Terms and Conditions

Spark Island - User Terms and Conditions

March 2002
To complete your registration you must read and agree to comply with the terms and conditions as set out below.

1. TERMS OF THE USER CONDITIONS:
Spark Learning Limited ("Spark") will provide you (as a user of the Site (as defined below)) with access to the Spark Island Website (which includes all of the content and any search facilities, directory services, downloads, links and other internet services provided by Spark from time to time) located at www.sparklearning.com or any subsequent URL which may replace it (the "Site") in accordance with these terms and conditions together with the Privacy Policy ("User Conditions").

The Site is provided for the benefit of the United Kingdom. If you are not a UK resident or do not agree to be bound by these User Conditions, you may not access or use this Site and Spark has the right to restrict or prevent your access to the Site. By accessing the Site you agree to be bound by and comply with all the User Conditions and any Additional Rules (as defined below) in order to become and remain an authorised user of the Site.

2. DURATION OF THE USER CONDITIONS:
The User Conditions and any Additional Rules (as defined below) will continue to regulate your use of the Site until either you or Spark terminate them in accordance with paragraph 14.

3. NOTICES:
You may serve a notice on Spark for the purposes of this agreement by sending it by e-mail to support@sparklearning.com or by post to The Webmaster, Spark Learning Limited, Ames House, 7 Duke of York Street, London SW1Y 6LA. Spark may serve a notice on you by sending it to your e-mail address or postal address appearing on the User Registration Form. As proof of sending does not guarantee the receipt of your notice, you must ensure that you have received an acknowledgement from Spark. Notices will be deemed to have been served one hour after transmission by e-mail or 3 days after despatch by post. You are responsible for notifying Spark of any change to your e-mail or postal address.

4. REGISTRATION, USERNAME AND PASSWORD:
You will be asked to provide specific information to register as a user of the Site ("Personal Data"). You agree to provide true, accurate, correct and complete information about yourself and your children and to notify Spark immediately of any changes to your Personal Data by sending an email to support@sparklearning.com. You agree not to impersonate any other person or entity or to use a false name or a name that you are not authorised to use. Spark reserves the right to decline any application from you to register as a user of the Site in its sole discretion. Only those over the age of 16 may register with the Site. You will be required to select a username and password during the registration process. Spark reserves the right to modify the username you select or provide you with a username of Spark's choice if, in its sole discretion, such username has already been chosen by another user, infringes or violates the rights of any person or third party, or is defamatory, offensive or is in any other way, improper or inappropriate.

For the purposes of these User Conditions, "Children" shall mean any of those children you state on Your User Registration Form and any other persons under the age of 16 who use your username and password to access the Site and "Child" shall be interpreted accordingly. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the username and password and are fully responsible for all activities which occur under them, whether or not the use is made by you, your Children or by someone else using your username and password. You agree to notify Spark immediately by e-mail to support@sparklearning.com if you believe there has been a breach of security of your username or password, such as theft or unauthorised use.

5. CHANGES TO THE USER AGREEMENT:
Spark may add to or change the provisions of the User Conditions from time to time including, without limitation, provisions relating to the billing methods. Spark also reserves the right to include guidelines or rules applicable to particular services Spark may provide from time to time ("Additional Rules"), which may be updated from time to time. All additions and changes will be notified to you by being posted on this page. It is your responsibility as a user to refer to these additions and changes. They will come into effect immediately on being posted and you will be deemed to have accepted them if you make access to the Site after that time. If you do not wish to accept them, you must terminate this agreement as described above.

6. COPYRIGHT AND LIMITED PERMISSION TO COPY:
You may not submit third party proprietary information to Spark without first obtaining permission from the owner. You are solely responsible for any information, messages, or other material ("Content") that is submitted, uploaded or posted on the Site by you or your Children, (including, but not limited to your, or your Children's, participation in newsgroups or chat services). By submitting Content to the service, you grant Spark on your behalf and on behalf of your Children an unrestricted, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide right and license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, translate and distribute the Content and/or to incorporate it in other works. You agree to irrevocably and unconditionally waive on your behalf and on behalf of your Children in perpetuity in respect of such Content the benefit of any provision of law known as moral rights of authors or any similar law in any country.

