use: You may not:
(a) intercept or monitor, damage or modify any communication which is
not intended for you;
(b) use any type of spider, virus, worm, trojan-horse, time bomb or any
other codes or instructions that are designed to distort, delete,
damage, emulate or disassemble the Software, Products, Skype Websites,
communication or protocols;
(c) send unsolicited communications (also referred to as âSPAMâ, âSPIMâ
or âSPITâ) or any communication not permitted by applicable law or use
the Software, Products or Skype Websites for the purposes of phishing
or pharming or impersonating or misrepresenting affiliation with
another person or entity;
(d) expose any third party to material which is offensive, harmful to
minors, indecent or otherwise objectionable in any way;
(e) use the Software, Products or Skype Websites to cause or intend to
cause embarrassment or distress to, or to threaten, harass or invade
the privacy of, any third party; or
(f) use (including as part of your User ID and/or profile picture) any
material or content that is subject to any third party proprietary
rights, unless you have a licence or permission from the owner of such
rights; or
(g) collect or harvest any personally identifiable information,
including account names, from the Software, Products or Skype Websites;
(h) impact or attempt to impact the availability of the Software,
Products or Skype Websites for example, with a denial of service (DOS)
or distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack;
(i) use or launch any automated system, including without limitation,
robots, spiders or offline readers that access the Software, Products
or Skype Websites. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you agree that Skype
grants to the operators of public search engines permission to use
spiders to copy materials from the Skype Website for the sole purpose
of creating publicly available searchable indices of the materials, but
not caches or archives of such materials. Skype reserves the right to
revoke these exceptions at any time.
6.4 User Submissions Please exercise respect when participating in any
features of the Skype Websites or Software such as Forums, Blogs, email
functions, video hosting, sharing and/or publishing or any other
function on the Skype Websites or of the Skype Software which allows
you to post, upload, edit, host, share and/or publish content. You
acknowledge and agree that: (i) by using the Skype Websites and/or
Software you may be exposed to content that you may find offensive or
indecent and you do so at your own risk; (ii) you are solely
responsible for, and Skype has no responsibility to you or any third
party for any User Submissions that you create, submit, post or publish
on the Skype Websites or through the Software; (iii) Skype does not
guarantee any confidentiality with respect to User Submissions, whether
or not they are published (iv) Skype is not responsible for any User
Submissions that you may have access to through your use of the Skype
Websites or Software and all User Submissions are the responsibility of
the person from whom such User Submissions originated. Skype does not
endorse any User Submissions or any opinion, recommendation, or advice
expressed therein, and expressly disclaims any and all liability in
connection with User Submissions.
In connection with your User Submissions, you represent and warrant
that you
(i) own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and
permissions to use and authorise Skype to use all copyrights, trade
marks, trade secrets, patents and other intellectual property or
proprietary rights in and to any and all User Submissions in accordance
with these Terms; and
(ii) you have the written consent, release and /or permission of each
and every identifiable individual person in the User Submission to use
the name and/or likeness of each and every such individual in the User
Submission, to enable inclusion and use thereof in the manner
contemplated by these Terms. You shall not copy, post or use text,
photos, pictures, music, sounds, images or any other content from any
third party or source (âThird Party Contentâ) without specific
permission from the owner. Such Third Party Content may be protected by
intellectual property laws and the owners of the intellectual property
rights in such content may object to its use. You must not use any
Third Party Content without first obtaining the permission of the owner
of the intellectual property rights in such content.
Notwithstanding any rights or obligations governed by the Additional
Terms (as defined below) if, at any time you choose to upload or post
User Submissions to the Skype Websites or through the Software
(excluding Reports and excluding the content of your communications)
you automatically grant Skype a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable,
royalty-free, perpetual, sub-licensable and transferable license of all
rights to use, edit, modify, include, incorporate, adapt, record,
publicly perform, display, transmit and reproduce the User Submissions
including, without limitation, all trade marks associated therewith, in
connection with the Skype Websites and Skypeâs Software and Products
including for the purpose of promoting or redistributing part or all of
the Skype Websites and/or the Software or Products, in any and all
media now known or hereafter devised. You also hereby grant each user
of the Skype Website and/or Skypeâs Software or Products a
non-exclusive license to access your User Submission through the Skype
Website and/or Software or Products and to use, copy, distribute,
prepare derivative works of, display, perform and transmit such User
Submissions solely as permitted through the functionality of the Skype
Websites and/or Software or Products and pursuant to these Terms of
Use. In addition, you waive any so-called âmoral rightsâ in and to the
User Submissions, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
You may not submit or publish through the Skype Website or Software any
User Submissions that are libelous, defamatory, pornographic,
harassing, hateful, an invasion of privacy, obscene, abusive, illegal,
racist, offensive, harmful to a minor or an infringement of any
intellectual property rights or a trade secret of a third party, or
would otherwise violate the rights of any third party or give rise to
civil or criminal liability. Furthermore, you may not submit or publish
User Submissions that contain falsehoods or misrepresentations, solicit
funds or services, contain advertising, promotional materials, junk
mail, spam, chain letters or any form of solicitation, impersonate
others or include programs that contain viruses or any other programs
designed to impair the functionality of any computer. You agree not to
solicit, for commercial purposes, any users of the Skype Website or
Software with respect to their User Submissions. You agree not to
circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with the security related
features of the Skype Website or Software or features that prevent or
restrict the use of any content thereof.
