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Break The Vault Terms and Conditions

1. Introduction. These Terms and Conditions of Service (“Terms of Service”) create a contract that sets out your rights and obligations, and those of Flying Pig Ventures, LLC, an Ohio limited liability company (hereinafter “Flying Pig”, “we”, “us” or “our”), the operator of this site, in relation to this site (hereinafter “Breakthevault.com” or www.breakthevault.com) and the services offered by Flying Pig through the site (which services are referred to hereinafter collectively as “the Break the Vault Service”). By accessing this web site or registering for the Break the Vault Service, you agree to the terms of these Terms of Service. You may access these Terms of Service at any time by using the link to these Terms of Service on the bottom of each page of the Break the Vault Service. We may revise these Terms of Service at any time in accordance with Section 19 below, and your continued use of the Break the Vault Service shall be deemed irrevocable acceptance of those revisions. YOU MAY NOT USE THE BREAK THE VAULT SERVICE OR OPEN AN ACCOUNT IF YOU ARE NOT AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE.

2. The Break the Vault Service. The Break the Vault Service enables our Members (and only our Members) to play the games we provide on Breakthevault.com. Generally any game where we provide a cash prize is a game of pure skill, or otherwise complies with the legal requirements for cash games permitted in an applicable jurisdiction. Thus, when participating in a game with other Members, you agree that it is your speed and skill in playing the game, and that of other Members, that determines who wins the game and prize, not luck. You should familiarize yourself with the game before taking part. We are not responsible for your access to the Internet. In order to use the Break the Vault Service, you must have Internet access and the skills required for web usage. It is your sole responsibility to confirm the technical compatibility between your computer system and the Break the Vault Service.

3. Registration and Membership. There is no charge to become a Member of Breakthevault.com. To become a Member, you must be at least 18 years old, a resident of the United States, and register for the Break the Vault Service. By registering, you represent that you are at least 18 years old, and that you are not prohibited in any way from participating in the games and tournaments we make available. It is your responsibility to ensure that national, state or other laws to which you are subject do not adversely affect your right to participate. Once you have registered, we will make our games immediately available for your participation. You will not have the right to cancel these Terms of Service. You hereby agree that when you register for the Break the Vault Service you are providing accurate and current information about yourself.

4. Games, Winners and Prizes. The skill of the Members playing any game will determine the result of the game. The prize amount will be disclosed at the outset of each game. We will notify winners that they have won, by e-mail. Each winner must claim the prize by a responsive e-mail within three days after notification or else another winner will be chosen. Cash prizes less any withholding tax that we are required by law to pay directly to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of a Member (together with any standard information that the IRS may require us to provide in relation to such cash prizes) will be sent by ordinary U.S. Mail in the form of a check to the mailing address you have provided. Game rules, scoring, controls and guidelines for all games offered at Breakthevault.com can be found at each specific game section. At the conclusion of each game, we will list the names of the winning Member(s). The lists will be available only to the participants of the games. If you provide misleading, inaccurate or incomplete information, we will be entitled to terminate your membership and require you to forfeit any prizes you may have won, as well as to exercise any legal remedies available to us as a result of such conduct. We reserve the right to require timely and acceptable proof of eligibility from winners. All judgments of Flying Pig Ventures as to eligibility shall be final.

5. Privacy Policy. By registering for the Break the Vault Service, you give your consent to the way we may handle your personal data, as described in our Privacy Policy.

6. Eligibility. We may require Members receiving any prize to provide proof that they are eligible to participate in the applicable game, and if we determine in our sole and absolute discretion that they are not eligible, we may refuse to award the prize. You must comply with the laws that apply to you in the state in which you access Breakthevault.com. If any laws applicable to you restrict or prohibit your participation in the Break the Vault Service, then you are responsible for complying with those legal restrictions.

7. Operation of Break the Vault Services. We have the right to withdraw or modify one or more games or portions of the Break the Vault Service in our sole and absolute discretion, for any reason, including but not limited to (a) privacy, data protection or other legal objections to the content or conduct of the Break the Vault Service, and (b) technical difficulties experienced by Breakthevault.com or on the Internet generally. There may also be times when the Break the Vault Service becomes unavailable, either on a scheduled or unscheduled basis. For security or other reasons, we may require you to change password or other information that facilitates access to the Break the Vault Service.

8. Abuse of the Break the Vault Service. Members may not use unfair methods on the Break the Vault Service. Generally, any technique other than the use of pure skill in the conduct of a game is unfair for these purposes. Such techniques may include, but are not limited to, use of program codes or commands or any adapted hardware or software to assist play and impersonation of another Member. Further, Members may not conduct themselves in such a way that might produce a disruption or malfunction of the Break the Vault Service.