Unless otherwise stated, the copyright, trademarks and all other intellectual property rights in all material supplied as part of the Site shall remain at all times vested in Spark or its licensors. You are permitted to print or download extracts from this material for your personal use or use only. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. No part of the Site or any material appearing on the Site may be reproduced or stored in or transmitted to any other web site. No material appearing on the Site may be disseminated in any form, either electronic or non-electronic, nor included in any retrieval system or service without the prior written permission of Spark and the payment of a specified fee. Any other use of the material and content of the Site is strictly prohibited. You agree that you and your Children will not (and will not assist or facilitate any third party to) copy, reproduce, transmit, publish, display, distribute, commercially exploit or create derivative works of such material and content. Any request for permission may be sent to Spark Rights and Permissions Department, e-mail, help@sparklearning.com.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY:
The Site is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without any representation or endorsement. Unless specified in separate terms and conditions related to a particular product or service, Spark makes no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, in relation to the Site, or products or services offered on the Site whether by Spark or its behalf including but not limited to, implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security, accuracy, condition or completeness, or any implied warranty arising from course of dealing or usage or trade.

Unless specified in separate terms and conditions related to a particular product or service, Spark makes no warranty that the Site or products or services offered on the Site whether by Spark or on its behalf will meet your requirements or will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Site or the server that makes it available or products or services offered on the Site whether by Spark or on its behalf are free of viruses or bugs or are fully functional, accurate, or reliable. Spark will not be responsible or liable to you for any loss of content or material as a result of uploading to or downloading from the Site.

Notwithstanding any other provision in the User Conditions, nothing herein shall limit your rights as a consumer under English law. Spark will not be liable, in contract, tort (including, without limitation, negligence), pre-contract or other representations (other than fraudulent misrepresentations) or otherwise out of or in connection with the Site, or products or services offered on the Site, whether by Spark or on its behalf, for:

(a) any economic losses (including without limitation loss of revenues, profits, contracts, business or anticipated savings); or
(b) any loss of goodwill or reputation; or
(c) any special or indirect or consequential losses;

in any case whether or not such losses were within the contemplation of either party at the date on which the event giving rise to the loss occurred. Nothing in the User Conditions shall exclude or limit Spark's liability for death or personal injury resulting from the negligence of Spark or that of its servants, agents or employees.

You agree to be fully responsible for (and fully indemnify Spark against) all claims, liability, losses, costs and expenses including legal fees, suffered by Spark and arising out of any breach of the User Conditions by you or your Children or any other liabilities arising out of your or your Children's use of the Site, or the use by any other person accessing the Site using your username and password, PC or internet access account.

8. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT:
When using the Site you and your Children are expected to show courtesy to others and demonstrate respect, good taste, and decorum. Failure to do so it may result in the immediate termination of your account.

You agree that you and your Children:

(a) will only use the Site in a manner that is consistent with these User Conditions;
(b) will use the Site only in accordance with all relevant laws and regulations and not
for any illegal purpose;
(c) will not upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit through the Site any material that contains software, viruses, macro viruses, trojan horses, cancelbots or worms or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
(d) will not upload or transmit through the Site any material (including but not limited to your participation in news groups or chat services) which is defamatory, offensive, or of an obscene or menacing character, or that may cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety;
(e) will not upload or transmit through the Site any material (or otherwise use the Site in any manner) which violates or infringes the rights of any person, firm or company (including, but not limited to, rights of intellectual property, rights of confidentiality or rights of privacy);
(f) will not interfere with or disrupt the Site or servers or networks connected to the Site or contravene any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site or otherwise use the Site in a way that may cause the Site to be interrupted, damaged, rendered less efficient or impaired; and
(g) will not attempt any unauthorised access to any part or component of the Site.

