Terms of Service

Last updated on 31^st July 2008.

By using pHing, you agree to the following terms and conditions, and any policies, guidelines or amendments thereto that may be presented to you from time to time (collectively, the "Terms of Service"). We may update the Terms of Service without notice to you, and you are responsible for checking the most current version of the Terms of Service.

1. USE OF SERVICES

   In consideration of your use of pHing, you represent that you are of legal age to form a binding contract and are not a person barred from receiving services under the laws of the Singapore or other applicable jurisdiction. In order to access certain services, you may be required to provide current, accurate identification, contact, and other information as part of the registration process and/or continued use of the services offered by Hardware Zone Pte Ltd and its subsidiaries or affiliated companies ("HWZ"). You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your pHing account password, and are responsible for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to immediately notify HWZ of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security. HWZ cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section 1. HWZ reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at any time without notice for any reason.

2. APPROPRIATE CONDUCT

   You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials ("Content"), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. You understand that by using pHing, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable.

   You agree that you are responsible for your own conduct and Content while using pHing and for any consequences thereof. You agree to use pHing only for purposes that are legal, proper and in accordance with these Terms of Service and any applicable policies or guidelines. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using pHing, you will not:

   • defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
   • upload, post, email or transmit or otherwise make available any inappropriate, defamatory, infringing, obscene, or unlawful Content;
   • upload, post, email or transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right of any party, unless you are the owner of such rights or have the permission of the owner to post such Content;
   • upload, post, email or transmit or otherwise make available messages that promote pyramid schemes, chain letters or disruptive commercial messages or advertisements, or anything else prohibited by law, these Terms of Service or any applicable policies or guidelines.
   • download any file posted by another that you know, or reasonably should know, that cannot be legally distributed in such manner;
   • impersonate another person or entity, or falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other material;
   • restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying HWZ services;
   • use HWZ services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose;
   • remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices contained in or on HWZ services;
   • interfere with or disrupt HWZ services or servers or networks connected to HWZ services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to HWZ services;
   • use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other device to retrieve or index any portion of HWZ services or collect information about users for any unauthorized purpose;
   • submit Content that falsely expresses or implies that such Content is sponsored or endorsed by HWZ;
   • create user accounts by automated means or under false or fraudulent pretenses;
   • promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities or promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual; or
   • transmit any viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses, or any items of a destructive nature.

   International users agree to comply with their own local rules regarding online conduct and acceptable content, including laws regulating the export of data to the Singapore or your country of residence.

   While HWZ prohibits such conduct and Content in connection with pHing, you understand and agree that HWZ may or may not pre-screen Content and shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse or move any Content submitted to pHing. You also understand and agree that you nonetheless may be exposed to such conduct and/or Content and that you use pHing at your own risk.

3. PRIVACY POLICY

   For information about our data protection practices, please see our Privacy Policy. By using pHing, you acknowledge and agree that HWZ may access, preserve, and disclose your account information and any Content associated with that account if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (b) enforce this Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues (including, without limitation, the filtering of spam), (d) respond to user support requests, or (e) protect the rights, property or safety of HWZ, its users and the public. HWZ will not be responsible or liable for the exercise or non-exercise of its rights under the Terms of Service.

   You understand that the technical processing and transmission of HWZ services, including your Content, may involve (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices.

4. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

   HWZ's Rights

   You acknowledge and agree that pHing and any necessary software used in connection with HWZ services ("Software") contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You further acknowledge and agree that Content contained in sponsor advertisements or information presented to you through HWZ services or advertisers is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by HWZ or advertisers, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on HWZ services or the Software, in whole or in part.

   HWZ grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the object code of its Software on a single computer; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Software. You agree not to modify the Software in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to HWZ services. You agree not to access pHing by any means other than through the interface that is provided by HWZ for use in accessing HWZ services.

   Your Rights

   HWZ claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through pHing. You or a third party licensor, as appropriate, retain all patent, trademark and copyright to any Content you submit, post or display on or through pHing and you are responsible for protecting those rights, as appropriate. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through HWZ services which are intended to be available to the general public, you grant HWZ a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and otherwise use, with or without attribution such Content on HWZ services solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting HWZ services. This license terminates when such Content is deleted from the HWZ service to which you originally submitted. HWZ reserves the right to syndicate Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through pHing and use that Content in connection with any of the services offered by HWZ.

5. POLICIES REGARDING COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARKS, AND BRAND FEATURES

   It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) of Singapore or other applicable law. For more information, please click here.

