The Machineguard Forum
Membership Terms and Conditions
Machineguard UK Limited ("Machineguard") was formed to enable proprietors of shops, licensed gaming premises and other business premises to collate and share information to facilitate the better management and control of such shops and premises. Machineguard collates and shares this information by various methods including the website at www.machineguarduk.com (the "Website").
The Machineguard Forum is an area of the Website which contains the latest information available to Machineguard about machine crime, protection and security. Access to the Forum is limited to MEMBERS ONLY. To become a member of the Forum you must agree to comply with the Terms and Conditions set out below which govern your access to and use of the Forum as well as their dealings generally with Machineguard. Any breach of these Terms and Conditions may, at Machineguard's discretion, result in membership cancellation.
1 Definitions
In these Terms and Conditions the following meanings apply:-
1.1 "Application Form" means the form on the Website that applicants for membership of the Forum must complete and submit to Machineguard;
1.2 "Content" means all material including data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials uploaded to the Forum;
1.3 "Contribution" means any material provided to Machineguard by Members for publication on the Forum;
1.4 "Exclusion Notice" means the notice contained in the Schedule below;
1.5 "Forum" means the Machineguard Forum in the Website;
1.6 "Members" means members of the Forum; and
1.7 "Website" means the Machineguard website, which includes the Forum, currently situated at www.machineguarduk.com.
2 Membership entitlement
2.1 Only the following types of individuals, partnerships, companies and other organisations are entitled to become members of the Forum, namely those who at the time of application and for so long as they wish to remain members of the Forum:
2.1.1 are members of the police or Scotland Yard;
2.1.2 are members of [industry body];
2.1.3 have a current licence to operate an amusement arcade or similar business;
2.1.4 operate gaming machines;
2.1.5 manufacture gaming machines.
2.2 In order to apply for membership of the Forum you must complete the Application Form, which requests the following information, and submit it to Machineguard:
· your name and residential address
· the name of the organisation for which you work and your job description
· the address of your organisation
· your personal land line telephone number (which must be registered with British Telecom)
· your organisation's land line telephone number (which must be registered with British Telecom)
· your current email address
· a brief description of the work undertaken by your organisation
· [whether your organisation is a member of [industry body]]
· the full name of the Manager or the Security Manager in your organisation
· full names, residential addresses and land line telephone numbers registered with British Telecom of a maximum of three individuals in your organisation who may be given knowledge of your username and password (required in order to access the Forum) together with their job descriptions.
2.3 Membership of the Forum is at Machineguard's discretion. Machineguard may request information in addition to that on the Application Form and/or documentation from you before deciding whether or not to grant you membership.
2.4 In consideration for being granted membership of the Forum, you agree to provide Machineguard with true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself and your organisation in the Application Form and at all other times including, without limitation, when providing Content.
2.5 If your application for membership is successful, Machineguard will send your an email confirming this. The email will contain your username and a unique password which you must use in order to access the Forum.
2.6 If Machineguard suspects that any information provided to it by you (whether in relation to membership details, postings to the Forum or otherwise) is untrue, inaccurate, incomplete or not current, Machineguard may (in its discretion) refuse to grant you membership or may suspend or terminate your membership.
3 Members' obligations
As a Member, you agree:
3.1 to notify Machineguard by email of any change to the information which you provided to Machineguard when applying for membership of the Forum or at any other time promptly and in any event within 14 days of such change;
3.2 not to provide your username or password to anyone other than the three individuals who you have notified to Machineguard in the Application Form and will ensure that no-one in your organisation, other than those three individuals, or outside your organisation is given access to the Forum;
3.3 to notify Machineguard within 7 days of any member of staff leaving your organisation's employment who had access to or knowledge of the user name and password to the Forum;
3.4 that Machineguard may use the contents of any correspondence to it from you for the purposes of promoting the Website and/or Machineguard's services generally, unless marked confidential by you.
3.5 to indemnify Machineguard in respect of any damages and costs it incurs as a result of any breach of these Terms and Conditions.
