Terms and Conditions of VIS Website use
Please read this document carefully. It contains important information about your rights and obligations and your access to and use of this website and/or Services.
OPERATOR OF WEBSITE AND DEFINITIONS
This website is operated by Visual Imaging Solutions, a group business of Sony Electronics Inc. with its registered office at Sony Electronics Inc. 1730 North First Street, San Jose, California 95112
In these Terms:
“Services” means any functions, facilities, applications, information or other services available through this website (including, where applicable, ISP (internet service provider and/or internet access) services).
“Sony Affiliates” means Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan and any entity, the majority of whose shares is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by Sony Corporation.
“Terms” means these terms and conditions.
“User” or “you” means any person who accesses or uses this site, with or without Sony's authorization and whether or not you are registered to use this or part of this site or a member or registered User of a Service offered through this site.
ACCESS AND USE OF THIS SITE
By accessing, browsing or downloading any part of this site or its content, or posting or uploading to this site, or any other use of this site and its content, whether as a registered User or an unregistered visitor, you agree to comply with these Terms.
OTHER TERMS, RULES, ETC.
These Terms are in addition to any terms that may apply to Users under a distribution, license or sale agreement or terms, or other applicable agreements and terms. Where this site or part of this site contains rules, guidelines, codes of conduct, further terms or other directions to Users, Users undertake that they shall also comply with such rules, guidelines etc. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency, these Terms shall prevail.
If you do not agree to any of these Terms (or any such other rules, guidelines etc.), you may not use this site.
CHANGES TO SITE AND THESE TERMS
Sony and/or third party providers may make improvements and/or changes in products, support, Services, Utilities, prices and/or other Site content (including these Terms) at any time with or without notice.
Sony may provide notice of changes to these Terms (or other Site content) by displaying notices on this site or other communication means. Users who access this site after changes have been posted on the site or otherwise communicated, shall be bound by such changes as soon as such notices or new Terms are posted to the site or otherwise communicated, even if User does not visit the page on which the change or new Terms are displayed. Frequent review of this site and these Terms is therefore recommended.
PERMITTED AND PROHIBITED USE OF THIS SITE
Access to, and use of this site, including viewing, downloading, reproducing, displaying, posting and publishing: - data, graphics, images, photographs, designs, descriptions, information, and text - video, audio, music, and sound compilations - utilities, software (including applets and any software made available to Users in connection with, or to facilitate access to, any subscription or restricted access area or Service associated with this site) and software compilations, drivers and other Utilities – the contents of any e-mail newsletter or similar communication sent by or on behalf of Sony in relation to this site and/or User's registration or subscription - and other content on this site which has been originated and provided directly by Sony, Sony Affiliates, or its product, support and service providers (together, Site content), is prohibited unless specifically permitted in these Terms. This applies to use by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, creation of derivative works or otherwise.
Sony gives limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable permission for User to access and make personal, non-commercial use of this site and Site content as a support and communication resource for purposes specified in this site only.
Any other use of Site content including reproduction for purposes other than those noted above, modification, distribution, transmission, downloading of Site content (other than page caching), republication or reverse engineering - without the prior written consent of Sony - is prohibited (except to the extent such prohibition is prohibited by applicable law). Without limitation, permission to use Site content does not include - resale or commercial use or distribution of Site content - collection and use of any product, support or service listings, descriptions, or prices - derivative use of this site or Site content (including framing) - downloading or copying of account information for the benefit of another merchant - any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools – any use of Site content on any other website, server or networked computer environment – or any use of Site content which suggests an association with any Sony or Sony Affiliate products, support or services, except as expressly provided by written agreement between relevant parties.
User shall not use this site or the Services in a way that breaches these Terms (or their spirit) or any applicable law or regulations (including those relating to the use of public communications networks) or that causes or is likely to cause any damage, interruption or impairment of this site or the Services. User may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of this site, other User accounts or any computer systems or networks connected to this site, whether through hacking, password mining or any other means. User may not collect or attempt to collect personal information relating to others through this site.