9. Suspension and Termination for Breach. In the event that we determine, in our sole and absolute discretion that a Member has breached these Terms of Service or otherwise engaged in abuse of the Break the Vault Service, we may (a) suspend or terminate such Member’s access to the Break the Vault Service, or any portion of it, and (b) cause such Member to forfeit all winnings. No person whose membership or access has been suspended or terminated shall be permitted to re-register for, or re-access, the Break the Vault Service without our prior consent. You are responsible for everything that is done on or through the Break the Vault Service while you are logged on to the Break the Vault Service.

10. Relevance. The Break the Vault Service is intended to be used by its Members for the purposes referred to in Section 2 above. Accordingly, Members may not:

use the Break the Vault Service for any other purpose;
place material on, or otherwise use, the Break the Vault Service for any business, advertising or commercial purpose; or
use your access to the Break the Vault Service, or information gathered from it, for the sending of unsolicited bulk email (sometimes known as “spam”).

11. Unallocated Member Funds. From time to time, Flying Pig holds funds that are not allocated to a Member, particularly if a Member’s winnings are forfeited, or if we are unable to locate a Member.

12. Prohibitions. You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, tags, or other materials (“Content”), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. In other words, you, and not Flying Pig, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available through the Break the Vault Service. Flying Pig does not control Content posted on the Break the Vault Service by third parties and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content. You acknowledge that by using the Break the Vault Service, you may be exposed to Content that you may consider to be offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will Flying Pig be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available on the Break the Vault Service.

By becoming a Member, accessing Breakthevault.com, or participating in any Break the Vault Service games, you specifically agree not to:

upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, sexually or otherwise objectionable;
use the Break the Vault Service to harm minors in any way;
use the Break the Vault Service to impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin or any Content transmitted through the Break the Vault Service;
remove any proprietary notices from the Break the Vault Service;
cause, permit or authorize the modification, creation of derivative works, or translation of the Break the Vault Service without the express permission of Flying Pig;
use the Break the Vault Service for any commercial purpose or the benefit of any third party or in any manner not permitted by the licenses granted herein;
use the Break the Vault Service for fraudulent or abusive purposes;
attempt to decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or hack the Break the Vault Service, or to defeat or overcome any encryption technology or security measures implemented by Flying Pig with respect to the Break the Vault Service or data transmitted, processed or stored by Flying Pig;
harvest or collect any information about or regarding other Members, including, but not limited to any personal data or information;
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, or proprietary or confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights (“Rights”) of any party;
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail”, “spam”, “chain letters”, “pyramid schemes”, or any other form of solicitation;
upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses 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;
disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, cause a screen to “scroll” faster than other users of the Break the Vault Service are able to type, or otherwise act in manner that negatively affects other users’ ability to compete in games or engage in real-time exchanges;
interfere with or disrupt the Break the Vault Service or servers or networks connected to the Break the Vault Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected to the Break the Vault Service;
use the Break the Vault Service to violate, whether intentionally or unintentionally, any applicable local, state, national or international law, and any regulations having the force of law; and/or
use the Break the Vault Service to “stalk” or otherwise harass another person.

In addition, the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) defines certain procedures necessary to report copyright infringement on our site. If you believe Content posted by a user on our site is infringing upon your copyright, visit our “Report and Respond to Infringing Materials” page.

13. Alerting Flying Pig. If you see anything on the Break the Vault Service that you believe to be an abuse of the Break the Vault Service, or which may infringe these Terms of Service, please let us to know by using the “Report Abuse” function, or by submitting the contact form.

14. Withdrawal of Material. We will remove any material on the Break the Vault Service that we determine in our sole and absolute discretion is capable of breaching any part of these Terms of Service, or that may bring the Break the Vault Service or Flying Pig into disrepute. However, we do not actively monitor material that is contributed by Members on the Break the Vault Service, and we make no undertaking to do so.