4 Obligations of Members operating gaming machines/amusement arcades
Members operating gaming machines/amusement arcades,
will:
4.1 where your organisation's premises use CCTV cameras, ensure that a notice is posted in a prominent place on such premises for members of the public, as well as members of the Member's organisation, to see, stating that CCTV cameras are being used for the purposes of the prevention and detection of crime on those premises;
4.2 issue all persons excluded from your premises with a completed Exclusion Notice and provide Machineguard with a copy of such Exclusion Notice within 7 days of it being issued;
4.3 not discriminate when issuing an Exclusion Notice between anyone on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic, or national origins, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief;
4.4 [provide Machineguard with a still photograph, if available, of the person excluded in accordance with clause 4.1 above taken from the company's CCTV or other such system;]
5 Machineguard's obligations
Machineguard will:
5.1 maintain the Forum;
5.2 provide each Member with a username and unique password for access to the Forum; and
5.3 ensure that the Content is available only to Members.
5.4 use reasonable endeavours to ensure the Website is continuously available, but gives no warranty that this will be the case.
6 Privacy policy
Details provided by you and certain other information about you is subject to Machineguard's privacy policy. Please click on the adjacent link to read this. [link to privacy policy].
7 Rules regarding Contributions
7.1 Contributions to the Forum are welcomed. They must be entered directly on to the Forum or sent to Machineguard by email at the following address: [info@machineguarduk.com].
7.2 You agree that you will not make any Contribution that:
7.2.1 is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libellous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
7.2.2 harms minors in any way;
7.2.3 impersonates any person or entity, falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity or disguises the origin of any content;
7.2.4 'stalks' or otherwise harasses another;
7.2.5 you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;
7.2.6 infringes any intellectual property or other rights of any party;
7.2.7 constitutes unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, promotional materials, 'junk mail', 'spam', 'chain letters', or any other form of solicitation;
7.2.8 contains computer viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware or telecommunications equipment; or
7.2.9 violates any applicable national or international laws or regulations.
7.3 In making Contributions, you agree to respect the privacy of others.
7.4 Machineguard has a complete discretion to refuse to publish on the Forum or to remove from the Forum, move or modify any Contributions without notice. You agree that if Machineguard does so you will make no complaint or claim against Machineguard whether by way of legal proceedings or otherwise.
7.5 You acknowledge that, whilst Machineguard makes all reasonable efforts to discourage the making of defamatory, obscene, blasphemous and otherwise unlawful Contributions and to remove such material from the Forum within a reasonable time of being informed of such material, it does not exercise editorial control over Contributions and does not accept any liability howsoever arising from the content of Contributions.
7.6 Contributions are the sole responsibility of the Member from or through which they originate. This means that you, and not Machineguard, are entirely responsible for all Contributions that you make.
8 Content
8.1 You acknowledge that Machineguard does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or reliability of the Content. Any and all reliance by you on the Content is at that your own risk.
8.2 You agree that under no circumstances will Machineguard be liable to you in any way in respect of any Content including, without limitation, any errors or omissions in any Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred by you as a result of your use of or reliance on any Content.
9 Licence
a. You grant to Machineguard a world-wide, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive licence (including the right to sub-license) to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display any Content (in whole or part) you upload, post or email Machineguard and/or to incorporate into such Content in other works in any form, media or technology now known or developed.
b. All intellectual property rights including, but not limited to, any patents, copyright, database rights, design rights, registered designs, trade marks or service marks, trade names or know how (whether registered or not) and all rights or forms of protection of a similar nature existing anywhere in the world in any information, content, materials, data or processes contained in or to the Website are owned by Machineguard UK Limited or its licensors. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions transfers to you any rights of ownership of any intellectual property or other rights or constitutes a licence to use any intellectual property or other rights unless expressly given by Machineguard. All rights of Machineguard or its licensors in such intellectual property rights are hereby reserved.
