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FurBuy - Terms of Use
Overview
This document was written to establish an acceptable use and understanding
per user of FurBuy policies and releases. All users must adhere to the policies herein
and agree to these policies and terms of use. Continued use of the FurBuy site is
acceptance and agreeance to the policies listed herein.
Last Update: March 11, 2008
Most recent additions appear in red.
Policies which are no longer applicable are stricken-through. After a certain period of time
(no less than a month), non-applicable policies may be removed entirely
Terms of Use Contents
Standard Release Policy
FurBuy and its administrators cannot be held liable for abuse of the system by any
user or breach of contract between a buyer and seller. Abuse of system includes, but
is not limited to, posting of illegal or copyrighted materials, posting of libellous
or slanderous materials, and posting of other content which may lead to civil or criminal
action. The seller assumes all responsibility for the posting of such materials, and
indemnifies FurBuy Internet Systems (hereby termed "Host") from any legal action which
results from the posting of same materials. Breach of contract between the buyer and
seller occurs whenever one party fails to complete a transaction according to the
contract invoked by posting and bidding of auctions in the system. While FurBuy
administrators may decide to provide mediation in such situations, administrators
shall not be obligated to do so.
The Host cannot be held liable or responsible for the loss/corruption
of system data or system downtime. In such circumstances, the administrators will be
obligated to assist a user in restoring data or refunding any payments
resulting from said loss, though cannot be held legally responsible for such incidents
which may be beyond the Host's control. Wherever possible, accommodations may be made by
the Host in order to satisfy the users in circumstances that may delay or decisively alter
the outcome of an auction. The administrators may do this with or without the permission
of the buyer or seller of an auction as long as the auction is still live. If an auction
is closed, special accommodations may be made to open the auction again. It is advised that
users keep personal records in order to preserve and verify any data they may
deem vital or important in their use of Host's system.
It is the understanding of the Host that auctions are not legal in all
areas, and that the legal age for contract may vary by State, Territory or Nation. Since
the Host cannot verify all laws and policies concerning users' residence and legal
obligations of contract, it is the individual user's responsibility to make themselves
familiar with their local or governmental laws before entering a contractual sale or
purchase on the Host's system. The Host cannot be held liable for the violation of law(s)
where users enter contracts against the laws of their residence. This includes, but is not
limited to, use of the Host's system by minors. Intentionally providing wrongful
information to the Host is considered fraud, and will be reported to appropriate law
enforcement agency(s) and/or the user's legal parents or guardians if such can be
contacted; additionally fraud may result in legal prosecution by the Host in severe
circumstances.
All users permit data entered into the system by themselves
and others to be used for testing purposes and archived for posterity. Occasionally the
system data is exported to a test environment in order to validate new software or verify
the stability and integrity of the data. System data is also backed up to removable
storage media on a regular, scheduled basis in order to preserve the data and provide a
restore point should the live data be destroyed or corrupted. System data includes, but
is not limited to, user-specific and account information, auction listings, bids placed,
image files and HTML code.
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Privacy Policy
This section was written with the intent of informing users
of the FurBuy system of policies and recommended procedures for the dissemination
of user information. This section is of particular
interest to all users and applies to the listing and use of personal information on
the FurBuy system.
Responsibility of FurBuy to protect user information:
Under no circumstances will users' private account information be granted to
any users or administrators of the Host's system. This information includes users'
addresses, phone numbers, passwords, payments and any other information that may be
considered to be of a personal and private nature. Administrators have access to this
data only by necessity; any administrator who is found to be abusing private user
information will be punished in full accordance with the law and removed from the system
immediately upon proof of such. The only circumstances which supercede this policy are
court orders or other government siezures of our systems, be they authorized or
unauthorized by local, State, or Federal law.
Users have access to other users' primary e-mail address only in two
situations. If a user has elected NOT to make their primary e-mail address private
upon account creation or in setting their preferences, their e-mail address will openly
appear to any user of the site wherever they are selling or bidding upon an auction.
