Bluelight User Agreement

Please read these terms and conditions carefully. They are the terms of use for the Bluelight website (www.bluelight.org)

Introduction

1. Application of Terms: This Bluelight User Agreement, as updated from time to time (the "Terms") applies to your access to and use of the Bluelight website (www.bluelight.org), widgets, application programming interfaces, and any other online products or services including your creation of a Bluelight user account ("Account") on the Bluelight website (collectively, the "Services") provided by Bluelight Communities Ltd ("Bluelight", "we", "us", or "our"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you do not have permission to access the contents of the Bluelight website and may not access or use our information services offered on this website.

2. Third party or Off Site platforms: If you would like to participate in the Bluelight community on Discord, Telegram or Reddit, then you need to create an account on those platforms and follow the rules of those platforms including complying with the terms and conditions of use of those services. You must also follow the community rules specific to the Bluelight group on Discord, Telegram or Reddit.

3. Compliance with third party platform terms and conditions: Nothing in these Terms is intended to override or supersede the rules and terms and conditions of the Discord, Telegram or Reddit or similar third party platforms. You are responsible for your compliance with the terms and conditions of use of those third party platforms and Bluelight owes no liability to you for your use of, or access to those third party platforms.

Your Account and Accessing the Services

4. Responsibility for your Account: You are solely responsible for the information associated with your Account and any content posted from your Account. You must maintain the security of your Account and immediately notify Bluelight if you discover or suspect that someone has accessed your Account without your permission. We recommend that you use a strong password that is used only with your Account and not share it with anyone else. We also recommend that you set up two-factor authentication to further secure your account.

5. Rules for accessing Services: These are the rules for accessing the Services:

1. The minimum age to use the Services is set forth by the laws of the respective country (and as applicable, state, region, territory, or other locality) where you access and use the Services ("Minimum Age"). If you are accessing the Services within Australia, you must be 18 years of age or older to access the Services (including creating an Account).
2. You may not create an Account if you have been permanently suspended or banned from the Bluelight forums.
3. You are accepting these terms only on your own behalf, and not on behalf of any business or government entity. You are solely responsible for complying with the Terms.
4. You must not create multiple accounts, or impersonate a person or organization with your Account.
5. Creating an Account does not make you a member or associate of Bluelight, and you must not claim to be an official representative of Bluelight.

6. Acknowledgement: By using the Services, you acknowledge and accept that at all times while using the Services that:

1. you are at or over the Minimum Age required to access and use the Services, or your legal guardian has reviewed and agrees to these Terms and your use of the Services;
2. you are of sound mind to form a binding contract with Bluelight, or your legal guardian has reviewed and agrees to these Terms and your use of the Services;
3. you are not prohibited from using the Services under the applicable laws of the jurisdiction where you are located;
4. you have not previously been permanently suspended or banned from the Services;
5. the Services are not a substitute for a licensed mental health, medical, or psychological professional. You accept and acknowledge that Bluelight and any users on the Bluelight forums are not providing you with medical advice. Any information received during your use of the Services is not medical advice and should not be construed as such or substituted for that of a qualified medical professional;
6. it is your sole responsibility to comply with these Terms. Bluelight operates a community forum and while it shall make best efforts to ensure it provides a safe space for users, you, as the user, are solely responsible for your experience related to the Services;
7. you agree not to use our Services - or any information provided to you by volunteers, Bluelight personnel, other Bluelight sources of information, users, bots, or AI - as a source of medical advice;
8. Bluelight is not responsible for user generated content, or links to external sites or content posted on our forums. The views expressed in user generated content is only an expression of the views of the author, not of Bluelight; and
9. we do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of information that you may receive on the Bluelight website or forums.

7. Use of the website and forums: You must not:

1. use the website's text, graphics or code, or content posted on the forums, for your own commercial purposes;
2. use the website or forums to harm children in any way, including without limitation, commission of offences in relation to grooming of children online under the Commonwealth of Australia or State laws or under any similar laws in any other jurisdiction;
3. impersonate any other person or entity, falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation or relationship with any person or entity; or
4. license, sell, or transfer your Account without Bluelight's prior written approval, which may be withheld in its sole discretion.

Materials and Content

8. Materials: The Services are owned and operated by Bluelight. The visual interfaces, graphics, design, compilation, information, data, computer code, products, services, trademarks, and all other elements of the Services ("Materials") provided by Bluelight are protected by intellectual property and other applicable laws. All Materials included in the Services are the property of Bluelight or its third-party licensors. You acknowledge and agree that you shall not acquire any ownership rights whatsoever by downloading or copying Materials. Except as expressly authorized by Bluelight in writing, and subject to these Terms, you may not make use of the Materials. Bluelight reserves all rights to the Materials not granted expressly in these Terms.