6.5 Your Information: From time to time, Skype may request information
from you for the purpose of supplying the Software or Products to you.
You shall ensure that any such information is complete, up-to-date and
accurate.
6.6 No Reselling. The Software and Products are for your individual
use. You shall not resell or commercialise the Software and/or Products
to any third party.
6.7 Export Restrictions: The Software may be subject to international
rules that govern the export of software. You shall comply with all
applicable international and national laws that apply to the Software
as well as end-user, end-use, destination restrictions issued by
national governments or similar bodies, and restrictions on embargoed
nations. In the US the Internet Communications Software is controlled
under ECCN 5D992 of the Export Administration Regulations (âEARâ) under
Encryption Registration Number (âERNâ) R100351 and thus may not be
exported or re exported from the US to or downloaded by any person in
any countries controlled for anti terrorism reasons under the EAR,
which include Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria and Sudan. Moreover, the
Internet Communications Software may not be exported or re exported
from the US to or downloaded by any person or entity subject to US
sanctions regardless of location. See
www.bis.doc.gov/ComplianceAndEnforcement/ListsToCheck.htm and EAR Part
736. Skype is making the Software available to you for download only on
the condition that you certify that you are not such a person or entity
and that the download is not otherwise in violation of US export
control and sanctions regulations.
7. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
7.1 The Software, Products and Skype Websites contain proprietary and
confidential information that is protected by intellectual property
laws and treaties.
7.2 The content and compilation of content included on the Skype
Websites, (excluding User Submissions) such as sounds, text, graphics,
logos, icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads and software, are
the property of Skype, its affiliates or licensors and are protected by
United States and international copyright laws. Such copyright
protected content cannot be reproduced without Skypeâs express
permission. You may download and make personal, non-commercial use of
User Submissions on www.qik.com that are displayed with a âdownloadâ or
similar link. Skype reserves all rights not expressly granted in the
Skype Websites.
7.3 Skype and/or its licensors retain exclusive ownership of the
Software, Products and Skype Websites and all intellectual property
therein (whether or not registered and anywhere in the world). You will
not take any action to jeopardise, limit or interfere with Skypeâs
intellectual property rights in the Software, Products and/or Skype
Websites.
7.4 âSkypeâ, associated trademarks and logos and the âSâ logo are
trademarks of Skype. Skype has registered and filed applications to
register its trademarks in many countries worldwide. Skypeâs trademarks
and trade dress may not be used in connection with any product or
service that is not Skypeâs, in any manner that is likely to cause
confusion among customers, or in any manner that disparages or
discredits Skype. All other trademarks not owned by Skype or any of its
related companies that appear on this site are the property of their
respective owners. You are not permitted to and shall not register or
use any trade name, trademark, logo, domain name or any other name or
sign that incorporates any of Skypeâs intellectual property (in whole
or part) or that is confusingly similar thereto. Please also see
Skypeâs Trademark Guidelines for further details on use of its marks.
8. CHARGES
8.1 Calling phones and premium rate numbers with Skype Credit:
(i) Calling landlines and mobiles: The charges payable for calling
phones (outside of a subscription) consist of a connection fee (charged
once, per call) and a per-minute rate as set out on
www.skype.com/go/allrates. All calls will be disconnected and require a
re-dial after a 4-hour duration and an additional connection fee will
be charged on re-dial.
(ii) Premium rate numbers: The charges payable for calling premium rate
numbers consist of a per-minute rate available at
www.skype.com/go/rates-premium. No connection fee is payable.
(iii) Skype may change the rates for calling phones and premium rate
numbers at any time without notice to you by posting such change at
www.skype.com/go/allrates. The new rate will apply to your next
purchase after the new rates have been published. Please check the
latest rates before you make your call. If you do not accept the new
rates, do not make your call.
(iv) The duration of a call shall be based on one-minute increments.
Fractions of minutes will be rounded up to the next minute. The
connection fee, where applicable, will be charged at the beginning of
the call. At the end of a call, fractional cent charges will be rounded
up to the nearest whole cent, for example a total call price of â¬0.034
will be rounded up to â¬0.04. During the call, charges incurred will be
deducted automatically from the Skype Credit balance in your User
Account.
8.2 Charges for other Paid For Products: The charges for other Paid For
Products will be confirmed to you before you complete a purchase from
Skype. Skype may change the charges payable for the purchase of such
Products at any time without any notice to you. You can choose whether
or not to accept the new charges prior to completing your next purchase
of the applicable Product. The new charges will apply to your next
purchase after the new charges have been published.
8.3 Promotional Offers: From time to time, Skype may offer Paid-For
Products for free for a trial period. Skype reserves the right to
charge you for such Products (at the normal rate) in the event that
Skype determines (in its reasonable discretion) that you are abusing
the terms of the offer, including if you are using any service, proxy
or other devices or anonymous IP address that prevents us from locating
you.