Otherwise, if the user has elected to make their primary e-mail address private, only
other registered users of the system may view the address by logging in with their
username and password. The Host cannot be held liable for e-mail addresses obtained by
malicious users of the system or by users who have not elected to make their address
private.
At this time, users may turn the privacy status of their primary e-mail
address on and off using the My Account - Prefs page under Notification Preferences.
Responsibility of Users to protect user information:
It is a responsibility of the users of Host's systems to keep confidential any
information that may be considered of a private or personal nature as outlined above.
Host cannot be held liable or responsible for any information freely given from their
own account to other sources or users of the system. Obtaining account information about
other users of the system for commercial or unacceptable use is prohibited by our Terms
of Use agreement; users found to have done such will be immediately suspended from the
system pending further investigation of the infraction.
Siphoning of user e-mail addresses on Host's systems is strictly prohibited and
may result in removal from the system up to blacklisting from our servers. There is no
feasable reason to extract e-mail addresses of other users through the web interface
or other means, any attempt to do so will lead to applicable punishment and possible
pursuit of legal action where necessary.
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Content Policy
It is the stance of the Host that artwork is defended by the United States
Constitution, however, the Host also feels that gratuitous or explicit material of an offensive
nature should be protected from public display or availability. Some content is illegal to
transport across state lines or may be outlawed in state or local regions. Users should be
individually aware of the laws in their place of residence before entering a contractual
situation to sell or purchase items which may be considered illegal to own or transport.
The Host cannot be held legally responsible for the seizure of such materials or any civil
or criminal action that may result from the possession or transport of such materials.
Public Content
Allowable Content
FurBuy is a public auction site designed specifically for anthropomorphic ("furry") and
animal-related auctions. In order to maintain the site's focus, the Host requires that all
auctions center around furry- and/or animal-related content. Being that the term "furry" is a
widely debated subject, for the sake of FurBuy's policies "furry" includes: neko girls,
taurs, satyrs, mermaids, insect-morphs, "scalies", mythical creatures,
and avians. Fantasy races (e.g.
elves, fairies, gnomes, etc.) are not allowed unless they exhibit major animal characteristics.
For the sake of the Host's policies, wings are not considered qualifying animal characteristics.
Items being auctioned may contain humans as long as at least one main
character and/or race is of a furry or anthropomorphic nature. Humans in
interaction with regular animals are not considered within the site's theme. Auctions may be
reviewed on an individual basis by the administrators, and any auctions that are deemed outside of
the site's theme may be depublicized or removed at the admin's discretion.
Offensive Content
Some content is considered by the Host to be inappropriate for public display
on the system. Such content includes, but is not limited to, pedophilia, bestiality,
non-consensual acts of sex or violence, religiously offensive materials and racially
offensive materials. Such content may be removed or depublicized from the system by
administrators with or without prior notice to the users. For posterity, the Host
defines: pedophilia as the sexual exploitation of human children who are without
reasonable doubt not of consenting age in a photo-realistic context or medium;
bestiality as sexual relations between a human and non-sentient animal in a photo-
realistic context or medium. Other offensive or potentially offensive content may be
reviewed by administrators as being inappropriate for public display or sale on Host's
system at their own discretion.
Some content, while not violating any policies or laws, may be considered
offensive by users of the Host's system. The Host cannot be held responsible for any
personally offensive materials posted, but shall hear complaints and review them for
action by administrator discretion. Users with auctions found to be
in violation of this policy will be contacted and asked to make all future auctions of
a similar type private in nature; additionally an administrator may move the currently
running auction(s) to private status without prior notice or approval from the user in
question. Repeated violations of this policy may lead to account suspension or
removal.
Avatar Content
No mature content may be displayed in Avatar images
as these images may be used on pages which are designed to contain
only non-adult content. Site users who wish to use an Avatar
should create an 80x80 GIF or JPG thumbnail that does NOT contain any
mature material such as gore or sexual organs (including female nipples).
This can easily be done by cropping the desired image down to a bust of the head
or some other "clean" portion of the image. Alternatively, using bars to
"cover" such areas of mature content may be used as long as they are done
tastefully and do not overly hint at the presence of mature content by
not quite covering enough of it.
