TERMS OF SERVICE
Welcome to the TheePenpal.com, a website that connects adults at least 18 years of age and older with inmates and free world citizens. TheePenpal.com (defined below) is operated by TheePenpal.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (“us,” “we”, or “TheePenpal”). By using or accessing TheePenpal.com, you agree that you have read, understand and are bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”) and are at least 18 years of age. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to edit or remove portions of these Terms at any time without further notice. These Terms constitute the entire agreement and supersede any prior agreement between you and us regarding your use of TheePenpal.com. TheePenpal.com makes every reasonable effort to explain, navigate and distribute its Terms of Service.
Advertiser Dealings
Your correspondence, business dealings, and transactions with advertisers found on or through TheePenpal.com are solely between you and said advertisers. This includes participation in promotions and special offers and includes payment for related goods or services and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such transactions. You agree that TheePenpal.com shall be held blameless and is not responsible or liable for any loss, damage, or injury of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such said advertisers.
Arbitration
Except as set forth in the paragraph below, you agree that all claims and disputes between you and TheePenpal.com that arise out of or relate in any way to the Terms or your use of TheePenpal.com will be resolved either by (a) binding arbitration by a single arbitrator in or closest to Atlanta, Georgia or (b) binding non-appearance based arbitration conducted by telephone, online or based solely on written submission. Such arbitration will be administered by an arbitrator of TheePenpal.com’s choice. The arbitrator’s award will be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.
With respect to any claims or disputes you intend to bring on behalf of a class, you agree to arbitrate whether a class could be certified before bringing such action in a court of law. If the arbitrator refuses to certify the class, you will continue to resolve your individual claims or disputes through binding arbitration. If the arbitrator finds that a class should be certified, you may file the class action in a court of law provided you waive any right to a trial by jury. Claims for injunctive or other equitable relief may also be brought in a court of law.
Disclaimer Extended
YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:
USE OF THEEPENPAL.COM IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THEEPENPAL.COM AND ALL APPLICATIONS, FEATURES, CONTENT AND MATERIALS MADE AVAILABLE ON, IN CONJUNCTION WITH OR THROUGH THEEPENPAL.COM ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, THEEPENPAL.COM, ITS SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS AND PARTNERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, STATUTORY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THEEPENPAL.COM, ITS SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS AND PARTNERS DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE THEEPENPAL.COM SERVICE WILL BE AVAILABLE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THE THEEPENPAL.COM SERVICE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
THEEPENPAL.COM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR, AND DOES NOT APPROVE OR ENDORSE ANY THIRD PARTY CONTENT, MATERIALS, WEBSITES OR APPLICATIONS MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THEEPENPAL.COM COLLECTIVELY, (“THIRD PARTY MATERIALS”). WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT, ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, OFFENSIVENESS, OPINIONS, RELIABILITY, PRIVACY PRACTICES OR OTHER POLICIES APPLICABLE TO SUCH THIRD PARTY MATERIALS, AND WE CANNOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT THIRD PARTY MATERIALS WILL COMPLY WITH THE RESTRICTIONS, CONDITIONS OR OBLIGATIONS THAT WE REQUIRE. IF YOU DECIDE TO USE OR ACCESS THIRD PARTY MATERIALS, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO AGREE TO TERMS OF SERVICE, PRIVACY AND DATA GATHERING PRACTICES AND OTHER POLICIES APPLICABLE TO SUCH THIRD PARTY MATERIALS. PLEASE REVIEW ALL SUCH TERMS AND POLICIES CAREFULLY.
CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.
THEEPENPAL.COM AND ALL OF ITS ASSOCIATES ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TRUTH OR ACCURACY OF ANY STATEMENT MADE BY ADVERTISERS, RESPONDENTS AND INMATES. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU TAKE APPROPRIATE SAFEGUARDS WHEN CORRESPONDING WITH INMATES THAT YOU MEET THROUGH THEEPENPAL.COM. IN RESPONDING TO AN INMATE’S PROFILE, YOU AGREE TO HOLD THEEPENPAL.COM AND ITS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS HARMLESS FROM ALL COSTS, LIABILITIES, DAMAGES AND ATTORNEY FEES, RESULTING FROM OR CAUSED BY ANY REPLY TO SUCH ADVERTISEMENTS. YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE TO ENTER THIS SITE.