8.4 Tax: Skype may collect VAT or other indirect taxes at the
appropriate rate (as per applicable tax rules) at the time of purchase
of Skype Credit. 15% Luxembourg VAT generally applies if you are
located in the EU and the Products are purchased and used in the EU. 8%
Swiss VAT applies if you are located in Switzerland. Other local taxes
may apply in certain countries. When you purchase a voucher or pre-paid
card, depending on the country, 15% Luxembourg VAT, local VAT or other
taxes may apply and may be deducted from the value of the voucher or
prepaid card upon redemption. You explicitly waive any right to VAT
reimbursement from Skype if the amount of VAT ultimately payable by the
latter to the tax authorities would for any reason be lower than the
amount of VAT collected from you at the time of purchase. Your Skype
Credit balance is displayed exclusive of any such taxes. The
territories in the EU set out below are outside the scope of EU VAT
under Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT, as
amended. The Skype Website does not enable users in such territories to
take advantage of this VAT exemption and we therefore do not provide
the Products in such territories: Mount Athos, Canary Islands, French
Overseas Departments, Aland Islands, Channel Islands, Heligoland
Island, Büsingen / Buesingen Territory, Ceuta, Melilla, Livigno,
Campione d'Italia and Italian Waters of Lake Lugano.
8.5 Third-Party Charges: Using the Software on mobile applications will
use some of the data allowance available on the data package to which
you have subscribed with your mobile network operator. Out-of-country
usage may lead to significantly higher costs than regular usage, and
you are solely responsible for keeping yourself informed and paying for
possible roaming and other applicable charges levied by your mobile
network operator.
9. PAYMENT
9.1 Skype Credit. You can pay for select Paid-For Products using Skype
Credit. You can purchase Skype Credit using any payment method made
available to you by Skype from time to time. The Skype Credit that you
purchase will be credited to your User Account at the time of purchase
(or if you are using a Skype Credit voucher, at the time you redeem
that voucher).
9.2 Inactive Skype Credit. If you do not use your Skype Credit for a
period of 180 days, (including Skype Credit that has been allocated to
you by a Skype Manager administrator) Skype will place your Skype
Credit on inactive status. You can reactivate the Skype Credit by
following the reactivation link in My Account at
https://secure.skype.com/account/credit-reactivate. Reactivated Skype
Credit is not refundable. If you are located in Japan and you buy Skype
Credit from the Skype Website, this paragraph does not apply to you and
your Skype Credit shall expire 6 months from the date of purchase. You
are not permitted to use any Skype Credit on or after the date of its
expiry.
9.3 Other payment methods. Skype does not guarantee that you will be
able to use your Skype Credit balance to purchase all Products. Where
Skype Credit cannot be used to pay for a Product, Skype will make
another payment method available to you. Skype reserves the right to
remove or amend the available payment methods at its sole discretion.
9.4 Recurring Payments. Where you purchase Products on a subscription
basis (monthly, every 3 months or annually (as applicable)), you
acknowledge and agree that this is a recurring payment and payments
shall be made to Skype by the method you have chosen at the recurring
intervals chosen by you, until the subscription for that Product is
terminated by you or by Skype.
9.5 Auto-Recharge.
(a) The Auto-Recharge feature will be automatically enabled when you
buy Skype Credit, unless you untick the appropriate box. Your Skype
Credit balance will be recharged with the same amount and by the same
payment method chosen when you first sign up for Auto-Recharge, unless
you subsequently change the amount by accessing your User Account. For
example, if you purchase 10 Euros of Skype Credit with your credit
card, the recharge amount charged to your credit card will also be 10
Euros of Skype Credit. In future the same amount will be charged to
your credit card every time your Skype account balance goes below the
threshold set by Skype from time to time. If you do not want to enable
Auto-Recharge, please untick the box.
(b) If you purchased a subscription with a payment method other than
credit card, PayPal or Moneybookers (Skrill), and you have enabled
Auto-Recharge, your Skype Credit balance will be recharged with the
amount necessary to purchase your next recurring subscription.
(c) You can disable Auto-Recharge at any time by accessing your User
Account.
10. REFUND POLICY
10.1 When you purchase Paid-For-Products directly from Skype you will
be entitled to a cancellation period of fifteen (15) days (a
âCooling-Off Periodâ) unless you have made use of the Paid-For-Products
in any way, in which case the Cooling-Off Period will be extinguished
and your purchase cannot be cancelled or refunded.
10.2 Outside of the Cooling-Off Period, only subscriptions are
refundable unless used or expired.
10.3 Expenditure of Skype Credit, allocation of a Skype Number, or use
of any aspect of a subscription amounts to âuseâ of a Paid-For-Product.
You hereby expressly agree that Skype Numbers may be allocated before
the end of the Cooling-Off Period.
10.4 The Cooling-Off Period and refunds do not apply to
Paid-For-Products that are (i) purchased via a third party partner of
Skype (please contact the partner directly, who may decide in its sole
discretion whether or not to pay a refund), (ii) not directly acquired
online from Skype (e.g. vouchers or pre-paid cards) (iii) paid for in
cash using third party payment methods (such as a cash payment wallet)
and (iv) paid for and allocated to your Skype Account by a Skype
Manager administrator. They also do not apply to Membership of Skype
Developer.
10.5 If you believe that Skype has charged you in error, you must
contact Skype within 90 days of such charge. No refunds will be given
for any charges more than 90 days old.
