Terms of Use
Last Updated: February 29, 2012
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the website of PODS ENTERPRISES, INC. (“PODS”, “we” or “us”). The following terms and conditions (together with any documents referred to in them) (collectively, these “Terms of Use”) apply to your use, whether as a guest or a registered user, of pods.com and other websites of PODS or any of its affiliated or subsidiary companies where these Terms of Use are posted along with any content, functionality and services offered on or through such websites (collectively, the “Website”).
Please read the Terms of Use carefully before you start to use the site. By using the Website or by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms of Use when this option is made available to you, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy (found at www.pods.com/Privacy_Policy.aspx) incorporated here by reference. If you do not want to agree to these Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, you must exit the Website.
You acknowledge that the Terms of Use are supported by reasonable and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you acknowledge that such consideration includes your use of the Website and receipt of data, materials and information available at or through the Website.
CHANGES TO THE TERMS OF USE
We reserve the right to change or modify these Terms of Use or any policy or guideline of the Website, at any time and in our sole discretion. Any changes or modifications will be effective immediately upon posting the revisions to the Website, and you waive any right you may have to receive specific notice of such changes or modifications. Your continued use of the Website will confirm your acceptance of such changes or modifications; therefore, you should frequently review these Terms of Use and applicable policies to understand the terms and conditions that apply to your use of our Website. If you do not agree to the amended terms, you must stop using the Website.
RESTRICTIONS ON USE
The contents from the Website may not be copied or distributed, or republished, uploaded, posted, or transmitted in any way, without the prior written consent of PODS EXCEPT: you may download one copy of the material on one computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you do not delete or change any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices. Modification or use of the materials for any other purpose violates PODS intellectual property rights. The material in this Website is provided for lawful purposes only. If you download software from our Website, the software, including all files, images, contained in or generated by the software, and accompanying data (together, the “Software”) are deemed to be licensed to you by PODS. Neither title nor intellectual property rights are transferred to you, but remain with PODS, who owns full and complete title. You may not resell, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise convert the Software to a human perceivable form.
USER CONTRIBUTIONS
The Website may include interactive areas in which you or other users may create, post, send or store messages, materials, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, video, graphics, applications, tags, code, links or other items or materials on the Sites (“User Content”). By using the Website, you agree not to post, upload, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Website any of the following:
a. Unless specifically requested by PODS, any “sensitive” personally identifiable information about yourself or another person (including, but not limited to, information that relates to health or medical conditions, social security numbers, credit cards, bank accounts or other financial information, other information concerning trade union membership, sex life, political opinions, criminal charges or convictions, religious beliefs, racial or ethnic origin, or other sensitive matters);
b. User Content that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent, otherwise objectionable or which threatens our relationships with our employees, partners, customers or suppliers;
c. User content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party. By posting any User Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and produce such User Content;
d. User Content that impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your identity or affiliation with another person or entity;
e. Spam, direct marketing communications or any unsolicited advertising, promotional materials or other forms of solicitation or commercial content;
f. User Content that constitutes, encourages or provides instructions for a criminal offense, violates the rights of any party or that creates liability or violates any applicable local, state, national or international law;
g. Viruses, spyware, Trojan horses or any other harmful, disruptive or destructive files; and
h. User Content that, in the sole judgment of PODS, is objectionable, restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Website or which damages the image or rights of PODS, other users or third parties.
PODS does not control, take responsibility for or assume liability for any User Content posted, stored or uploaded by you or any third party, or for any loss or damage thereto, nor is PODS liable for any user conduct or any mistakes, defamation, slander, libel, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography or profanity you may encounter. The interactive areas are generally designed as open and public community areas for connecting and sharing with other people. When you participate in these areas, you understand that certain information and content you choose to post may be displayed publicly. You are solely responsible for your use of the Website and agree to use the interactive areas at your own risk.
MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT; TERMINATION
PODS has the right to:
a. Take any action with respect to any User Content that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion if we believe that such User Content violates the Terms of Use, including the Content Standards, infringes any intellectual property right or other right, threatens the personal safety of users of the Website and the public or could create liability for the Company.
b. Remove, screen, edit, modify or refuse to post any User Content for any or no reason in our sole discretion.
c. Disclose your identity to any third party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy.
d. Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Website.
e. Terminate your access to all or part of the Website for any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of these Terms of Use.
Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting any materials on or through the Website. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE COMPANY FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY PODS DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER PODS OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
However, we do not undertake to review all material before it is posted on the Website, and cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. These Terms of Use do not create any private right of action on the part of any third party or any reasonable expectation or promise that the Website will not contain any content that is prohibited by these Terms of Use. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or content provided by any user or third party. We have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this paragraph.