Any images found in violation of this policy will be replaced
temporarily by a URL to a default "Adult Image" thumbnail on the FurBuy
system until such time as the user updates the URL to a more appropriate
image. If a user is found in repeated violation of this
policy, by discretion of admins,
they will receive a warning in e-mail and may eventually be suspended for
abuse of this policy. Users are encouraged to report violations of this
policy if they should find any mature material in a user's Avatar.
Acceptable Use of Image Hosting
FurBuy offers free image hosting for users of this site for use in
FurBuy auctions only, and as such, displaying FurBuy-hosted images on other websites is not
permitted. The exception to this policy is thumbnail images, which may be displayed in
conjunction with the Auction Injection feature to promote FurBuy auctions on remote sites.
Any image which is found to be in direct violation of this policy may result in
a warning and be removed at the admin's discretion. Repeated violations of this policy may
lead to account suspension or removal.
Copyright and Trademark
All users indemnify the Host of any charges, civil or criminal, for their
misuse of copyrighted or trademarked property on the system. It is also the users'
responsibility to know if materials may violate these laws, and use them according to
the legal guidelines established by the US Patent and Trademark Office at
www.uspto.gov. Users who are found to
be in violation of such laws will be personally liable for all damages and court fees
incurred from prosecution resulting in said violation, be they charged
upon the Host or the user in question. On the request of a registered Copyright or
Trademark holder, or the request of a Court Order, auctions may be removed from the
system without warning if there is a possible infringement. Administrators also reserve
the right to proactively strike auctions which may be in violation of US Copyright
and Trademark laws.
Plagiarism
FurBuy will not tolerate works that appear, or are otherwise proven, to be
plagiarised. Items posted that fall under this category will be dealt with as any other
possible copyright concern. FurBuy administrators must be made aware of a possible
situation that falls under this policy before it can be dealt with. Bidders will be
notified of the issue and asked to send in e-mail asking to have their bids stricken in
accordance with the Bidding Policies concerning administrator removal of bids. Once all
bids have been removed, the auction will be stricken from the system. The offensive
seller will then be given a warning, and possibly suspended up to removal of their
account for violations of this policy. Second offenses of violation of this policy will
result in removal of the offender's account from the system.
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Bidding Policy
This section was written with the intent of informing bidders
who use the FurBuy system of policies and recommended procedures for the auction
bidding process. This section of the Terms of Use is of particular
interest to bidders and applies to the bidding and purchase of auctions on the
FurBuy system.
Contractual Obligation
Placing bids
When a bidder places a bid on an auction, they are entering into a contractual
agreement with the seller of the item(s) to purchase said item(s). Bids placed by the
proxy bidding system are considered to be requested and authorized by the original bidder
and continue to hold the binding contract for sale should the bidder win the auction.
All bids are binding, even if outbid, until the transaction of the highest legitimate
bidder is completed with the seller. In the case that the highest bid is considered
fraudulent or the high bidder defaults on their bid, the seller will have the option of
either selling to the next highest bidder, or cancelling the auction.
Auctions which close with a bid that is below the Reserve Price of an auction are the only
exception to this policy, in which case neither the seller nor the bidder are obligated
to complete the transaction normally.
Failure to meet the required obligation of purchase
with the seller of an auction may result in Negative Feedback from the seller and possible
administrator action up to suspension from the system. Multiple or
extreme offenses of this policy may result in immediate removal
of the offensive party from the system. In the event that a conflict
arises between the seller and high bidder(s) of a closed auction, the administrators will
be obligated but not required to assist in mediation of the conflict.
Requested Removal of Bids
Under normal circumstances, users will not be permitted to retract bids at this
time. However, under extenuating circumstances (such as an auction which violates the
Copyright or Plagiarism policies) users may be permitted to recind their bids in order
that the auction can be removed in compliance with the Posting Policies. In these situations
users will normally be informed of the ability to remove their bids, typically by sending
an e-mail confirmation of their desire to do so. Bids may also be removed on the request of
the bidder who placed the bid via e-mail to a FurBuy administrator so long as the seller of
the item(s) the bid(s) were placed on agrees to allow it. This policy remains in place in
order to validate and support the fact that placing a bid is a legal contract between the
seller and high bidder.