10.6 Skype reserves the right to refuse a refund request if it
reasonably believes (i) that you are trying to unfairly exploit this
refund policy, for example, by making repetitive refund requests in
respect of the same Product; (ii) if you are in breach of these Terms
or (iii) if Skype reasonably suspects that you are using our Products
or Software fraudulently or that your User Account is being used by a
third party fraudulently.
10.7 This refund policy does not affect your statutory rights.
11. ENDING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SKYPE
11.1 You may terminate your relationship with Skype at any time and
without recourse to the courts by requesting closure of your User
Account, ceasing to use the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites
and cancelling any recurring payments.
11.2 Skype may terminate its relationship with you, or may terminate or
suspend your use of the Software, User Account(s), Products or Skype
Websites at any time and without recourse to the courts:
(a) if you are in breach of these Terms;
(b) if Skype reasonably suspects that you are using the Software, the
Products and/or Skype Websites to break the law or infringe third party
rights;
(c) if Skype reasonably suspects that you are trying to unfairly
exploit or misuse the refund policy, or any of our policies.
(d) if Skype reasonably suspects that you are using our Products,
Software and/or Skype Websites fraudulently or that your User Account
is being used by a third party fraudulently;
(e) if you have purchased Skype Credit from an unauthorised reseller;
(f) in respect of a particular Product, on thirty (30) days notice if
Skype decides to cease offering that Product;
(g) immediately, if required due to a change in laws/regulation by a
regulator or authority with a lawful mandate, or by any of Skypeâs
partners;
(h) on thirty (30) days notice if Skype decides to cease offering the
Software to users in your jurisdiction generally.
11.3 Skype shall effect such termination by preventing your access to
your User Account, the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites (as
applicable). We reserve the right to cancel User Accounts that have
been inactive for more than one (1) year.
11.4 Consequences of Termination: Upon termination of your relationship
with Skype: (a) all licenses and rights to use the Software, Products
and/or Skype Websites shall immediately terminate; (b) you will
immediately cease any and all use of the Software, Products and/or
Skype Websites; and (c) you will immediately remove the Software from
all hard drives, networks and other storage media and destroy all
copies of the Software in your possession or under your control.
12. EXCLUSION OF WARRANTIES, LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY
12.1 For the purposes of this paragraph 12, "Skype" includes its
subsidiary companies and affiliated legal entities and all their
directors, officers, agents, licensors and employees.
12.2 No Warranties: TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW: THE
SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS AND SKYPE WEBSITES ARE PROVIDED âAS ISâ AND USED AT
YOUR SOLE RISK WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER; SKYPE DOES NOT MAKE ANY
WARRANTIES, CLAIMS OR REPRESENTATIONS AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, WITH
RESPECT TO THE SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS AND/OR SKYPE WEBSITES INCLUDING,
WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF QUALITY, PERFORMANCE,
NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR USE FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. SKYPE FURTHER DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE,
PRODUCTS AND/OR SKYPE WEBSITES WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE, ACCESSIBLE,
UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE AND ERROR-FREE OR
WILL OPERATE WITHOUT PACKET LOSS, NOR DOES SKYPE WARRANT ANY CONNECTION
TO OR TRANSMISSION FROM THE INTERNET, OR ANY QUALITY OF CALLS MADE
THROUGH THE SOFTWARE.
12.3 Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or restrict Skype's liability
for (a) death or personal injury, (b) loss resulting from Skype's
wilful default or gross negligence, (c) fraud or deliberate
misrepresentation, or (d) any liability which cannot be limited or
excluded by applicable law.
12.4 No Liability: YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT SKYPE WILL HAVE NO
LIABILITY WHATSOEVER, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE)
OR ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES HAS BEEN NOTIFIED TO SKYPE, IN CONNECTION WITH
OR ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF SKYPE WEBSITES, OR THE INTERNET
COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE OR OTHER SOFTWARE THAT IS PROVIDED FREE OF
CHARGE. YOUR ONLY RIGHT OR REMEDY WITH RESPECT TO ANY PROBLEMS OR
DISSATISFACTION WITH SUCH SOFTWARE AND/OR SKYPE WEBSITES IS TO
IMMEDIATELY DEINSTALL SUCH SOFTWARE AND CEASE USE OF SUCH SOFTWARE
AND/OR SKYPE WEBSITES.
12.5 Limitation of Liability: Subject to paragraphs 12.3 and 12.4
above, Skype shall not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort
(including negligence) or any other theory of liability, and whether or
not the possibility of such damages or losses has been notified to
Skype, for:
(a) any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages; or
(b) any loss of income, business, actual or anticipated profits,
opportunity, goodwill or reputation (whether direct or indirect); or
(c) any damage to or corruption of data (whether direct or indirect);
(d) any claim, damage or loss (whether direct or indirect ) arising
from or relating to:
(i) your inability to use the Software to contact Emergency Services;
(ii) your failure to make additional arrangements to access Emergency
Services in accordance with paragraph 5.5 above;
(iii)the service limitations set out in paragraph 5.6;
(iv)your failure to provide accurate physical location information to
an Emergency Services operative; or
(v)conduct of third party Emergency Services operatives and calling
centres to which you may be connected.
(e) any claim, damage or loss (whether direct or indirect) arising from
or relating to:
(i) any product or service provided by a third party under their own
terms of service, including without limitation, Skype WiFi;
(ii) any Third Party Technology;
(iii) any third party website.
