Google SMS Channels: Terms of Service

By using Google SMS Channels (referred to below as the "Service") and any data or information accessed from the Service, you agree to be bound by the Google Terms of Service (including without limitation all disclaimers, exclusion of warranties and limitations of liability contained therein) and the Google's Mobile Privacy Policy, and the additional terms and conditions set forth below. These terms, taken together, are referred to as "the Agreement" below.

Service
The service envisages two parties, namely, the publishers who create a channel ("Channel") and provide content and information through such Channels ("Publishers") and the subscribers who can subscribe to the channels created by Publishers, according to their interests ("Subscribers"). Publishers can post data, text, information, links and other content (collectively "Messages") on the Channels created by them.

The Service is intended to provide a means for Publishers to reach out to Subscribers of their Channel and to share certain information and content with such Subscribers. There are certain types of information that are not suitable for submission, and will not be accepted in the Service, as described below.

Subscribing to the Service
The service works on the Opt-in and Opt-out model.

Both Publishers and Subscribers, can sign up by following any one of the following approaches:

1. by visiting the site http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/ and accepting these online Terms of Service.
2. by sending us an SMS at 9870807070, we will then send you a link to the site, where these Terms can be accessed. Publishers by posting content on the Channel created by them, and Subscribers by entering their mobile number and subscribing to a particular Channel would have agreed to comply with these Terms.

In addition, Subscribers can also sign up by visiting the site http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/ and registering their mobile number. At the time of registering their mobile number they will be asked to accept these Terms.

Subscribers acknowledge and agree that they are voluntarily subscribing to the Channel of their choice by registering their mobile phone number on the site and that any Message received by them on their registered number will not constitute an unsolicited commercial communication irrespective of their having signed upto any Do Not Call Registry.

Once Publishers sign into the Service, a link to their Channel will be added to the web front http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/. Subscribers will be able to join the service by clicking on that link and entering their mobile number.

Publishers acknowledge and agree that the mobile numbers of the Subscribers will be retained by Google and at no point in time will the mobile numbers of Subscribers be shared with the Publisher.

We do not charge any fees from the Subscribers or Publishers for joining the service, but carrier rates for phone, data and text messaging may apply.

You may, at any time, opt-out by discontinuing your subscription to any Channel.

Google retains the right to place advertisements from its various partners and customers, with the Messages made available through the Channels and you hereby expressly agree and acknowledge that you have no objection to such placement of advertisements by Google. Google agrees to provide such Publishers who are entities as opposed to individuals, the option to opt out of the placement of advertisements on their channels by writing into smschannels.support@google.com.

Data Sharing through subscription to the Channels
When you join the Service, we will only ask for your mobile number, name of your city and state and no other detail or personal information. Your personal information will be treated in accordance with Google's Mobile Privacy Policy

We will retain your mobile number in our records to be able to send Messages from the Publishers of the Channels to which you have subscribed. You hereby give your consent to Google to store your cell numbers in order to provide the SMS Channels service to you.

Google will not share the mobile number of Subscribers with the Publisher whose Channel you chose to Subscribe to, except in the case of private channels in which case we will only disclose the last four (4) digits of your mobile number to the publisher of that channel to enable him to manage and control the subscriptions to his channel. We may share only aggregated information with the Publishers namely the total number of users that have subscribed to their Channel and the total number of Messages forwarded to the Subscribers.

However, we would like Subscribers to be cautious of the fact that the Publishers may ask you to respond to their Message or seek some personal information such as your mobile phone number and you must familiarize yourself with the privacy policy and terms of service of the Publisher before sharing your personal information with them. In case you respond to their request, you agree and acknowledge that Google will not be responsible for the manner in which your personal information is dealt with or used by such third parties. You understand and acknowledge that Google has no control over the business activities or practices of such third parties. You hereby expressly agree to absolve Google from all liability arising from the acts of the third parties whose Channel you had subscribed to.

Representations and Warranties
You represent and warrant that you have full power, capacity and authority to accept these Terms; that you own and/or have obtained the necessary legal rights to all content that you provide to Subscribers through your Channels (including but not limited to logos or images that you supply for Google to create links to your Channels); and that the Channel or Message shall not contain any content that violates these Terms of Service.

Submission of content
When Publishers sign into the Service, they may submit Messages to be communicated to the Subscribers of their Channel, in any one of the following ways:

1. by sending an sms with the desired Message to us at 9870807070
2. by entering the desired Message in the box provided at http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/
3. by allowing us to pick up the Message as an RSS feed

By adding your Channel to the Service, you direct and authorize Google and its affiliates to host, link to, and otherwise incorporate your Channel into the Services.

The Message provided by you will be communicated to the Subscribers of your Channel, as per their individual preference.