Pleading of Bids
As an accomodation to bidders who have realized they may have overbid their
budget on an auction, a system of 'Bid Pleading' may be enacted by administrators which
allows users to cut a previously placed proxy level down to the current bid level. In
addition to this, a pleaded bid may be overbid by another user at the current bid level
and/or advertised as a pleaded bid status concerning the auction itself. This system of
pleading bids was added as a compromise to not allowing users to directly remove their
bids on an auction, but still attempt to be outbid with the assistance or interest of
other users who will take on their legal obligation at the same level.
Shill Bidding and Bid Shielding
As defined by the US Federal Trade Commission on their website: "shill bidding" [is] when fraudulent
sellers or their partners, known as "shills", bid on sellers' items
to drive up the price, and "bid shielding" [is] when fraudulent buyers
submit very high bids to discourage other bidders from competing for the same item,
then retract their bids so that people they know can get the item at a lower
price.
It should be noted also that eBay, another prominent auction site,
has a custom definition for shill bidding, as do many other online auction systems.
For the purposes of FurBuy, we adhere to the FTC's definition as stated above.
FurBuy does not tolerate shill bidding but it must be very evident through means
of logs or public testimony that shill bidding has occurred by definition, and the
motives and evidence of fraudulent activity must be clear for FurBuy staff
to take action regarding these actions. By definition, bid shielding is not possible
on FurBuy due to the fact that bidders cannot retract bids after they have been placed
and pleading bids will not lower the bid price level for an auction.
In the event of suspected fraudulent bidding activity or valid accusation
of such, the user in question may have their account temporarily suspended while the
investigation is performed. Should a user, upon thorough investigation, be found to
have been involved in a shill bidding incident their account will be permanently
disabled and any future attempts of the user to establish an account on the system
will be denied. Furthermore, this activity may be reported to appropriate law
enforcement agencies for possible litigation.
False Accounts
Any account created using invalid information (legal name, address, phone number, etc.)
is considered a "false account". False accounts are strictly prohibited and are subject
to immediate suspension. Suspended false accounts may only be restored once valid
contact information is provided and verified by an administrator.
If bids on an auction are placed by a false account, the bids are considered fraudulent and
are subject to removal by an administrator without notice. When fraudulent bids are removed
from an auction, the bidding history will be corrected in the auction system, and the max
bid will be reverted to the last legitimate bid placed against another legitimate bid. Any
legitimate bid placed against another legitimate
bid, whether or not fraudulent bidding has affected the amount, is considered legal and binding
under the standard bidding terms. Any fraudulent
bids below the max bid will be left in the bidding history to illustrate the progression of
bids, but are still considered fraudulent. If a false account is restored, their prior bids
will not be restored, and will have to be re-placed manually by the bidder.
Back to Terms of Use Contents
Listing Policy
This section was written with the intent of informing sellers who use the FurBuy
system of policies and recommended procedures for the auction listing process. This section
is of particular interest to sellers and applies to the listing and sale of
auctions on the FurBuy system.
Contractual Obligation
Listing Auctions
By listing a new auction on FurBuy, you are opening the ability to form a legal
contract between yourself and any user who places bids on your auction. When a bid is placed
on that auction, the bidder has entered a contractual agreement with you, the seller, to
purchase the item(s) at the bid level which is locked in at the closing of the auction. The
contract is reciprocal in that when you place item(s) up for bidding, you are obligated to
sell the item to the final high bidder(s).
All bids are binding, even if outbid, until the transaction of the highest legitimate
bidder is completed with the seller. In the case that the highest bid is considered
fraudulent or the high bidder defaults on their bid, you have the option of
either selling to the next highest bidder, or cancelling the auction.
Failure to comply with this contract may result
in negative feedback left by the bidder(s), and possible suspension of your account. Multiple
offenses of this policy may result in a user's account being removed from the system and all
access revoked at administrator discretion. Auctions which close with a bid below the Reserve
Price of the auction are the only exception to this policy, in which case neither the seller
nor high bidder(s) are obligated to complete the transaction normally.