12.6 Subject to paragraphs 12.3 - 12.5 above, Skypeâs total liability
to you under or in connection with these Terms (whether in contract,
tort (including negligence) or any other theory of liability)) SHALL
NOT EXCEED IN AGGREGATE THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR THE PRODUCTS IN THE
12 MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE DATE OF THE EVENT GIVING RISE
TO THE RELEVANT CLAIM, SUBJECT TO A MAXIMUM OF FIVE THOUSAND EUROS IN
ALL CASES.
12.7 If any third party brings a claim against Skype in connection
with, or arising out of (i) your breach of these Terms; (ii) your
breach of any applicable law of regulation; (iii) your infringement or
violation of the rights of any third parties (including intellectual
property rights); (iv) your User Submissions or (v) your complaint in
relation to any User Submission, you will indemnify and hold Skype
harmless from and against all damages, liability, loss, costs and
expenses (including reasonable legal fees and costs) related to such
claim.
13. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
13.1 Third parties may offer products or services via the Software
and/or Skype Websites, including games, applications, images, ring
tones, or avatars. Whilst Skype takes no responsibility for such
products or services, if you encounter any problems with payment for or
download, use of installation of such products or services, Skype will
use commercially reasonable endeavours to assist or resolve the
problems. The third party products or services may be subject to the
third party providerâs own terms and privacy policy that you may have
to accept upon download or installation. You should review such terms
before making any purchase or using any third party product or service
and Skype shall not be responsible for your failure to do so.
13.2 You acknowledge and agree that any third-party product information
and pricing that is shown on the Skype Websites regarding third-party
products and services is given to Skype by the applicable third-party
merchant (âMerchantâ). The Merchant has the ability to change its
pricing or terminate its product availability at anytime. Skype is not
involved in any transactions between you and any Merchant whose
products and/or services are listed on the Skype Websites. Skype does
not control, is not responsible for and does not guarantee: (i) the
pricing, quality, performance, availability or terms and conditions of
purchase of products or services provided by the Merchant; (ii) any
payment transactions, delivery, returns or after sales activities
related to the products or services purchased on the Merchantsâ
websites; (iii) the availability of the Merchantâs websites; (iv) the
completeness, truth or accuracy of any advertising or other materials
on, or available from, the Merchantsâ websites, nor any listing or
other content about such products and services displayed on the Skype
Websites; (v) links to the Merchantsâ websites that are featured on the
Skype Websites. Any questions, complaints, or claims related to any
product or service provided by a Merchant should be directed to the
applicable Merchant.
13.3 The Software and Skype Websites may include hyperlinks to other
third party websites. Skype is not responsible for such third party
websites or the availability of such websites and does not endorse any
content or material on such third party websites. Your use of each of
these third party websites is subject to the terms and conditions
posted on the applicable website.
14. ADDITIONAL TERMS
14.1 The Skype Etiquette provides guidelines on how to use Skype and
how to treat the other members of Skypeâs community properly and
respectfully. Please read these guidelines carefully which form part of
the Terms.
14.2 If you want to use the Internet Communications Software in
connection with any Broadcast, you must comply with the Broadcast TOS
at http://www.skype.com/legal/broadcast
14.3 Software Development Kits and APIs. Software development kits
provided through Skype Developer on the Skype Website (including
âSkypeKitâ) and the use of any application program interface (âAPIâ)
exposed or made available by Skype are subject to their own licensing
terms in which case such licensing terms will govern your use of that
software. If you use any such software development kit or API (as
applicable) you agree that you have read and will comply with the
applicable licensing terms, which are available on
http://developer.skype.com/.
14.4 Qik Free and Open Source Software Notice is incorporated herein by
reference.
15. YOUR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND YOUR PRIVACY
Skype is committed to respecting your privacy and the confidentiality
of your personal information. We will process your personal
information, the traffic data and the content of your communication(s)
in accordance with our Privacy Policy: http://www.skype.com/go/privacy.
16. FOR GOVERNMENT USERS ONLY
The Software and Documentation are âcommercial computer softwareâ and
âcommercial computer software documentation,â respectively, as such
terms are used in United States Federal Acquisition Regulations
paragraph 12.212. Any use, duplication or disclosure of the Software or
the Documentation by or on behalf of the U.S. Government is subject to
restrictions as set forth in this Agreement.
17. HOW TO CONTACT SKYPE
17.1 To contact Skype in relation to the Skype Software or âSkypeâ
branded Products, please submit a support request to support.skype.com.
17.2 To contact Skype in relation to the Qik Software or âQikâ branded
Products, please submit a support request to support.qik.com.
17.3 If you contact Skype by any means other than as set out in
paragraphs 17.1 or 17.2, your request may not be acknowledged.
18. MISCELLANEOUS
18.1 You agree to the use of electronic communication in order to enter
into contracts, place orders, and create other records and to the
electronic delivery of notices, policies and changes thereto and
records of transactions with Skype.
18.2 For your convenience, Skype may provide you with a translation of
the English language version of these Terms. In the event of any
inconsistency between a non-English version of these Terms and the
English version, the English version shall govern your relationship
with Skype.
18.3 These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Skype
with respect to your use of the Software, Products and/or Skype
Websites and replace any prior agreements between you and Skype with
respect to the Software, Products and/or Skype Websites.