LICENSE TO USER CONTENT
You represent and warrant that your User Content is not subject to any confidentiality obligations and that you own and control all of the rights to the User Content or otherwise have the right to grant the rights to PODS that you grant herein. PODS claims no ownership or control over any User Content, except as otherwise provided herein, on the Website or in a separate agreement. However, by submitting or posting User Content on the Website, you grant PODS and its designees a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid up and royalty free license to use, sell, reproduce, prepare derivative works, combine with other works, alter, translate, distribute copies, display, perform, publish, license or sub-license the User Content and your name and likeness in connection with such use of your User Content. By posting User Content, you hereby release PODS and its agents and employees from any claims that such use, as authorized above, violates any of your rights and you understand that you will not be entitled to any compensation for any use of your User Content.
SUBMISSION OF IDEAS
Separate and apart from the User Content you provide, you can submit questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, plans, notes, drawings, original or creative materials or other information about PODS, the Website and our products and services (collectively, the “Ideas”). Ideas, whether posted to the Website or provided to PODS by email or otherwise are entirely voluntary, non-confidential, gratuitous and non-committal.
You hereby irrevocably assign and transfer to PODS all of your rights, title and interest, on a worldwide basis, including without limitation, all intellectual property rights and moral rights, in and to such Ideas. Accordingly, PODS shall own exclusive rights, including all intellectual property rights, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of Ideas for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you. To the extent the preceding assignment and transfer is ineffective, you grant PODS an exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, perpetual and fully sublicensable and transferable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, publish, and create derivative works from any such Ideas submitted to PODS by you.
PODS will not be liable for any ideas for its business (including without limitation, product, or advertising ideas) and will not incur any liability as a result of any similarities that may appear in future PODS operations. Do not send us Ideas if you expect to be paid or want to continue to own or claim rights in them. We may have already had the same or similar idea and we do not want disputes.
To the extent any “moral rights,” “ancillary rights,” or similar rights in or to the Ideas exist and are not exclusively owned by PODS, you agree not to enforce any such rights as to us or our licensees, agents, representatives, and other authorized users, and you shall procure the same agreement not to enforce from any others who may possess such rights.
You hereby appoint us as your agent with full power to enter into and execute any document and/or do any act we may consider appropriate to confirm the grant of rights, consents, agreements, assignments and waivers set forth in these Terms of Use.
COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS
We take claims of copyright infringement seriously. We will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable law. If you believe any materials accessible on or from this Website infringe your copyright, you may request removal of those materials (or access thereto) from the Website by submitting written notification to our Copyright Agent as set forth below.
PODS Enterprises, Inc.
Attn: Marketing
5585 Rio Vista Drive
Clearwater, Florida 33760
accountmanager@pods.com
Please see 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3) for the requirements of a proper notification. You should note that if you knowingly misrepresent in your notification that the material or activity is infringing, you will be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by us or the alleged infringer as the result of our relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing.
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable law, PODS has also adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and in our sole discretion, users who are deemed to be repeat infringers. PODS may also, in its sole discretion, limit access to the Website and/or terminate the accounts of any users who infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
PODS will not be liable for any damages or injury caused by, including but not limited to, any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, defect, delay in operation of transmission, computer virus, or line failure. PODS will not be liable for any damages or injury, including but not limited to, special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the materials in this Website, even if there is negligence or PODS or an authorized PODS representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or both. The above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you to the extent that applicable law may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. PODS total liability to you for all losses, damages, and causes of action (in contract, tort (including without limitation, negligence), or otherwise) will not be greater than the amount you paid to PODS to access this Website, which in all cases should be $0.
JURISDICTION
Except as described otherwise, all materials in the Website are made available only to provide information about PODS. PODS controls and operates the Website from its headquarters in Clearwater, FL, United States of America and makes no representation that these materials are appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you use the Website from other locations you are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. Some software from the Website may be subject to export controls imposed by the United States and may not be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported: (a) into (or to a national or resident of ) any country to which the U.S. has placed an embargo, including without limitation, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, or Yugoslavia; (b) to everyone on the US Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list, or (c) the US Commerce Department’s Table of Denial Orders. If you download or use the Software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, or under the control of, or a national or any such country or on any such list.
DISCLAIMER
The material in the Website could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. PODS may make changes or improvements at any time. THE MATERIALS IN THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW. PODS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OR MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. PODS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIAL WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. PODS DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF OR THE RESULT OF THE USE OF THE MATERIAL IN THE WEBSITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. YOU (AND NOT PODS) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES.
The Website contains downloadable materials as well as links to external sites. PODS is not responsible for, and has no control over, the content of such downloadable materials or external sites. You understand that PODS cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files or software of any kind, or from any source, available for downloading through the Website, will be free of infection or viruses, worms, Trojan Horses or other code or defects that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.