   For information regarding our trademark complaint procedure, please email us. Any use of HWZ's trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features must be in compliance with this Terms of Service.

   By submitting Content to pHing, you authorize HWZ to use your trademarks, service marks, trade names, proprietary logos, domain names and any other source or business identifiers in connection with HWZ’s authorized distribution of the Content.

6. SUBMISSION OF CONTENT THROUGH A BULK UPLOAD

   Certain types of Content may be submitted to pHing electronically via technical specifications provided to you by pHing (the "Bulk Upload"). You agree to comply with the then-current specifications provided by pHing to enable proper delivery and display of the Content. If the Content submitted via the Bulk Upload contains URLs (or equivalent thereof) that you are submitting to pHing, you agree that HWZ has the right to access, index, cache or crawl the URL(s) (or equivalent thereof), the Content itself, or any portion thereof (without regard to any robots.txt file which does not authorize crawling) in connection with HWZ's authorized use of the Content.

7. GENERAL PRACTICES REGARDING USE AND STORAGE

   You agree that HWZ has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content and other communications maintained or transmitted by HWZ services. You acknowledge that HWZ has set no fixed upper limit on the number of transmissions you may send or receive through HWZ services or the amount of storage space used; however, we retain the right, at our sole discretion, to create limits at any time with or without notice.

8. NO RESALE OF SERVICE

   You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, or resell any portion of HWZ services, use of HWZ services, or access to HWZ services.

9. MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE

   HWZ reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the pHing service (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that HWZ shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of HWZ services.

10. TERMINATION

    You may cancel your use of pHing services and/or terminate this Terms of Service with or without cause at any time by providing notice to pHing; provided, however, that a terminated account may continue to exist for up to two business days before such cancellation takes effect. pHing may at any time and for any reason, including a period of account inactivity, terminate your access to pHing services, terminate this Terms of Service, or suspend or terminate your account. In the event of termination, your account will be disabled and you may not be granted access to your account or any files or other content contained in your account although residual copies of information may remain in our system. Except as set forth above or unless HWZ has previously canceled or terminated your use of HWZ services (in which case subsequent notice by HWZ shall not be required), if you have provided an alternate email address, HWZ will notify you via email of any such termination or cancellation, which shall be effective immediately upon HWZ's delivery of such notice. Sections 13 through 19 of the Terms of Service (including the section regarding limitation of liability), shall survive expiration or termination.

11. ADVERTISEMENTS

    Many HWZ services are supported by advertising revenue and may display advertisements and promotions on the service. The manner, mode and extent of advertising by HWZ on its services are subject to change. You agree that HWZ shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred by you as a result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on HWZ services.

12. LINKS

    HWZ services may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because HWZ has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that HWZ is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any Content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that HWZ shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such Content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

13. INDEMNITY

    You agree to hold harmless and indemnify HWZ, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and employees, advertisers or partners, from and against any third party claim arising from or in any way related to your use of HWZ services, violation of these Terms of Service or any other actions connected with use of HWZ services, including any liability or expense arising from all claims, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys' fees, of every kind and nature. In such a case, HWZ will provide you with written notice of such claim, suit or action.

14. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

    YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:

    1. YOUR USE OF HWZ SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. HWZ SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. HWZ EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
    2. HWZ MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (i) HWZ SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) HWZ SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF HWZ SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH HWZ SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND (V) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED.
    3. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF HWZ SERVICES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.
    4. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM HWZ OR THROUGH OR FROM HWZ SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE.

15. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

    YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT HWZ SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF HWZ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES) RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE HWZ SERVICES; (ii) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS, DATA, INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM HWZ SERVICES; (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iv) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON HWZ SERVICES; OR (v) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO HWZ SERVICES.

16. EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS

    SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS [14] AND [15] MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

17. NO THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES

    You agree that, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Terms of Service, there shall be no third party beneficiaries to the Terms of Service.

18. NOTICE

    You agree that HWZ may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms of Service, by email, regular mail, or postings on HWZ services.

19. GENERAL INFORMATION

    Entire Agreement. The Terms of Service constitute the entire agreement between you and HWZ and govern your use of HWZ services, superceding any prior agreements between you and HWZ. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use or purchase certain other HWZ services, affiliate services, third-party content or third-party software.

    Choice of Law and Forum. The Terms of Service and the relationship between you and HWZ shall be governed by the laws of Singapore without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and HWZ agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Singapore.

    Waiver and Severability of Terms. The failure of HWZ to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms of Service is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Service remain in full force and effect.

    Statute of Limitations. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of HWZ services or the Terms of Service must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

The section headings in the Terms of Service are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.