COPYRIGHT - OWNERSHIP OF SITE CONTENT
Sony does not transfer title to any Site content downloaded or used by User. Site content, including its selection and arrangement, is owned by Sony or Sony Affiliates and/or their content and technology providers and is protected by copyright and other laws. Limited permission to use Site content (for the purposes stated in the preceding section) is specifically conditioned on User's recognition, observance and retention of all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices in Site content, and all proprietary and other intellectual property rights of Sony or Sony Affiliates and/or content and technology providers, in Site content. User shall not have any ownership rights in any e-mail address, URL or other personal identifier that may be allocated to, or chosen by, him or her for the purposes of any Services available through this site and User's limited rights to use such identifier/address shall continue only for so long as User's registration/User account remains valid for access to this site or the relevant Service. After termination of such validity by Sony for any reason, Sony shall be free to use and/or allocate to other Users any such identifier/address.
Any unauthorized use or copying of Site content, or use of Site content which breaches these Terms (or their spirit) may violate trademark, copyright and other proprietary rights, and civil and criminal statutes. Users shall not use any Site content (or any other content made available through this site) in any manner that infringes any trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights. Sony reserves all rights with respect to such unauthorized use or breach of these Terms.
TRADEMARKS
"Sony" is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation, Japan. All trademarks, logos, website addresses, product or model names or derivations that describe Sony or Sony Affiliate products, support or services or that contain the word "Sony" that are included in Site content (together, Sony Marks) are trademarks and/or the property of Sony or Sony Affiliates. Any list of Sony (or other) trademarks on this site is periodically updated but shall not be taken as an all-inclusive list of Sony (or other) trademarks.
Any use of Sony Marks or permutations thereof (except as expressly authorized by Sony in writing) is strictly prohibited.
Other product and company names mentioned in this site may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
USER CONTENT - UPLOADED OR PROVIDED INFORMATION/MATERIAL
In these Terms, User content is information or other content, which is or may be provided to Sony or inputted or uploaded by User via this site or related means, including (without limitation) pictures, video and other images, audio materials, graphics, document or data files, information relating to natural and other persons, messages, e-mail and other communications, files, texts, opinions, personalization settings and other information.
By uploading User content to this site or sending or making available User content to other Users or Sony and Sony Affiliates, pursuant to or by reason of site, Services or Site content use or otherwise, User automatically grants (or warrants that the owner of such User content expressly granted) Sony, Sony Affiliates and their designees a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, and non-exclusive right and license to use (including commercial use and exploitation), copy, sub-license, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform, display and distribute User content (including any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained therein), and create derivative works from and incorporate User content (or any part thereof) into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed throughout the world. In addition, User warrants that it has the rights necessary to grant such license and that all so-called "moral rights" in any User content have been waived. All User content will be considered non-confidential, not subject to any use restrictions and no User content will be subject to any obligation of confidence on Sony's part.
However, this section does not apply to any personal information submitted by a User which identifies him or her. This will be processed only as provided in the personal data section of the data or registration submission form of this or related Sony websites, elsewhere in these Terms and any other terms and conditions which apply specifically to any relevant transaction (if any) between User and any Sony Affiliate.
PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED USER CONTENT
Inappropriate postings or communications
Sony prohibits the transmission, distribution, dissemination, uploading, posting, submission, sharing and storage on, via or through use of this site (together, uploading) of User content which it considers (in its sole discretion) to be inappropriate or distasteful. Such User content includes (without limitation) communications with - pornographic, profane, sexist, homophobic, defamatory, deceptive, vulgar, obscene or offensive content – ethnic, racist or religious slurs or derogatory epithets – advocation of violence, hate or unlawful activity – depictions of child abuse, child pornography or sexually suggestive poses – advertisements, surveys and contests – price-sensitive information relating to publicly listed securities - and material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under any laws.
Sony prohibits the uploading or use of Site content or transmission of User content with a primary or secondary purpose or effect – to sell, distribute or promote firearms, weapons or controlled substances, make-money-fast schemes, pyramid or chain letters, fraudulent or otherwise criminal offers – to register another email address other than your own – to distort auctions or other markets (including public quoted securities markets) - to threaten or harass others – to disrupt discussions or to create a false identity for the purpose of misleading others – to convey sexual requests from, for or to a minor – to make racial slurs or comments – to impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
User shall not advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose, unless the relevant Forum or Service specifically permits this.