18.4 If any provision of these Terms (or part of it), is found by any
court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction or an arbitrator
to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, then such provision (or part
of it) shall be removed from the Terms without affecting the legality,
validity or enforceability of the remainder of the Terms. Paragraph
20.3(i) says what happens if parts of paragraph 20.3 (arbitration and
class action waiver) are found to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable.
Paragraph 20.3(i) prevails over this paragraph if inconsistent with it.
18.5 The failure by Skype to exercise, or delay in exercising, a legal
right or remedy provided by these Terms or by law shall not constitute
a waiver of Skypeâs right or remedy. If Skype waives a breach of these
Terms, this shall not operate as a waiver of a subsequent breach of the
Terms.
18.6 You may not assign these Terms or any rights or obligations
contained in them. Skype may, without prior notice, assign these Terms
or any rights or obligations contained in them to any third party.
18.7 This paragraph 18, along with paragraphs, 4.2, 12, 20.3 and any
other provisions, which are expressed or clearly intended to survive or
operate in the event of termination, shall survive termination of the
Terms.
18.8 You acknowledge and agree that if Skype is unable to provide the
Software, Products and/or Skype Websites as a result of a force majeure
event, Skype will not be in breach of any of its obligations towards
you under these Terms. A force majeure event means any event beyond the
control of Skype.
18.9 These Terms other than paragraph 20.3 shall be governed by and
interpreted in accordance with the laws of Luxembourg and shall be
subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the district of
Luxembourg. Paragraph 20.3 is governed by the United States Federal
Arbitration Act.
18.10 AVC/H.264 NOTICE: If the Software is used to make video calls (i)
between a personal computer and a device that is not a personal
computer or (ii) between devices that are not personal computers, the
AVC/H.264 codec may be used to facilitate video functionality in which
case the following notice applies: THE AVC VIDEO FUNCTIONALITY IN THIS
PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR THE
PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (i) ENCODE VIDEO IN
COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC STANDARD (âAVC VIDEOâ) AND/OR (ii) DECODE AVC
VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL AND
NON-COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A VIDEO PROVIDER
LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED OR SHALL BE
IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM
MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE www.mpegla.com.
19. PRODUCT SPECIFIC TERMS
19.1 Skype Numbers (previously known as âOnline Numbersâ) and Skype To
Go numbers
(a) Availability and use. Where we provide you with a Skype Number or
Skype To Go number, you agree that:
(i) you do not own the number or have a right to retain that number
forever;
(ii) the number provided to you is subject to applicable numbering
rules and regulatory practices;
(iii) you will comply on an ongoing basis with any specific number
allocation requirements that we make you aware of, or any reasonable
instructions that Skype or Skypeâs partners may give to you with regard
to the use of the numbers and the Products;
(iv) you will not transfer or attempt to transfer your number to any
third party. In particular, you are responsible for compliance with any
requirements related to residency and or location; and
(v) you will supply accurate, complete and up-to-date information to us
where we request it and inform us where such information changes. Skype
reserves the right to change the terms related to Skype Numbers and/or
Skype To Go numbers, including without limitation to impose or amend
any residency requirements and/or require the provision of further user
information for continued access to such numbers. In certain countries,
a number may be made available to you by a Skype partner rather than
Skype, and you may need to enter into a separate agreement with such
partner.
(b) Other changes to numbers. If Skype needs to withdraw or change the
number that has been made available to you, Skype will use commercially
reasonable endeavours to notify you by e-mail, stating the effective
date of the change and where possible, your new number. If you do not
wish to accept this new number, you are entitled to terminate your
number.
19.2 User Account on Skype Manager
(a) You are not permitted to belong to more than one Skype Manager at
the same time.
(b) Any Skype Number purchased before 21 July 2009 and allocated to you
by a Skype Manager administrator shall be taken back by the
administrator of the Skype Manager, if you leave the Skype Manager
account for any reason. The right to use the number and the
cancellation of such right rest with the Skype Manager administrator at
his/her sole discretion and not you.
(c) Personal and traffic data â Members. As a member of a Skype Manager
account you acknowledge and agree that the administrator of the Skype
Manager may, if you agree, view detailed information about the activity
on your User Account including the time, date, duration and destination
number of calls and SMS made and details of your purchases and
downloads. You can withdraw your agreement at any time by changing the
settings on your User Account. If you provide personal data including
your name and job title to be included on the Skype Manager directory,
you acknowledge that other members of that Skype Manager may view such
data.
19.3 Subscriptions
(a) Fair Usage Policy. At Skype, we want all of our customers to get
the best calling plans, known as âsubscriptionsâ, at the lowest
possible price. This Fair Usage Policy ("FUP") is designed to prevent
fraud and abuse of our subscriptions by a small number of users.
Subject to this FUP, Skypeâs unlimited subscriptions allow unlimited
calls to landlines in the applicable subscription countries (excluding
special, premium, service and non-geographic numbers). Unlimited calls
to mobiles may also be included where stated at the time of purchase.
All calls will be disconnected and require a re-dial after a 2-hour
duration.