Removal of Auctions
Sellers may remove auctions by closing them when there are no bids placed on the
auctions in question. If there are bids placed, all bids must be retracted with the permission
of the individual bidders so that the auction is once again at a state of no current, live
bids in effect. This is normally only permitted in extrenuous circumstances, however. For
details on policies concerning the removal of bids, see the Bidding
Policies section.
Use of Hot Item and Art Show Images
We ask that all users who make use of these extended features in their
auctions please keep the images to the appropriate sizes for the type of image
add-on used. It is fairly quick and easy to crop down and/or resize an image to
fit the requested dimensions. These thumbnail images should be small and load fast,
anything over 20k is completely unacceptable for the purposes of these items. This
policy is established in order to improve the speed and professional look and feel
of the FurBuy system. If you require any assistance in creating thumbnails from
larger images, please feel free to contact the FurBuy administration for details.
Here are the appropriate image sizes for each image feature offered on the FurBuy
system:
Hot Items: 80 x 80 pixels
Standard Art Show: 80 x 80 pixels
Priority Art Show: 160 x 160 pixels
Violations of this policy will typically result in warnings in combination
with having the faulty image replaced by a "Hot Item!" or "Art Show Item" image until
the seller updates the auction to use a more appropriate image.
Hot Item Content
No mature content may be displayed in the Hot Items images for
auctions as these images are displayed on the Home page before users may
find our Terms of Use file or create an account where they validate that
they are an adult. Sellers who wish to make use of the Hot Items listings
should create an 80x80 GIF or JPG thumbnail that does NOT contain any
mature material such as gore or sexual organs (including female nipples).
This can easily be done by cropping the image down to a bust of the head
or some other "clean" portion of the image. Alternatively, using bars to
"cover" such areas of mature content may be used as long as they are done
tastefully and do not overly hint at the presence of mature content by
not quite covering enough of it.
Any images found in violation of this policy will be replaced
temporarily by a URL to a default "Adult Image" thumbnail on the FurBuy
system until such time as the seller updates the URL to a more appropriate
image. If a seller is found to repeatedly post auctions violating this
policy, or repeatedly posts images in bad taste, by discretion of admins,
they will receive a warning in e-mail and may eventually be suspended for
abuse of this policy. Users are encouraged to report violations of this
policy if they should find any mature material in the Hot Items thumbnails
on the Home page.
Please note that these issues may sometimes need to be brought
to the attention of administrators. Sending an e-mail with an explanation
of a violation of this policy will be helpful in dealing with such issues.
Back to Terms of Use Contents
Comments and Forums Policy
This section was written with the intent of informing users who use the FurBuy
system of policies and recommended procedures for the comments and forums system.
This section is of particular interest to any user who makes use of the comments or
forums features on the FurBuy system.
Message Content
We ask that users think carefully about their message before making a post
to the FurBuy Message Boards. Please use a fair amount of decorum whenever possible in your
messages, if you think it might not be a good thing to say then it would be best to follow
your instinct and not write it. We encourage users to deal with personal issues via e-mail
only and not to bring any personal facts which may be damaging or untrue to light on our
messaging system. Heated arguments or out of control emotional rampages will not be tolerated
on the message boards. The rough usage of the Message Board system is for FurBuy business and
that of the furry community in general. Please keep all posts related to one of these two
general guidelines. We also ask that you make every attempt to post messages in the appropriate
forum, and make note that replies whose subjects or points change can be cross-posted to a new
forum without interrupting the message thread.
While adult conversation and discussions are certainly permitted in our message
boards, we require all such messages to include the word "adult" in the subject of the message.
This will help prevent users who do not wish to view such material from accidentally loading
information or conversations that may disturb them.
Message Board Remedies
Administrators reserve all rights to effect the message boards and their contents,
with or without notifying users of any changes made. This includes removing offensive messages
from the boards, modifying the subject lines, changing the forum a message belongs to, and
banning users from making further posts to the message boards. Administrators may determine
the need for such changes at their own discretion. Under no circumstances should an administrator
alter the text contained in a message, however. These policies apply to all message boards hosted
by the FurBuy system.