Sony reserves the right (but does not accept any obligation) to delete or restrict Users' access to relevant Site content and/or User content and/or to pass relevant User content and/or information relating to User (including personal information) to any appropriate authority where User content is uploaded in breach or suspected breach of any of these Terms (or their spirit or other applicable rules or terms) or any applicable law or regulations, without any requirement for any claim or complaint to be formally commenced or proved.
Materials protected by copyright and other intellectual property
Sony prohibits the uploading of content that contains music, software, images (still or moving), literary or artistic works or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or that may infringe others' intellectual property rights), unless the User owns or controls the exclusive rights thereto or has received all required consents (which the User warrants if such content is uploaded). Sony prohibits the uploading of actual or suspected copyrighted materials, the use of which is unauthorized, or counterfeit materials.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Except for personal information of a User submitted by that User for registration and/or account opening purposes or (if applicable) personal information relating to other natural persons known to a User for inclusion in that User's online address book, Sony prohibits the uploading of any User content which discloses personal or private information concerning any individual or entity, including telephone number(s), e-mail or physical addresses, User account numbers and passwords.
Where personal information relating to, or images of, another natural person are uploaded by a User for inclusion in that User's online address book, photo album (or for any other purpose), the User warrants that such person (the data subject) has given his or her consent to such submission and to the data processing that this involves and any other usage of such User content contemplated by these Terms or on this site.
Upload of destructive materials
Sony prohibits the uploading of computer programs, files and other materials that contain destructive or disruptive features such as viruses, corrupted files, 'hidden' files (such as image files with audio files embedded), worms, Trojan horses, or bots for the use of scrolling, showing multiple screens, and other activities that can be disruptive to website integrity or functioning or online communication generally.
REVIEW OF USER CONTENT BY SONY
Through this site, Sony merely offers a 'venue' for Users to access certain specified services, Utilities and/or information. Sony cannot and does not undertake to screen, review, edit, censor or otherwise filter or control User content or the behavior of Users of User content or Site content.
STORAGE AND LOSS OF USER CONTENT
Where Sony provides e-mail facilities, web hosting or other services via this site involving the provision of computer storage space, or in relation to other relevant Services, Sony reserves the right to impose and vary limits and/or restrictions (temporary or otherwise) on the use of the Service, including, without limitation, limits on the storage provided by reference to storage space (e.g. a maximum total limit and/or a maximum per file/e-mail size limit), time/age of files (e.g. e-mails older than 180 days), number and/or size of files (e.g., a maximum number of e-mails that may be sent from, stored within or received by your account), amount of data down- or uploaded or any other criteria Sony may specify. Without limiting the following paragraph, material which exceeds any such limit may be deleted or not accepted for such storage. Users may not on-sell any storage space offered through this site.
Sony shall not be liable for any loss, deletion, removal or failure of delivery to the intended recipient of User content uploaded to this site, whether caused by computer virus, unauthorized access or otherwise. Users are encouraged to retain a back-up copy of all User content and Users undertake that they shall do so in respect of all uploaded User content. Sony reserves the right to deny access to this site and delete User content at any time without notice.
SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS AND ONLINE APPLICATIONS – RESTRICTIONS AND DISCLAIMERS
Any drivers, software, programs (including all upgrades and updates), browser plug-ins, peripherals and other applications, computer based services or utilities, any software made available to Users in connection with, or to facilitate access to, any subscription associated with this site and all files and images, incorporated in or generated by software, programs and other materials available for download, or as a remote application or service, from the Site content (Utilities) are provided by way of support and service to Users. Title to Utilities (whether downloaded or not) is not transferred to Users and is owned (as to all intellectual property rights therein) by Sony, Sony Affiliates or the relevant licensors.
Sony does not give any Warranty with regard to the accuracy or reliability of the results or output that derives from the use of Utilities. Sony does not accept any responsibility for loss of data or damage caused by the installation or use of any of the downloaded Utilities, or give any other warranty, or accept any liability whatsoever with respect to Utilities.
Sony recommends that Users (and Users warrant that they shall) always create and retain a copy of all data in hardware (with or in which Utilities will be installed or used) before installing or using any Utilities.
The downloading of any Utility constitutes acceptance of these Terms. If you do not agree with these Terms, you may not download any Utility or accompanying online documentation.