Publishers may allow Subscribers to post Messages through their Channels, in which case it will be transmitted to all the Subscribers of the Channel, and in such event a Subscriber will be bound by all obligations as are specifically applicable to Publishers, insofar as posting of Messages is concerned.

Google claims no ownership over the Channel or Messages (e.g., logos, text, feeds, images) provided to be used with the Services. You retain copyright and any other rights, including all intellectual property rights, in the Channel or Message. You agree that you are responsible for protecting and enforcing those rights and that Google has no obligation to do so on your behalf. By submitting Message to the Service, you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to incorporate, reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display, distribute, and create derivative works of and otherwise use your Message in conjunction with the SMS Channels Service. You also grant to end users of Google services the right to access and use the Messages as permitted under the applicable Google terms of service. This license granted to Google will expire upon termination of the Services by either side, however the Publisher understands and accepts that the Messages may be retained at the backend by Google and that Google does not have any control over the Messages that have been transmitted to the Subscribers of the Channels.

You acknowledge that Google has set no fixed upper limit on the number of transmissions you may send or receive through the Service 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.

Ability of owners to add co-owners and to moderate user posts
Owners of a channel can opt to add additional owners to manage the channel created by them, who can be removed at anytime. Once additional owners have been added to the channel, such additional owners will be treated as co-owners with similar rights as the initial channel owner, including the right to add further owners or delete existing ones. The owner can delete or mark any post made to the channel as spam, in which case the post will stand deleted from the web view, but please note that the post may have been published to the subscribers of the channel before it was deleted or marked as spam. The owner can permit posting of messages to his channel – by any subscriber of the channel or by anyone or by anyone but subject to moderation, in which case the message will not be published to other subscribers of the channel till it has been approved by the channel owner or anyone of the co-owners, as the case may be.

Your obligations: Appropriate Conduct and Prohibited Actions
Publishers and those Subscribers as are permitted by Publishers of a Channel to post content through their Channels, are solely responsible for their Messages and the consequences of posting or publishing them. You agree to use the Service only for purposes that are legal, proper and in accordance with this Agreement. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using the Service, 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, transmit or otherwise make available the name, address, phone number or email address of any individual, where that information was not made publicly available by that individual or business;
• upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any inappropriate, defamatory, infringing, obscene, or unlawful Message;
• upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any content (including Channel name, logos, or any other insignia used to identify your Channel) that is protected by any copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or other proprietary right of any other party, unless you are the owner of the rights or have the legal permission of the owner to post such content;
• upload, post, email or transmit or otherwise make available "spam", including 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;
• 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 the Service;
• use the Service for any illegal or unauthorized purpose;
• remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices contained in or on the Service;
• interfere with or disrupt Google services or servers or networks connected to Google services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to Google services, including the Service;
• use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other device to retrieve or index any portion of Google services, including the Service, or collect information about users for any unauthorized purpose;
• submit content that falsely expresses or implies that such content is sponsored or endorsed by Google;
• 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.

While Google prohibits the conduct and content described above, you understand and agree that Google may or may not pre-screen Messages and other content and shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse or remove any Message or Channel from the Service. If Google discovers or is informed of a Message that does not appear to conform to the Terms of Service, Google may investigate and determine in good faith and in its sole discretion whether to remove such Messages. Google will have no liability or responsibility for performance or non-performance of such activities or for the delivery or non-delivery of any message to the subscribers of your channel.

You agree to resolve directly and exclusively with third parties any disputes you may have about Messages that they posted or you may contact the Publisher of the Channel to request a removal. In this regard, you understand that Google does not monitor or control the content of information posted by others, and instead simply provides a service by allowing users to access information that has been made available.

Your Messages must not contain content that might mislead a Subscriber into believing that the Subscriber is interacting directly with Google when interacting with you or your organization. You understand and agree that you will not state or imply that your Channel or Message is created or endorsed by Google, nor design it in such a way to imply such creation or endorsement.

Google has the right at any time to request that you delete all Subscriber data in your possession or control, and you agree that you will promptly comply with any such request.

Content on the Service
You acknowledge and agree that Google and its licensors (including the Publishers who own the individual Channels) own all legal right, title and interest in and to the Service http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/ and the individual Channels available on the site. Google and its affiliates and licensors own and retain all rights in the Service, which contains proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. Except as expressly authorized by Google, you may not copy, modify, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display or sell any of Google's proprietary information.

Unless you have agreed otherwise in writing with Google, nothing in these Terms gives you a right to use any of Google's trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features. If you have been given an explicit right to use any of these brand features in a separate written agreement with Google, then you agree that your use of such features shall be in compliance with that agreement and with Google's brand feature use guidelines as updated from time to time. These guidelines can be viewed online here.