PODS is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workforce. PODS franchisees each hire their own employees and establish their own terms and conditions of employment, which may differ from those described. To be considered for a posted job opportunity, you must submit an application. Solicited applications are active for 180 days, after which you must reapply.
GENERAL NOTICE
These Terms of Use will be governed and be interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of Florida, United States of America, notwithstanding any principles of conflicts of law. Any legal action or proceeding relating to your access to, or use of the Website or these Terms of Use shall be instituted only in a state or federal court located in Hillsborough County, Florida. You and PODS agree to submit to the jurisdiction of, and agree that venue is proper in, these courts in any such legal action or proceeding. If any part of these Terms of Use is unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that part will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. Possible evidence of use of the Website for illegal purposes will be provided to law enforcement authorities. This is the entire agreement between the parties relating to the use of the Website. PODS products and services are available in various parts of the world. However, the Website may describe products and services that are not available worldwide. The Website may be linked to other sites which are not maintained by PODS. PODS is not responsible for the content of those sites. The inclusion of any link to such sites does not imply endorsement by PODS of the sites.
TRADEMARK AND COPYRIGHT NOTICES
The Website contains many of the valuable trademarks and service marks owned and used by PODS throughout the world. These trademarks and service marks distinguish PODS’s quality products and services. The content, arrangement and layout of the Site, including, but not limited to, the trademarks, service marks, package designs, text, and content, are proprietary and are protected from copying, imitation, communication, or simulation under domestic and international laws and are not to be reproduced, communicated, displayed, distributed, or transmitted without the express written permission of PODS.
The Website may also contain references to other company, brand and product names. These company, brand and product names are used herein for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective owners. The images of people or places displayed, forms, structures, and graphics displayed or found within the Website are either the property of, or used with permission by PODS. PODS may be, but is not necessarily sponsored by or affiliated with any of owners of the other company, brand and product name appearing on the Site, and makes no representations about them, their owners, their products or services.
The graphic images, buttons and text contained in the Website are the exclusive property of PODS, except where otherwise noted, and, except for personal use, may not be copied, distributed, or displayed, or reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of PODS.
Any unauthorized use of the materials, structure, sequence, arrangement, or design of the Website, or trademarks, service marks, or trade dress found within the Website may violate civil or criminal laws, including, but not limited to, copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes. By visiting the Website the User does not acquire or obtain by implication or otherwise, any license or right to use or make additional copies of any materials or information displayed on the Website.
The following trademarks used herein are owned by PODS: PODS, Portable On Demand Storage, and Podzilla. All other trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners.
HYPER-LINKS NOTICE
The Website may link to sites not maintained or related to PODS. Hyper-text links are provided as a service to users and are not sponsored by or affiliated with this Website or PODS. PODS has not reviewed any or all of the sites hyper-linked to or from this web site and is not responsible for the content of any other sites. The links are to be accessed at the user’s own risk, and PODS makes no representations or warranties about the content, completeness, or accuracy of these links or the sites hyper-linked to the Website. Further, PODS does not implicitly endorse third-party sites hyper-linked to the Website.
INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless PODS, its affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, service providers and consultants, and each their respective directors, employees and agents, from and against any claims, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees for investigating and defending any actions or threatened actions) arising out of or related to (a) your use of the Website; (b) any User Content or Ideas you provide; (c) your violation of these Terms of Use; (d) your violation of any rights of another; or (e) your conduct in connection with the Website. You shall use your best efforts to cooperate with us in the defense of any claim. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to employ separate counsel and assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you.
WAIVER
The delay or omission by either party to enforce or exercise any terms or right pursuant to these Terms of Use will not impair any such term or right nor be construed to be a waiver thereof and shall in no way affect the other party’s right later to enforce it. Any waiver by either party of any covenants, conditions or agreements to be performed by the other party will not be construed to be a waiver of any succeeding breach thereof or any covenant, conditions or agreement herein contained.
FRANCHISE SALES
This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. There are approximately 14 countries and 15 US states that regulate the offer and sale of franchises. The countries are Australia, Brazil, Canada (provinces of Alberta and Ontario), China, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and the United States of America. The US states are California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are a resident of one of these states or countries, are receiving this message in one of these states or countries, or intend to operate a franchise in any of these states or countries, we will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with any applicable pre-sale registration and/or disclosure requirements in the applicable jurisdiction.
This advertisement is not an offering of a franchise. In New York (USA), an offering of a franchise can only be made by a prospectus that has been previously filed and registered with the Department of Law of the State of New York. The application for registration of an offering prospectus or the acceptance and filing thereof by the Department of Law as required by the New York law does not constitute approval of the offering or the sale of such franchise by the Department of Law or the attorney general of New York.
All contents and code are copyright © 1999- 2012 PODS Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.