ITWORLD TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT

Terms and Conditions of Use

Welcome to ITWorld.com, ("Service"), an online service owned by IDG Communications, Inc. and operated by Computerworld, Inc. ('CW"). Your use of the Service will be subject to the terms of this Terms of Service Agreement (TOS). The TOS may change from time to time. Use of service after a change will subject you to the new terms. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS DO NOT USE THE SERVICE AS VIOLATION OF THE TERMS CAN LEAD TO LEGAL LIABILITY.

Participation and Conduct

During the term of this Agreement, ITWORLD grants to you a terminable at will non-exclusive license to use and display the Service, and to download materials available through the Service, all solely for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not transfer, assign, sub-license, lend, or re-sell the rights granted under this license. Any use in violation of these limits shall constitute a violation of the terms of this license. Absolutely no framing of our site is permitted.

You may participate in any blog comment or messaging threads offered through the Service, but you agree not to post any material the content of which (i) is defamatory, libelous, obscene, indecent, abusive, threatening to others, or in violation of any law; or (ii) infringes the copyright, trademark right, or other intellectual property right of any third party. You will be solely responsible for all content that you post on the Service.

You agree to indemnify ITWORLD, its owner and operator, and its officers and employees from and against all liabilities, judgments, damages, and costs (including attorney's fees) incurred by any of them which arise out of or are related to the content that you post. Blog comments and messaging are intended only for the personal use of subscribers, and may not be used for commercial purposes or for organized political activity.

ITWORLD reserves the right to monitor content posted on the Service, and to modify or remove any messages or postings that it deems, in its sole discretion, to be abusive, defamatory, in violation of the copyright, trademark right, or other intellectual property right of any third party, or otherwise inappropriate for the Service. ITWORLD also reserves the right to edit or modify any submissions in response to requests for feedback, Letters to the Editor, or other commentary. Notwithstanding the foregoing, ITWORLD is not obligated to take any such actions, and will not be responsible or liable for content posted by any subscriber in any blog, message board, or other area within the Service.

Copyright and Trademarks

The Service is the personal property of IDG Communications, Inc. and is operated by CW. ITWORLD retains the right to bar any individual or entity from the Service. Accessing the Service after being barred shall constitute an act of trespass. The Service and all materials published therein, including but not limited to articles, graphical images, interactive applications, audio clips, and video clips (collectively, the "Content"), are protected by copyright and are owned by IDG Communications, Inc. or its licensors. You may not modify the Content or re-publish, re-transmit, or otherwise distribute directly or via links any Content to any third person except for your personal, non-commercial use, as permitted by the license granted above. It is understood that some of the content appearing on the site is news and as such releases are not obtained from individuals or entities for the use of the name, likeness, or trademarks. It is your sole obligation to a) determine if your uses require releases or permission, and b) to obtain the necessary releases. ITWORLD, ITWORLD.COM, and their respective logos are trademarks of IDG Communications, Inc. All other trademarks on the Service are the property of their respective holders.

Permissions

All requests for licensing, reprints, linking and other usage of material on ITWORLD should be addressed to Computerworld, Inc., One Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701, or send email to submissions@itworld.com . We will review your request, and provide you with an approval or rejection as soon as we have evaluated the request. We will attempt to approve or disapprove within 24 hours of each request.

Exclusions of Warranty and Liability

THE SERVICE AND ANY EXECUTABLE PROGRAMS AND OTHER MATERIALS PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ITWORLD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE ARE VIRUS-FREE. IF YOU DOWNLOAD EXECUTABLE PROGRAMS FROM THE SERVICE, THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF SUCH PROGRAMS IS ASSUMED BY YOU. ITWORLD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACCURACY OF OR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY SUCH PROGRAMS, AND ITWORLD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE OPERATION OF ANY SUCH PROGRAMS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS IN ANY SUCH PROGRAMS WILL BE CORRECTED. ITWORLD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT OF ITS STORIES WILL BE ERROR FREE.

ITWORLD WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOST PROFITS OR REVENUE; LOSS OF USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICE, INFORMATION PROVIDED OR OF ANY EXECUTABLE PROGRAMS; LOSS OF USE OF DATA OR EQUIPMENT; OR OTHER SIMILAR DAMAGES) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR ANY EXECUTABLE PROGRAM OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ITWORLD HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL ITWORLD'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE) RELATING TO THE SERVICE EXCEED $100.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Notices

ITWORLD may give notice to you through general posting on the Service, through postal notification, or through e-mail notification, in its sole discretion. You may give notice to ITWORLD via e-mail at support@itworld.com, by postal mail to Computerworld, Inc., One Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701, or via facsimile to (508) 626 2705.