You agree that in the event that you or your Children have any right, claim or action against another user arising out of another user's use of the Site, then you will pursue such right, claim or action only against that user and independently of and without recourse to Spark.

You further agree that you and your Children will not carry out, participate in or promote, or facilitate the carrying out, participation or promotion of any of the following:

(a) sending unsolicited email for commercial purposes;
(b) sending chain letters or pyramid-selling schemes;
(c) sending bulk mail or mail bombs (that is sending many or very large emails to users with the intention of annoying the recipient or to cause the systems of Spark or the systems of another internet service provider to fail on receipt of such emails);
(d) altering or damaging the Site or the systems of Spark or those of related parties, or blocking their access to the Internet;
(e) forging or blocking headers and/or addresses or any other action the purpose of which is to hide your true identity or falsify the true origin or ownership of any material;
(f) subscribing third parties to subscription-based or other email lists unless you have express permission to do so;
(g) collecting user and/or third party emails for the purposes of third party supply, database collation or direct marketing; or
(h) collecting or storing personal data about other users except where such use of personal data is a necessary and permitted consequence of use of the Site in accordance with these User Conditions.

9. DATA PROTECTION, PUBLIC ROOMS AND PRIVATE EMAIL:
Spark reserves the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and content associated with the Site, including but not limited to, public conferences and discussions. Spark may investigate any reported violation of these User Conditions or complaints and take any action that it deems appropriate (which may include, but is not limited to, issuing warnings, suspending, terminating or attaching conditions to your or your Children's access and/or removing any materials on the Site (including Content)).

Spark is a limited liability company incorporated in England and is registered under English Data Protection legislation. All personal information you supply to Spark in relation to yourself or your Children will be treated in accordance with such legislation. You hereby acknowledge and agree that Spark may convey all or part of your Personal Data to independent auditors for the sole purpose of verifying site usage statistics. As part of the verification process, you may be contacted by these independent auditors and asked to confirm that you have registered with the Site.

Subject to what is said below: (i) It is against the policy of Spark to monitor or review private electronic messages ("email") sent or received by you or your Children, unless required to do so by law; and (ii) Spark will not intentionally inspect the contents of an email sent by one user to another, or disclose the contents of any email other than to the sender or an intended recipient, without the consent of the sender or recipient, except as required or permitted to do so by law.

However, you should be aware that if Spark is requested by the police or any regulatory or governmental authority investing suspected illegal actives, or upon receipt of a court order, to provide your Personal Data or the contents of any email and/or information concerning your or your Children's activities whilst using the Site, Spark shall do so. Also, Spark reserves the right to disclose your Personal Data or individually identifiable information to third parties where a complaint arises concerning your or your Children's use of the Site, and that use is deemed by Spark inconsistent with these User Conditions. In addition, unless you untick any of the appropriate boxes on the User Registration Form, Spark may pass your Personal Data or details of your or your Children's use of the Site to other companies in the Spark corporate group and selected third parties for analysis and/or to enable them to contact you about products or services which may be of interest to you or your Children.

Spark reserves the right in its absolute discretion to disclose details of your or your Children's use of the Site in relation to any, or any threatened, court proceedings in connection with your or your Children's use, or the use of anyone under your control, of the Site whether in connection with the matters set out in these User Conditions or otherwise. Please click [here] to view the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these User Conditions.

You agree that you do not object to Spark or such third parties contacting you for any of the above purposes whether by telephone, e-mail or in writing and you confirm that you do not and will not consider any of the above as being a breach of any of your rights under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999.