Unless Subscribers have agreed otherwise in writing with the Publishers who own the individual Channels, nothing in these Terms gives, the Subscribers a right to use the Publisher?s trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features. You further undertake to use the Message received from the Publishers for your personal, non-commercial use unless expressly agreed to by the Publisher.

Copyright and trade mark policies
It is Google’s policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable international intellectual property law (including, in the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and to terminating the accounts of repeat infringers. Details of Google’s policy can be found at http://www.google.com/dmca.html. Google operates a trade mark complaints procedure in respect of Google’s advertising business, details of which can be found at http://www.google.com/tm_complaint.html.

Disclaimer
Google does not endorse any Message or any content expressed therein, and Google expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with Messages. Google does not permit copyright infringing activities and infringement of intellectual property rights through the Google services, and Google will remove all content and Messages if properly notified by any Subscriber or other applicable law that such content or Messages infringe a party?s intellectual property rights. In other words, you and not Google, are entirely responsible for all Messages that you publish, post, upload, distribute, disseminate or otherwise transmit through the Channels.

You acknowledge and agree that any content (including other Messages) made available or accessible through the Service is provided "as is," and you agree to use it at your own risk. Google makes no guarantee, representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, arising by law or otherwise, including but not limited to, content, quality, accuracy, completeness, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose, usefulness, or that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free. You understand that by using the service you may be exposed to Messages that may be offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will Google be liable in any way for any Messages, including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any Messages, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Messages posted via the Service. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Messages, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Messages.

Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Google and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, advertisers, syndication partners, API partners, strategic partners and users, from and against any third party claim or liability arising from or in any way related to (a) your use of Google services, including your upload of Messages to the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms of Service; or (c) any other action by you connected with the Google services; including in all cases above 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. Google will provide you with written notice of any claim or liability for which Google seeks indemnity.

Discontinuation of Idle Accounts
Google reserves the right to refuse or discontinue participation in the Services to you, and/or to disable Subscriber’s access to any Channel, at any time in its sole discretion with or without notice, including, if you fail to interact with SMS channels for a time period that is more than six (6) months, which would mean failure to log into the web page http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/ through your account or to send any message to the SMS channels owned or subscribed by you. If your account is found to fall in this category, you will receive an alert indicating that your account has been idle and you will be asked to respond with an SMS or visit the web page, within a time period as specified in the alert message, failing which, you will cease to receive any more posts to the channels subscribed by you. You can activate the account at any time by simply logging in to the SMS Channels page or by replying with an SMS "ACTV". Once you activate your account, you will continue to receive messages as usual. If you do not activate the account within the time period as specified in the alert message your account will be deactivated. Once your account is deactivated, you will lose access to all subscriptions. If you own any channel, the channel can continue to be used by other subscribers (based on channel permissions set by you), but no one will be able to modify the channel. Our proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, indemnities, limitations of liability and miscellaneous provisions shall survive any such deactivation.

Termination of Services
You acknowledge and agree that the form and nature of the Services may change from time to time without prior notice to you. As part of this continuing innovation, you acknowledge and agree that Google may stop providing the Services generally or these Services to you specifically at Google's sole discretion, without prior notice to you. Google reserves the right to terminate your membership as a Publisher for any violation of these Terms without giving any notice to you. Our proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, indemnities, limitations of liability and miscellaneous provisions shall survive any such termination.

Customer Service
Google does not take the responsibility for providing any customer service for Publishers' Channel, and in case Publishers are interested in providing such service, then they agree to provide Google with an email address to which we can direct inquiries from Subscribers regarding the functionality of the Channel. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for responding to such inquiries and for providing all necessary support to Subscribers related to such inquiries.

Changes to the Terms
Google may make changes to these Terms from time to time with or without notice. When these changes are made, any new terms will be made available to you at http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/termsofuse. You understand and agree that if you use the Services after the date on which these Terms have changed, Google will treat your use as acceptance of the updated terms.

Miscellaneous Provisions
These Terms will not be assignable or transferable by you without Google's prior written consent.

If any court of law, having the jurisdiction to decide on this matter, rules that any provision of these Terms is invalid, then the remaining provisions of these Terms will continue in full force and effect.

You acknowledge and agree that each member of the group of companies of which Google is the parent shall be third party beneficiaries to these Terms and that such subsidiaries shall be entitled to directly enforce, and rely upon, any provision of the Terms which confers a benefit on or rights in favor of Google. Other than this, no other person or company shall be third party beneficiaries of the Terms.

Any waiver of any provision of these Terms will be effective only if in writing and signed by Google.

These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. You and Google agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Santa Clara, California to resolve any legal matter arising from the Terms. Notwithstanding this, you agree that Google shall still be allowed to apply for injunctive remedies (or an equivalent type of urgent legal relief) in any jurisdiction.

These Terms, together with the various policies and other Google documents referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede and replace all prior or contemporaneous understanding or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter.

November, 2010