Skypeâs subscriptions are for individual use only (personal or business
communications) in accordance with our Terms of Use and this FUP
(âLegitimate Useâ). The following is a non-exhaustive list of practices
that would not be considered Legitimate Use:
(i) Using subscriptions for telemarketing or call centre operations;
(ii) Re-selling subscription minutes;
(iii) Sharing subscriptions between users whether via a PBX, call
centre, computer or any other means;
(iv) Calling numbers (whether singly, sequentially or automatically) to
generate income for yourself or others as a result of merely placing
the call, other than for your individual business communications (and
subject to paragraph 4.1 of the Terms of Use); and
(v) Unusual calling patterns inconsistent with normal, individual
subscription use, for example, regular calls of short duration or calls
to multiple numbers in a short period of time.
Other practices may be relevant in determining Legitimate Use and Skype
reserves the right to take any unlawful, prohibited, abnormal or
unusual activity into account in making its determination. Skype may at
its option, terminate its relationship with you, or may suspend your
subscription immediately if it determines you are using your
subscription contrary to this FUP or Skypeâs Terms of Use. Where
reasonable, Skype will provide you with notice of improper usage before
suspension or termination of your subscription and, if appropriate,
Skype may offer you an alternative subscription.
(b) Skype reserves the right to withdraw or change the subscriptions at
any time. If Skype changes the Products included in your subscription,
Skype will notify you by email stating the changes and their effective
date. If you do not wish to accept these changes, you are entitled to
terminate your subscription, with effect from the date on which the
changes are due to take effect.
(c) The âUnlimited World Extraâ subscription has a minimum fixed term
of 2 years from the date of purchase. You are not permitted to
terminate it before the expiry of the 2-year minimum term except in
case of breach by Skype of the Terms. This subscription is billed
monthly as a recurring payment.
19.4 Skype WiFi
Skype WiFi is provided by one of Skypeâs WiFi partners. Your use of
Skype WiFi is subject to that partnerâs terms of service. Before you
start a Skype WiFi session at a specific WiFi hotspot, you will be
notified of the identity of the WiFi provider and their terms of
service. You will have to read their terms of service, which you agree
to be subject to by proceeding with the Skype WiFi session. You can pay
for Skype WiFi using your Skype Credit balance, and your use of Skype
Credit is subject to these Terms of Service.
19.5 SMS
Each SMS message has a limit of 160 characters. If you type a longer
message it will be broken down into several SMS messages and you will
be charged for each message sent. If you send SMS messages to more than
one person you will be charged for each SMS sent to each recipient. If
Skype cannot (for whatever reason) send your SMS, Skype will continue
to try and send the message for up to 24 hours after which time the SMS
charge will be refunded to your Skype Credit balance automatically if
delivery is unsuccessful.
19.6 Group Video Calling
(a) A fair usage policy applies at www.skype.com/go/terms.gvc.fairusage
and is incorporated herein by reference. Skype reserves the right to
change the fair usage policy at any time. Changes shall become
effective when published on the Skype Website. Your continued use of a
Skype Premium Subscription after publication on the Skype Website shall
constitute your acceptance to be bound by the terms and conditions of
the revised fair usage policy.
(b) Number of Participants. The number of permitted participants on a
group video call varies from 3 to a maximum of 10, subject to system
requirements. You can find more details at
www.skype.com/go/skypepremium.
(c) Audio Conversion. If a Skype Premium Subscription or Day Pass
expires during a group video call, or it has exceeded the fair usage
limit, or the owner of the Skype Premium Subscription leaves the call
(and there is no other participant on the call who owns a Skype Premium
Subscription), then the call will convert from video to audio.
(d) Software Versions. If a participant of a group video call is not on
a version of Internet Communications Software that supports group video
calls, then the call will be an audio call only for that participant.
For details of the system requirements for group video calling, please
see www.skype.com/go/skypepremium.requirements.
(e) Live chat. Live chat customer support is available as part of the
Skype Premium Subscription. This support is available 24 hours a day,
every day, and only in English.
19.7 Qik Premium Fair Usage Policy
Qik Premium is subject to a fair usage policy of 15GB of video storage
per user per month and each video can be no more than 90 minutes in
duration. Once these limits have been reached you cannot upload any new
videos in that month or continue recording beyond the 90-minute mark.
Skype reserves the right to change the fair usage policy at any time.
Changes shall become effective when published on the Skype Website.
Your continued use of Qik Premium after publication on the Skype
Website shall constitute your acceptance to be bound by the terms and
conditions of the revised fair usage policy.
19.8 Skype Video Messaging (âVideo Messagingâ)
If you are not a Skype Premium subscriber, the number of Video Messages
you can send are limited and will be subject to an expiry date.
Fair Use Policy: This FUP is designed to prevent fraud and abuse of
Video Messaging. Video Messaging is for personal, individual and
non-commercial use only, and to be in accordance with these Terms at
all times (âLegitimate Useâ). Skype reserves the right to take any
unlawful, prohibited, abnormal or unusual activity into account in
making its determination as to whether your activity does not
constitute Legitimate Use. Skype may in its option, terminate its
relationship with you, or suspend your account immediately if it
determines you are using Video Messaging contrary to this FUP or these
Terms.
20. PAY BY MOBILE
20.1 This section applies if you select a third-party payment system
that enables you to pay for Skype Credit and certain Paid for Products
via your mobile phone bill where applicable (âPay by Mobileâ).