11. THIRD PARTIES AND LINKS
The Site may carry advertising, promotions or provide links to other third party websites, giving the user the opportunity to make contact with third parties who may wish to supply them with goods and services or give them the opportunity to take part in promotions or competitions. You acknowledge and agree that Spark is not responsible for the availability, the quality or the material contained within such third party websites nor shall Spark be responsible for services provided by third parties on the Site nor for any damage, loss or offence caused, or alleged to be caused, by or in connection with your usage of or reliance on any content, advertising, products or services available from such third parties on or from any such websites or other material.

Your dealings with any third parties contacted through the Site, including payment for and delivery of products, services and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such third parties. Spark accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any loss or damage of any sort incurred or suffered by you resulting from such dealings or from the presence of any third parties on the Site.

12. SPARK'S RIGHTS
Spark reserves the right to modify or withdraw, temporarily or permanently, the Site (or any part thereof) with or without notice to you, and you confirm that Spark shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification or withdrawal of the Site.

Spark also reserves the right to remove any Content that it deems in its sole discretion to be unacceptable, undesirable or in violation of these User Conditions.

Spark shall use its reasonable endeavours to maintain the Site. The Site is subject to change from time to time. You will not be eligible for any compensation because you cannot use any part of the Site or because of a failure, suspension or withdrawal of all or part of the Site due to circumstances beyond the control of Spark.

13. ONLINE COMPETITIONS
The rules set out below ("Competition Rules") apply to each competition Spark runs on the Site ("Competition"). By participating in each Competition the user as an entrant agrees to be bound by the Competition Rules (and any other rules which Spark tell you apply to the Competition) and by the decisions of Spark, which are final in all matters relating to the Competition. No correspondence will be entered into and Spark reserves the right to disqualify any entrant and/or winner in its absolute discretion.

No purchase is necessary to enter a Competition. All prizes are non-transferrable and no cash or credit alternatives will be offered. Arrangements for the fulfilment of prizes may be made by a third party sponsor. Spark reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute any and all prizes with prizes of comparable value. All entries must be received by the deadline for that Competition and late or incomplete entries will be disqualified. By you or one of your Children entering a Competition, if you are a winner, you grant Spark permission to use your name or, if one of your Children is a winner, their name and likeness for advertising and future promotional purposes.

By you or one of your Children entering a Competition you:

(a) assign to Spark all rights, title and interest (including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights however arising and in whatever media throughout the world) in perpetuity, in all creative material uploaded onto the Site or otherwise provided by you, or your Children where such creative material is the subject of the Competition;
(b) irrevocably and unconditionally waive on your behalf and on behalf of your Children in perpetuity the benefit of any provision of law known as moral rights of authors of any similar law in any country;
(c) acknowledge that Spark may use such creative material in any way it sees fit without further payment to you;
(d) warrant to Spark that such creative material is wholly original to you or your Children (in the sense of not being copied), does not libel, defame, cause injury to, or invade the privacy of or otherwise infringe or violate the rights of any third party and the use of such creative material by Spark will not infringe the rights of any third party; and
(e) consent to Spark passing your name and address to any third party to deliver the prize or prizes to you.

Winner(s) will be notified by e-mail as soon as possible after the Competition draw/decision. For the names of the winner(s), please send an e-mail to help@sparklearning.com specifying the Competition. If you or one of your Children is a winner, you may have to complete additional legal documents and return them to Spark within three working days of receipt from Spark. Non-compliance or notification returned as undeliverable as addressed will result in your or your Child's disqualification as a winner and an alternative winner will be selected.

The receipt, by you if you are a winner or by your Child if he/she is a winner, of any prize is conditional upon compliance of any and all laws, rules and regulations including, without limitation, the Competition Rules and any further rules relating to such Competition as Spark may impose. Winners are solely responsible for all insurance, applicable taxes and for any expenses not specified in the prize description including those associated incidental expenses associated with claiming the prize.