INMATES, IN CHOOSING TO PLACE A PROFILE WITH THEEPENPAL.COM, MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THEY AND OTHER PROVIDERS OF INFORMATION ARE THE PUBLISHERS OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THEEPENPAL.COM. WE ARE NOT THE PUBLISHERS OF SUCH INFORMATION, WE SIMPLY PROVIDE THE SPACE FOR THE INMATE TO PLACE A PROFILE. IN NO EVENT WILL THEEPENPAL.COM BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHER DAMAGE ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE USE OF THESE SERVICES. SOME PRISONS PROHIBIT INMATES FROM USING OUR SERVICES AND PLACEMENT OF A PROFILE ON THEEPENPAL.COM MAY HAVE PUNITIVE OR LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR THE INMATE. POTENTIAL PEN PALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VERIFY INFORMATION ABOUT INMATES THROUGH ADDITIONAL SOURCES, WHETHER INMATES ARE INCARCERATED IN UNITED STATES PRISONS OR PRISONS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES CAN BE CONTACTED DIRECTLY. “BOOK MARKING” OR “LINKING” TO A PAGE ON THIS SERVER/SITE WHEREBY THIS WARNING PAGE IS BY-PASSED SHALL CONSTITUTE AN IMPLICIT ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOREGO ING TERMS OF SERVICE HEREIN SET FORTH.
Disputes & Complaints
You agree not to hold TheePenpal.com responsible or liable for the User Content or actions of third parties (including your interactions with users) on or relating to TheePenpal.com. This includes transactions conducted on TheePenpal.com as well as the collection, handling and sharing of personal information that you provide to third parties. If you have a dispute with a third party relating to TheePenpal.com, you hereby release TheePenpal.com and its directors, officers, employees and agents (collectively, the ” TheePenpal.com Entities”) from any claims, causes of action and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such dispute.
If you believe that TheePenpal.com or TheePenpal.com’s business practices are in any way unfair, fraudulent or unlawful, you agree to bring your concern to the attention of TheePenpal.com’s legal department. If you do not report the concern or continue using the service after discovering the issue, you expressly waive the right to claim that TheePenpal.com is unfair, fraudulent or unlawful with respect to said practice.
Form, E-mail, Postal Mail, Etc. Submission
You acknowledge and agree that any questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, feedback or other information that you provide to TheePenpal.com (“Submissions”), are non-confidential and non-proprietary. TheePenpal.com will be entitled to the unrestricted use of any such Submission for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.
Forum, Chat, Public Comments
1. In using our forum, chat, public commenting, etc., you agree not to post advertisements on our website. If you wish to advertise on our site, you agree to follow the appropriate channels by visiting our advertising section and submitting your ad there. Any advertisements for commercial businesses will be removed.
2. No inappropriate postings (e.g. racial slurs, threats, messages that may be deemed offensive). Do not post libelous or defamatory comments about other users. You agree that TheePenpal.com has the right to share your information with the appropriate authorities should you violate the law when using our services.
3. Inmates do not have access to the Internet. You agree not to post messages for inmates in the forum or other parts of the website. Inmates cannot receive them.
4. Posting allegations or negative comments about inmates is not permitted. However, if you have a complaint about an inmate on TheePenpal.com, you need to contact us directly. We will take appropriate action when necessary.
5. Moderators are not official employees of TheePenpal.com. They have no control over the data displayed on the site outside of the forum. If a moderator fails to assist you in enforcing a rule or a problem on the forum, you agree to contact TheePenpal.com directly.
6. You agree not to post information about inmates other than those already listed on our website.
7. Sending unsolicited e-mails to non-inmate members of TheePenpal.com is prohibited. Anyone sending such messages will be reported to their Internet provider and banned.
8. Be aware that forum posts are sometimes copied and sent to other people. The views you express may be shared with others, so please be selective in what you write.
9. Users are not permitted to have more than one ID (Username). Any user caught purposely misleading TheePenpal.com or its users will have all accounts permanently suspended.
10. If you are seeking assistance for helping inmates with legal matters, employment, etc., please post their information only once along with any pertinent information. The thread will then be permanently locked. You are not permitted to post pen-pal solicitations for inmates unless they are already featured on TheePenpal.com.
11. Posted content becomes the property of TheePenpal.com. We will not remove content or delete accounts. Doing so would obstruct content GAow on the forum.
12. By using or accessing TheePenpal.com’s Forum, you agree that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and are at least 18 years of age.
We do not intend to censor messages based on the opinions expressed within posts, but we will enforce the policies outlined both here and on the forum. The administrators and moderators of TheePenpal.com will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off of this forum; however, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of TheePenpal.com, nor TheeBlvd. TheePenpal.com or any of its partners or affiliates will be held responsible for the content of any message. By registering and using said categories, you agree to abide by all rules outlined above.