15. Disclaimer and Release. Members become Members, enter www.breakthevault.com, and play games on the Break the Vault Service at their own risk. Flying Pig is not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incorrect, incomplete, ineligible or unintelligible entries; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware, software program, network, Internet or computer failures or difficulties; (iii) errors or delays in transmission; (iv) any condition caused by the events beyond the control of Flying Pig that may cause the Break the Vault Service to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind caused by a prize or resulting from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a prize, or from participation in the Break the Vault Service; or (vi) any printing or typographical error in any materials associated with these Terms of Service or the Break the Vault Service generally. Flying Pig shall be the sole and final judge whether a particular answer is correct or who is the winner with respect to any given game. Members assume all liability for any injury or damages caused or claimed to be caused by their participation in the Break the Vault Service or the acceptance or use of any prize, and release Flying Pig and its members, officers, directors, employees, and affiliates from any and all such liability. Flying Pig and its officers, directors, employees, members, and affiliates assume no responsibility for any injury or damage to participants or to any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from entering or downloading materials or software in connection with the Break the Vault Service.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MEMBERS, THEIR HEIRS, NEXT OF KIN, SPOUSE, GUARDIANS, LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES, EXECUTORS, AND ADMINISTRATORS (COLLECTIVELY, “RELEASING PARTIES”) HEREBY RELEASE FLYING PIG AND EACH OF ITS MEMBERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS, FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, ACTIONS, DAMAGES, LIABILITIES, LOSSES, COSTS AND EXPENSES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ATTORNEYS’ FEES) ARISING OUT OF, RESULTING FROM, OR BY REASON OF THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION.

PLEASE NOTE THAT A HIGH VOLUME OF ENTRIES, ON LINE OR BY SMS (TEXT MESSAGING), OR TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH THE SYSTEM, MAY RESULT IN TEMPORARY INABILITY TO TAKE PART IN A GAME OR A DELAY IN THE PROCESSING OF ENTRIES SUCH THAT AN ENTRY IS NOT RECEIVED IN TIME TO PARTICIPATE. FLYING PIG IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE SHOULD ANY ENTRY NOT BE RECEIVED DUE TO SUCH DELAYS.

IN NO EVENT SHALL FLYING PIG BE LIABLE WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE (WHETHER ACTIVE, PASSIVE OR IMPUTED), PRODUCT LIABILITY OR STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY), FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY LOSS OF DATA, SERVICE INTERRUPTION, COMPUTER OR OTHER DEVICE FAILURE OR PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE BREAKTHEVAULT.COM, INCLUDING ANY DAMAGES RESULTING THEREFROM, EVEN IF FLYING PIG HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

YOUR ONLY RIGHT WITH RESPECT TO ANY PROBLEMS OR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE BREAK THE VAULT SERVICE IS TO TERMINATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP AND DISCONTINUE ANY USE OF THE BREAK THE VAULT SERVICE.

16. Intellectual Property; License. You acknowledge that all copyright, trade marks, and other intellectual-property rights in and relating to the Break the Vault Service, other than material that is contributed by Members, are owned by Flying Pig or its licensees. It is easy to copy material that appears on websites, but the ease of such copying does not mean it is legal. Therefore, no one may copy, distribute, show in public or create any derivative work from the Break the Vault Service, or any of the material that is found on the Break the Vault Service, unless properly licensed to do so (a) by us, and (b) where material contributed by one or more Members is concerned, by the Member(s) in question.

By submitting any Content or other material to the Break the Vault Service, you are representing that you are fully entitled to do so, and you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-terminable license to copy, modify, distribute, show in public and create derivative works from that material solely in the course of its processing, display and use on and through the Break the Vault Service in accordance with these Terms of Service, and you authorize us to adapt the relevant material in the course of doing so, and so waive your moral rights to object to any derogatory treatment, or to be identified as the author, of the material in question.

Flying Pig hereby grants you a limited license to access and use the Break the Vault Service subject to the terms and conditions of these Terms of Service. However, this license does not allow you to make any commercial use or any derivative use of the Break the Vault Service (including any of its individual elements or content).

17. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify us against all liabilities, claims and expenses that may arise from any breach of these Terms of Service by you or through a machine on which you access the Break the Vault Service.

18. Entire Agreement. These Terms of Service contain the entire the agreement between us and you concerning the Break the Vault Service and they replace and supersede all earlier agreements and understandings with you, except for any fraud or fraudulent representation by either of use. No one not a party to these Terms of Service has any right to rely upon or enforce any term of these Terms of Service.

19. Changes to these Terms of Service. Flying Pig reserves the right to change these Terms of Service from time to time, and post the new version on www.breakthevault.com. When we do so, we will indicate that there are changed terms on the main screen of www.breakthevault.com. Thereafter, your continued use of the Break the Vault Service will constitute your acceptance of the new terms. If you do not wish to be governed by the new Terms of Service, you must cease to use the Break the Vault Service.

20. Severability. In the event that any term of these Terms of Service is held to be invalid or unenforceable by judicial decree or decision, the remainder of these Terms of Service shall remain valid and unenforceable.

21. Law. These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio.

These terms and conditions were last updated on March 3, 2008.