10 Sanctions
10.1
As soon as we are made aware of
activities that breach these Terms and Conditions [and/or our privacy policy],
prompt action will be taken. If you witness or become aware of such breaches
you must notify [Machineguard-UK Ltd, Riverside Business Centre,
10.2 On being made aware of any such breaches Machineguard may, in its discretion, take whatever action it deems necessary including, without limitation:
10.2.1 removing, modifying or moving any content;
10.2.2 sending a warning to you;
10.2.3 revoking your membership of the Forum, either temporarily or permanently, by for example altering or deleting your password and/or username;
10.2.4 reporting your activities to your internet service provider, your employer, relevant authorities, or to legal action being taken against you, or both; and
10.2.5 taking further legal action.
11 Termination
c. Membership of the Forum will be deemed to continue unless and until it is terminated by the Member or by Machineguard in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. The company (Member) shall have the right to cancel this agreement by giving not less than 90 days notice expiring on the anniversary of their renewal date. MachineGuard shall have the right to terminate this agreement by giving not less than 90 days notice expiring on the anniversary of the Members renewal date and forthwith if the company breaches any of these terms and conditions.
d. Membership of the Forum is renewed annually from the date on which a Member's application for membership was approved by Machineguard. Members will be sent an invoice prior to the end of each subscription year inviting them to subscribe for the next following year. Members wishing to renew their membership will be asked to submit their subscription fee to Machineguard by a specified date; where such fee is not received by the date indicated, their membership will be terminated.
11.1 Machineguard has the right to terminate any Member's membership of the Forum at any time by sending that Member an email, to the latest email address which the Member has provided to Machineguard, stating that the Member's membership has been terminated.
11.2 Members may terminate their membership of the Forum on ninety business days' (being Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays) notice by sending an email stating that they wish to terminate their membership to [info@machineguarduk.com]. Any fees already paid will be non refundable.
11.3
Where a Member's membership is suspended or terminated,
for whatever reason or where the member has failed to cancel their membership
within the agreed period (11c), any membership or subscription fees due must
be paid in full and any monies already paid by such Member shall be non-refundable
in whole or in part.
12 Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold Machineguard and its subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, officers, agents or partners harmless from and against any direct loss or damage (including consequential loss and loss of profits, goodwill or business opportunities) arising from any third party claim in relation to any Content, your use of or reliance on the Forum, or your breach of any of these Terms and Conditions.
13 No Partnership/Joint Venture
This agreement shall not constitute a partnership or a joint venture.
14 Invalidity
If any part of these terms and conditions is unenforceable (including any provision in which Machineguard excludes its liability to you) the enforceability of any other part of these conditions will not be affected.
15 Third Party Rights
Except for Machineguard's affiliates, directors, employees or representatives, a person who is not a party to this agreement has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This does not affect any right or remedy of a third party that exists or is available other than under that Act.
16 Entire Agreement
These Terms and Conditions, together with the Privacy Policy, set out the whole of the agreement between Members and Machineguard relating to the services available from Machineguard on the Website. Subject to paragraph 17 below, nothing said by any representative on Machineguard's behalf shall amount to a variation of these Terms and Conditions. Save in the case of fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, Machineguard shall not be liable for any such representation, whether untrue or misleading.
17 Force Majeure
Notwithstanding anything else contained in these Terms and Conditions, neither a Member or Machineguard shall be liable for any delay in performing its obligations hereunder if such delay is caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control including (but not limited to) any delay caused by the act or omission of another party, unauthorised access and/or uploaded of Content to the Website, acts of God, fire, flood, drought, explosion, theft, sabotage, embargo, riot, civil commotion, civil authority strikes or lock outs provided that either Machineguard or a Member may terminate such Member's membership without prejudice to any accrued liabilities of either party on notice to the other party if such event continues to prevent such performance for a period in excess of 30 days.
18 Changes to these Terms and Conditions
In order to keep pace with technological developments and the way in which the Forum and the Website develop, these Terms and Conditions may change from time to time. The Terms and Conditions as they appear on the website are the Terms and Conditions currently in force. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are familiar with the terms and conditions currently in force and you will be deemed by your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions to be bound by them in any amended form.
19 Governing Law
The contract between us shall be governed by
and interpreted in accordance with the law of