20.2 By selecting or using Pay by Mobile:
(a) You authorise your mobile phone carrier to charge appropriate fees
directly to your mobile phone bill; and
(b) You represent that you are the person or entity responsible for the
mobile phone account associated with the mobile number you provide when
using Pay by Mobile, or are authorised by that person or entity to
incur such charges.
20.3 BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER FOR UNITED STATES
ACCOUNTS. If you select Pay by Mobile and your mobile phone account is
registered with a mobile phone carrier in the USA or you reside in the
USA, the following additional terms apply:
(a) Paragraph 20.3 applies to any dispute arising between you and
either Skype or any third party including mobile phone carriers and
Skypeâs corporate affiliates (collectively, âDisputed Partyâ or
âDisputed Partiesâ) relating to your use of Pay by Mobile, EXCEPT IT
DOES NOT INCLUDE A DISPUTE RELATING TO THE ENFORCEMENT OR VALIDITY OF
YOUR, SKYPEâS, OR EITHER OF OUR LICENSORSâ INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS. Dispute, for purposes of paragraph 20.3, means any dispute,
action, or other controversy whether in contract, warranty, tort,
statute, regulation, ordinance, or any other legal or equitable basis.
Dispute will be given the broadest possible meaning allowable under
law.
(b) In the event of a dispute, you must provide Skype or other Disputed
Party with a Notice of Dispute, which is a written statement of the
name, address and contact information of the party giving it, the facts
giving rise to the dispute, and the relief requested. You must send any
Notice of Dispute to Skype or its corporate affiliate at ATTN: Legal
Department, Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA
98052-7329. and to any other Disputed Party at its principal place of
business in the USA, marked ATTN: Legal Department. The Disputed Party
will send any Notice of Dispute to your address if it has it, or
otherwise to your e-mail address on file. You and the Disputed Party
will attempt to resolve any dispute through informal negotiation within
60 days from the date the Notice of Dispute is sent, after which you or
the Disputed Party may commence arbitration.
(c) You may also litigate any dispute in a small claims court in your
county of residence, if the dispute meets all requirements to be heard
in the small claims court. You may litigate in a small claims court
whether or not you negotiated informally first.
(d) Binding Arbitration. If you and a Disputed Party do not resolve any
dispute by informal negotiation or in small claims court, any other
effort to resolve the dispute will be conducted exclusively by binding
arbitration governed by the United States Federal Arbitration Act
(âFAAâ). You are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as
a party or class member) all disputes in court before a judge or jury.
Instead, all disputes will be resolved before a neutral arbitrator,
whose decision will be final except for a limited right of appeal under
the FAA. Any court with jurisdiction over the parties may enforce the
arbitratorâs award.
(e) Class Action Waiver. Any proceedings to resolve or litigate any
dispute in any forum will be conducted solely on an individual basis.
Neither you nor a Disputed Party will seek to have any dispute heard as
a class action, private attorney general action, or in any other
proceeding in which either party acts or proposes to act in a
representative capacity. No arbitration or proceeding will be combined
with another without the prior written consent of all parties to all
affected arbitrations or proceedings.
(f) Any arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration
Association (the âAAAâ) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. If you
are an individual and use the Software or Products for personal or
household use, or if the value of the dispute is $75,000 USD or less
whether or not you are an individual or how you use them, its
Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes will also apply.
For more information, see adr.org or call +1-800-778-7879. In a dispute
involving $75,000 USD or less, Skype will promptly reimburse your
filing fees and pay the AAAâs and arbitratorâs fees. You and Skype
agree to the terms governing procedures, fees and incentives at
go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=275219. To commence arbitration,
submit the form available at go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=275627 to
the AAA. You agree to commence arbitration only in your county of
residence, in Santa Clara County, California, or another Disputed
Partyâs principal place of business in the USA. Skype and other
Disputed Parties agree to commence arbitration only in your county of
residence.
(g) To the extent permitted by law, any claim or dispute relating to
your use of Pay by Mobile must be filed within one year in small claims
court (paragraph 20.3(c)) or in arbitration (paragraph 20.3(d)). The
one-year period begins when the claim or dispute first could be filed.
If such a claim or dispute is not filed within one year, it is
permanently barred.
(h) Rejecting Future Arbitration Changes. You may reject any change
Skype makes to paragraph 20.3 (other than address changes) by sending
us notice within 30 days of the change by U.S. Mail to the address in
paragraph 20.3(b). If you do, the most recent version of paragraph 20.3
before the change you rejected will apply.
(i) If the class action waiver in paragraph 20.3(e) is found to be
illegal, invalid or unenforceable as to all or some parts of a dispute,
then paragraph 20.3 will not apply to those parts. Instead, those parts
will be severed and proceed in a court of law, with the remaining parts
proceeding in arbitration. If any other provision of paragraph 20.3 is
found to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be
severed with the remainder of paragraph 20.3 remaining in full force
and effect.
YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE TERMS AND UNDERSTAND
THE RIGHTS, OBLIGATIONS, TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH HEREIN. BY
CLICKING ON THE ACCEPT BUTTON AND/OR CONTINUING TO INSTALL THE SOFTWARE
OR USE THE SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS AND/OR SKYPE WEBSITES, YOU EXPRESSLY
CONSENT TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND GRANT TO SKYPE THE
RIGHTS SET FORTH HEREIN.
© Skype â Last updated: April 2013