ITWORLD reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to restrict or block the access of any subscriber to the Service, or any section thereof.

General

Any failure by ITWORLD to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a continuing waiver of any rights under such provision. In the event that any portion of this Agreement is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

Indemnity

In the event you breach the terms of this license, or if, any claims are made against the owner or operator of ITWORLD (its employees, officers or directors resulting from your actions) you shall be liable to the owner or operator of ITWORLD for all damages, costs, judgments, expenses (including reasonable attorney fees) which it incurs.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as applied to contracts entered into and performed within Massachusetts. You agree to grant jurisdiction over yourself to the courts of Massachusetts and designate it as the forum for resolution of all disputes arising under this Agreement.

This Agreement states the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the Service, and all prior or contemporaneous agreements are merged herein and superseded hereby.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright and Trademarks

The Service and all materials published therein, including but not limited to articles, graphical images, interactive applications, audio clips, and video clips (collectively, the "Content"), are protected by copyright and are owned by ITWORLD or its licensors. You may not modify the Content or re-publish, re-transmit, or otherwise distribute any Content to any third person. You may copy and display the Content solely for your personal, non-commercial use, as permitted by the license granted above.

ITWORLD, ITWORLD.COM and their respective logos are trademarks of IDG Communications, Inc.. All other trademarks on the Service are the property of their respective holders.

Permissions

All requests for licensing, reprints, and other usage of material on ITWORLD should be addressed to Computerworld, Inc., One Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701 or to submissions@itworld.com . We will review your request, and provide you with an approval or rejection as soon as we have evaluated the request. We will attempt to approve or disapprove within 24 hours of each request.

EDITORIAL GUIDELINES FOR IDG SITES

The same ASME principles that mandate distinct treatment of editorial content, advertisements, and special advertising sections ("advertorials") in print publications also apply to online editorial projects bearing the names of print magazines or offering themselves as electronic magazines. The dynamic technology of electronic pages and hypertext links create a high potential for reader confusion. Permitting such confusion betrays reader trust and undermines the credibility not only of the offending online publication or editorial product, but also of the publisher itself. It is therefore the responsibility of each online publication to make clear to its readers which online content is editorial and which is advertising, and to prevent any juxtaposition that gives the impression that editorial material was created for-or influenced by-advertisers.*

Note: ITWORLD stories are archived on this Web site for historical purposes. Information in the stories is accurate at the time the story is posted. However, product specifications and availability, promotions, prices, relationships, contact numbers and other specific information may change over time. Information as stated in the story may or may not be in effect after the date on the story.

10 CORPORATE RULES OF CONDUCT

We hereby call on editors, publishers, and advertisers to follow this set of standards:

1. The home page of a publication's Web site (or other electronic venue) shall identify the publication by displaying its name and logo prominently in order to make clear who controls the content of the site. All editorial content is under the sole control of editors.

2. All online pages should clearly distinguish between editorial and advertising or sponsored content. If any content comes from a source other than the editors, it should be clearly labeled. A magazine's name or logo should not be used in a way that suggests editorial endorsement of an advertiser. The site's sponsorship policies should be clearly noted, either in text accompanying the article or on a disclosure page (see item 8), to clarify that the sponsor had no input regarding the content.

3. Hypertext links that appear within the editorial content of a site, including those within graphics, should be at the discretion of the editors. If links are paid for by advertisers, that should be disclosed to users. Links from editorial content to advertisements on the site are not permitted.

4. Special advertising or "advertorial" features should be labeled as such.

5. To protect the brand, editors/producers should not permit their content to be used on an advertiser's site without an explanation of the relationship (e.g. "Reprinted with permission").

6. E-commerce commissions and other affiliate fees should be reported on a disclosure page, so users can see that the content is credible and free of commercial influence. Exact fees need not be mentioned, but users who are concerned about underlying business relationships can be thus reassured.

7. Advertisers or e-commerce partners should not receive preferential treatment in search engines, price comparisons and other applications presented under the content provider's brand. An editorial site should not try to vouch for others' tools that it may offer.

8. A Web site should respect the privacy of its users. If a site intends to collect information about its visitors, whether the data will be disseminated to third parties or not, it must offer users a chance to decline if they choose, through an "opt-out" option. As part of its privacy policy, the site should explain its use of cookies and other data collection methods and tell what it intends to do with the information it gleans. Potential benefits to the user-broader site access, better personalization features, etc.-should be presented as well.

* Original ASME guidelines are in plain text; IDG-specific additions are in bold

Last updated: July 20, 2007