Spark reserves the right to implement age requirements or other eligibility criteria where necessary. Competitions are not open to the employees of Spark or those of affiliated companies and subsidiaries, nor to any sponsors, nor to the immediate families of such employees or sponsors. Winner(s) of the Competitions agree that neither Spark nor its employees or any sponsors shall have any liability in connection with the acceptance or use of any of the prizes awarded herein. No responsibility can be accepted for entries lost of delayed in transmission or for damage or loss resulting from misdirected or incomplete entries arising from transmission and/or computer malfunctions, viruses, bugs or other similar causes.

14. TERMINATION
Spark may terminate your registration with the Site:

(a) if Spark believes, in its sole opinion, that you or any of your Children have breached any of the User Conditions or any Additional Rules or acted in a manner inconsistent with the spirit of any of them; or
(b) upon for any reason Spark discontinuing to provide the Site.

You acknowledge that Spark does not have to give you prior notice of any such termination. Either party may terminate your account by giving notice to the other. On termination, Spark may delete your username, password and any emails and data stored on the Site by you or on your behalf, and you and your Children will cease to be authorised users of the Site. You acknowledge and agree that termination is your sole right and exclusive remedy if you are not satisfied by the Site.

15. FEES
A. - Parents
In consideration for your and your Children's full access of the Site provided by Spark, you shall pay to Spark £49 per year payable in advance (the "Subscription Fee").

If payment is to be made by credit card, you must provide the necessary details in the User Registration/Subscription Form. You hereby represent that you are the owner, holder and duly authorised user of the credit card specified by you in the User registration/Subscription Form, and you agree that Spark is authorised to take payments from your account as and when such becomes due. You agree that this authorisation will remain in effect until you revoke it in writing to Spark. You also agree to make payment according to the terms of your credit card agreement.

Otherwise, payments shall fall due on the date invoiced to you by Spark. The Subscription Fee due shall be paid by you to Spark within 7 days of the due date. All payments made in relation to the Site are exclusive of VAT or similar tax which where applicable shall be paid in addition and shall be made in full without deduction or withholding. Late payments will accrue interest at a rate of 4% over [Barclays Bank plc] base rate from the due date to the date of actual payment.

Spark Island Guarantee - you may cancel your subscription at any time within 14 working days after the date upon which you receive acknowledgement from Spark that your User Registration/Subscription Form has been accepted by notifying Spark of your intention to cancel. Spark shall refund the full Subscription Fee within 30 days of receiving notice of your intention to cancel and shall terminate your account, including the deletion of your username and password in accordance with clause 14

16. MISCELLANEOUS
The User Conditions and any Additional Rules (as amended from time to time) constitute the entire agreement between you and Spark concerning your use of the Site and supersedes any previous arrangement, agreement, undertaking or proposal, written or oral between you and Spark in relation to such matters. No oral explanation or oral information given by either party shall alter the interpretation of these User Conditions or any Additional Rules. You confirm that in agreeing to accept these User Conditions or any Additional Rules, you have not relied on any representation save insofar as the same has expressly been made a representation in these User Conditions or any Additional Rules and you agree that you shall have no remedy in respect of any misrepresentation which has not become a term of these User Conditions or any Additional Rules save that your agreement contained in this paragraph shall not apply in respect of any fraudulent misrepresentation whether or not such has become a term of these User Conditions or any Additional Rules.

The headings are inserted for convenience only and shall not affect the construction of these User Conditions or any Additional Rules. If any one or more provisions of these User Conditions is or becomes invalid, unenforceable or illegal the validity, enforceability of legality of the remaining provisions shall not be impaired. Nothing shall be construed as a waiver by Spark of any preceding or succeeding breach of any provision.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, nothing in the User Conditions or any Additional Rules shall create any rights or any other benefits whether pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise in favour of any person other than you and Spark.

17. GOVERNING LAW:
The User Conditions and any Additional Rules are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. The parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in relation to any dispute arising under these User Conditions, any Additional Rules or in relation to the Site, save that Spark has the right at its sole discretion to commence and pursue proceedings in alternative jurisdictions.