Governing Law
You agree that all claims and disputes between you and TheePenpal.com that arise out of or relate in any way to the Terms or your use of TheePenpal.com will be governed by the laws of the State of Georgia (and United States federal laws applicable therein), without regard to principles of conGAict of laws. You further agree that you will bring any claims or disputes that are not subject to arbitration (as set forth above) in, and you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of, the state and federal courts located in Dekalb County, Atlanta or nearest cities.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold TheePenpal.com Entities harmless from and against any claim or cause of action brought by a third party as well as any related damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) (“Claim”) arising out of or related to your (a) use of TheePenpal.com or any of the applications, features, content or materials related thereto; (b) violation of these Terms; (c) violation of the rights of any other person or entity; or (d) breach of the representations, warranties and covenants made by you herein. TheePenpal.com reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify TheePenpal.com, and you agree to cooperate with TheePenpal.com’s defense of these Claims.
Internet Provider (IP) Complaints
We respect the IP rights of others and we prohibit users from Posting User Content that violates another party’s IP rights. When we receive a proper claim of IP infringement, we promptly remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing User Content. We also terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. If you believe that User Content on TheePenpal.com infringes your IP rights, please contact us. If you are a user whose User Content was removed due to alleged copyright infringement, and you believe the removal was mistaken, please contact us.
Licenses
You are solely responsible for the User Content that you Post on or through TheePenpal.com. You hereby grant TheePenpal.com an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with TheePenpal.com or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with TheePenpal.com or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses.
Limitation on Liability
YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, WILL THEEPENPAL.COM ENTITIES OR THEIR LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, RELIANCE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA, THAT RESULT FROM YOUR USE OR YOUR INABILITY TO USE THEEPENPAL.COM, THE THEEPENPAL.COM WEBSITES OR ANY APPLICATIONS, FEATURES, CONTENT OR THIRD PARTY MATERIALS MADE AVAILABLE ON, IN CONJUNCTION WITH OR THROUGH THEEPENPAL.COM, EVEN IF THEEPENPAL.COM OR A THEEPENPAL.COM AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH CASES, THEEPENPAL.COM’S LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
IN NO EVENT WILL THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU OF THEEPENPAL.COM ENTITIES OR OF THEIR LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THEEPENPAL.COM, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS OF THEEPENPAL.COM (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, WARRANTY OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, TO THEEPENPAL.COM DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DAY THE ACT OR OMISSION OCCURRED THAT GAVE RISE TO YOUR CLAIM OR $100, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
Member/Use Eligibility
You may not use TheePenpal.com if you are under 18 years of age. This restriction applies to inmates and viewers alike. Viewers under the age of 18 attempting to access TheePenpal.com will be reported to their Internet Providers.
Mobile Devices
There are features of TheePenpal.com that may be accessible via certain mobile carriers (the “Mobile Services”). While we currently do not charge for these Mobile Services, your carrier’s normal messaging, data and other rates and fees will still apply. By using the Mobile Services, you agree that we may communicate with you by SMS, MMS, text message or other electronic means to your mobile device, and that certain information about your usage of the Mobile Services may be communicated to us. In the event you change or deactivate your mobile telephone number, you agree to promptly update your account information on TheePenpal.com to ensure that your messages are not sent to the person that acquires your old number.
Ownership; Proprietary Rights
Except for User Content and Applications/Connect Sites, all materials, content and trademarks on TheePenpal.com are the property of TheePenpal.com and/or its licensors and are protected by all relevant IP laws and other proprietary rights (including copyright, trademark, trade dress and patent laws) and any other applicable laws. Without limiting the foregoing, TheePenpal.com, TheePenpal the TheePenpal.com LOGO and all related logos, are trademarks of TheePenpal.com. Except as expressly authorized by TheePenpal.com in writing, you agree not to use, sell, license, distribute, copy, publish, stream, publicly perform or display, transmit, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works or otherwise make unauthorized use of the materials, content or trademarks.
Payments
Unless otherwise stated, all fees are quoted in U.S. Dollars. You are responsible for paying all fees and applicable taxes associated with our site and services in a timely manner with a valid payment option. If your payment method is declined or your account is overdue, we may collect fees owed using other collection options such as retaining collection agencies and legal counsel. You agree that you or the inmate if payment is being made on their behalf is responsible for supplying us with all appropriate data in order to process your request. TheePenpal.com will not issue refunds when information is not provided within 30 days of the transaction. We make every reasonable attempt to collect information when none is provided. Information can always be submitted 24 hours a day at info@TheePenpal.com.
Personal Account Security
When you register for and use TheePenpal.com, you will be asked to provide information about yourself (“User Data”). Your User Data must be accurate and current at all times. You are solely responsible for maintaining the security of your account. This means, for example, that you may not share your password or let anyone else access your account. If you have reason to believe that your account is no longer secure, please contact us.
Privacy Policy
Your privacy is very important to us. Accordingly, we have developed this Policy in order for you to understand how we collect, use, communicate, disclose and make use of personal information.