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Account Responsibility Policy
It is the responsibility of users of Host's systems to maintain their account information and
update it any time a change in their information occurs. Administrators of Host's systems may use
this contact information to contact or verify a user's identity and the correctness of the data
at any time, without warning, though administrators will be obligated to give fair warning and only
attempt making contact at reasonable times where possible. Administrators reserve the right to
temporarily suspend any account which appears to have invalid or inaccurate information, until such
time as the owner of the account can be contacted and identified and the information either verified
or updated to be in order and accurate.
Creating accounts for the sole purpose of obtaining information about other users is considered
to be abuse and is not permissible. Creating new accounts or using alternate accounts in order to
circumvent the suspension of previously existing accounts, or to circumvent blacklists, bans or
blocks by other users, is also considered to be abuse and is not permissible. Violations of these
policies will likely result in a temporary suspension of account privileges; repeated violations
will result in banishment and blacklisting from the Host's systems at a higher level on a permanent
basis.
Users are welcome to create secondary or alternate accounts for the purposes of separating adult
sales from general audience sales, or for the purposes of separating business and personal accounts.
In these situations, Host asks that users send a brief e-mail to the administrators explaining the
reasons for alternate accounts for their records and to prevent confusion and administrative action
at a later time. Business accounts should be registered as a business with a business address, and
users making use of business accounts should always act professionally from the standpoint of the
business itself when engaging other users on the site and in conducting their business on the site.
Communications Policy
In communicating with Host and Host's administrators, we ask that you use a civil tone and
clear language. Insults, emotional outbursts and attacks on Host's systems or administrators via
e-mail or any other method of comnunications will not be tolerated and is likely to be removed
from Host's systems without notice. Legal threats will not be entertained in the least; at the
point where a communication begins discussing prosecution or impending legal action, we will no
longer respond directly to your communications but either through our attorney or through yours.
Furthermore if Host intends to pursue legal action, there will be no threats from Host or it's
administrators, you will receive communications directly from Host's legal counsel.
Host and it's administrators shall never become involved in unsolicited e-mail communications,
be they of commerical or non-commercial nature. Host and administrators may be clearly identified
as originating from the domain furbuy.com or any DNS mapped IP addresses of that domain. If you
believe you have received unsolicited e-mail from Host or Host's administrators, we ask that you
Contact Us immediately and include as much detail as possible, and
especially to include full e-mail headers from the message in question. At the request of any user,
Host will remove the ability to send e-mail to any address which they can verify they control,
which may involve permanently closing any user accounts associated with that address.
The Host and it's administrators may send e-mail in an automated fashion at times, and you may
occasionally receive e-mail which you do not desire. Host cannot be held liable nor charged with
unsolicited commercial e-mail violations as long as no notice to stop sending mail has been issued
from the address in question and as long as a user possesses active accounts on the system using
that address. Creation of new accounts or activation of existing accounts using an address that
has previously requested ceasation of e-mail communications is considered to be an act of waiving
all prior requests of ceasation.
Remedies
All users of the Host's system are required to abide by the policies set
herein. Failure to abide by these policies may result in suspension or expulsion from
the Host's system. It is the user's understanding that access and accounts are granted
to users by the right of the Host, and may also be altered by the Host without warning.
Users who are removed from the Host's system may be
declined future access without reason; any users found to be fraudulently creating new
accounts with the host system may be prosecuted by law or reported to
appropriate law enforcement agency(s). Suspended users carry no rights or claims
to the Host system. The bids or auctions of suspended users may be altered by the
administrators at their discretion. The Host reserves all rights to the systems and data
contained on Host's systems. Please review the Privacy
Policy for further details on dissemination of personal data.
Policy Updates
The administrators reserve the right to update these policies, including
all extended policies listed above, at will and without notice. The Host is obligated
but not required to inform users of changes in this policy when such changes occur.
Wherever possible, new policies will not be applied ex post facto to existing
circumstances on Host's system, but may be applied without notice when necessary.
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