• Before or at the time of collecting personal information, we will identify the purposes for which information is being collected.
• We will collect and use personal information solely with the objective of fulfilling those purposes specified by us and for other compatible purposes, unless we obtain the consent of the individual concerned or as required by law.
• We will only retain personal information as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.
• We will collect personal information by lawful and fair means and, where appropriate, with the knowledge or consent of the individual concerned.
• Personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which it is to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete, and current.
• We will protect personal information by reasonable security safeguards against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.
• We will make readily available to customers information about our policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.
We are committed to conducting our business in accordance with these principles in order to ensure that the confidentiality of personal information is protected and maintained.
• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.
• Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
Prohibited Behavior
By using or accessing TheePenpal.com, you represent, warrant and agree that you will not:
• do anything that could disable, overburden or impair the proper working of TheePenpal.com;
• use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access TheePenpal.com;
• send spam or any other unauthorized advertisements or solicitations through or using TheePenpal.com;
• harvest, collect or use addresses, phone numbers or email addresses or other contact information (collectively “Contact Information”) of users of TheePenpal.com without consent from such users;
• solicit private information (including social security numbers, credit card numbers and passwords) from users of TheePenpal.com;
• provide any false personal information in your profile, create more than one profile, transfer your profile, create a profile for anyone other than yourself except in cases of placing a profile for an inmate or create a page without authorization;
• use your profile (as opposed to a Page) for any commercial purpose;
• intimidate or harass any user;
• do anything that is illegal, infringing, fraudulent, malicious or could expose TheePenpal.com or TheePenpal.com users to harm or liability; or
• attempt, encourage or facilitate any of the above.
Termination & Changes
We may terminate your account on TheePenpal.com, delete your profile and any User Content you have posted on or through TheePenpal.com, and/or prohibit you from using or accessing TheePenpal.com (or any portion thereof) for any or no reason, at any time at our sole discretion, with or without notice. Further, we reserve the right to change any aspect or feature of TheePenpal.com at any time without notice. The following sections will survive any termination of your use of TheePenpal.com: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to TheePenpal.com, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.
Unsolicited Inmate Mail
Inmates receiving legitimate mail is our primary objective. However, this does not include ‘spam’ mail from other services. This website is designed to connect prisoners with people on the outside where both parties seek friendship or the desire to pursue a relationship. This website also provides a way for people on the outside to assist with prisoners’ legal and employment matters. Should you send unsolicited mail (‘spam’) to the prisoners on this site, you confirm that you are 1) breaking the law, and 2) hindering what might be a tenuous relationship between the prisoners and their wardens. Prison mailrooms handle large quantities of legitimate mail; most ‘spam’ mail is returned to the sender and classified as “not allowed.” If you are in possession of helpful information to share with inmates, please contact us first. We may be willing to include it in our newsletter or our resource directory. If you violate this portion of our Terms, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and restitution will be sought.
User Content
By using or accessing TheePenpal.com, you represent, warrant and agree that you will not post:
• User Content that violates the law or anyone’s rights, including intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights (such as rights of publicity and privacy);
• any Contact Information or private information of any third party;
• false, misleading or fraudulent information;
• any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer or telecommunications equipment;
• User Content that is threatening, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or that depicts nudity, pornography or graphic or gratuitous violence, or anything else that we may consider offensive.
TheePenpal.com does not pre-screen, review, edit or approve any User Content except where otherwise noted. TheePenpal.com may, at its sole discretion, remove or disable access to any User Content.
“User Content” means any photos, text, link, audio, video, designs, ads and anything else that you Post on or through TheePenpal.com. “Post” means to upload, post, transmit, share, store, link to or otherwise make available on or through TheePenpal.com.
TheePenpal.com Credits and Debits (or WAP Gift Credits)
You must be authorized to use the credit card, debit card or other payment source (“Card”) you provide to purchase gift credits. By purchasing gift credits, you authorize TheePenpal.com or its designated payment processor to charge the purchase amount (plus any applicable tax) to your Card. By providing your Card account information to TheePenpal.com, you authorize us to collect and store it and other related transaction information.
Your Privacy Practices
If you collect, access or use information relating to any user of TheePenpal.com (including information contained in any user profile) you must obtain consent from the user and make it clear to the user that the collection, access and use is being carried out by you and not TheePenpal.com.
TheePenpal.com Terms of Service Resources:
If you have additional questions/concerns, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.theepenpal.com/faqs
Report abuse of our Terms of Service:
By Email: info@theepenpal.com
Contact Form: http://www.theepenpal.com/contact-us
By Postal Mail:
Thee PenPal
Attn:Terms of Service Abuse
P.O. Box 500127
Atlanta, GA 31150 USA