9. Content: All content you submit, upload, or otherwise make available to the Service ("Content") may be reviewed by Bluelight. All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including, but not limited to, spam prevention services). Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential. We take no responsibility for, and we do not expressly or implicitly endorse, support, or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any Content. By submitting Content to the Services, you represent and warrant that you have all rights, power, and authority necessary to grant the rights to Content contained within these Terms. Because you alone are responsible for Content, you may expose yourself to liability if you post or share Content without all necessary rights, including copyright.

10. Ownership of Content: You retain any ownership rights you have in Content, but you grant Bluelight an unlimited, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable, and sublicensable license to use, copy, re-publish, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works of, distribute, store, perform, and display Content and any name, username, voice, or likeness provided in connection with Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed anywhere in the world, in connection with the Services. This license includes, but is not limited to, the right for us to make Content available for syndication, broadcast, distribution, or publication by other companies, organizations, or individuals who partner with Bluelight. You also agree that we may remove metadata associated with Content, and you irrevocably waive any claims and assertions of moral rights or attribution with respect to Content.

11. Warranty in relation to Content: You certify and warrant that Content and submitted materials:

1. are your original works or that the owner of such works has expressly granted to Bluelight a similar license for said works, in writing, with all of the rights granted by you in this paragraph; and
2. do not violate and will not violate the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, any right of publicity, right of privacy, copyright, patent or other intellectual property right or any proprietary right.

12. Photographs: If you have submitted a photo for display in your profile or by your username:

1. you agree that this photo may be included on the Services or, if you have not submitted a photo, then Bluelight may, but is not obligated to, display a stock photo or legal image;
2. you hereby consent to the use of such stock photos or images; and
3. you agree that you shall have no recourse against the Bluelight Entities (defined below) for any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary or other right in uploaded Content or submitted materials.

13. Feedback: Any ideas, suggestions, and feedback about Bluelight or the Services that you provide to us are entirely voluntary, and you agree that Bluelight may use such ideas, suggestions, and feedback, in its sole discretion, without compensation or other obligation to you.

14. Compliance with laws relating to the sale or supply of drugs: While Bluelight provides a safe space to discuss the use of drugs which may be illegal in your country, state or territory, you must not offer to illegally sell or supply drugs to other users, advise or recommend where users can illegally buy or obtain drugs, or ask other users for information on advice on illegally buying or obtaining drugs.

15. Removal of Content: Although we have no obligation to screen, edit, or monitor Content, we may, in our sole discretion, delete or remove Content at any time and for any reason, including, without limitation, for violating these Terms. Notwithstanding the limitations of liability in these Terms, we may also delete or remove Content if you create, are likely to create, or increase the likelihood of liability for us, as determined in our sole discretion. Bluelight may, but is not required to, take reasonable steps to remove Content pursuant to a request from you; but Bluelight has sole discretion on whether to do so. Individuals associated with Bluelight, including Moderators, do not have the authority to make promises to remove Content; and you agree that you shall not rely on any such purported promises.

Moderation

16. Moderators: We have appointed Moderators to enforce these rules. You agree to follow the directions of our Moderators when posting on our forums. To enforce these Terms, we may take action such as removing content from the forums or suspending or banning your Account. If you believe we have made a mistake, please contact [email protected].

17. Contacting the Moderators: If you see Content violating these Terms, please use the appropriate reporting function to notify the Moderators or email [email protected] (try to be as clear and detailed as possible when explaining the nature of the problem). We also support the responsible reporting of security vulnerabilities. To report a security issue, please email [email protected].

Our Services

18. Availability: We provide the website and forums for you to use. While we make reasonable efforts to keep the website and forums online, we provide you with these Services 'as-is' and do not make any promises about their quality or reliability.

19. Responsibility for Content: While our Moderators moderate the forums, we cannot guarantee that our Moderators will find and remove all Content which breaches these Terms. You agree to recognize that all Moderators on the Services are Volunteers and are protected from liability by any and all applicable laws within Australia, or the national and local jurisdictions where you are accessing the Services, including, but not limited to, the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 if you are accessing the Services from the United States.

20. Changes to services: We are always improving our Services. This means we may add or remove features, products, or functionalities from time to time. We will try to notify you beforehand, but doing so will not always be possible. Any future release, update, or other change to functionality of the Services will be subject to these Terms, as may be updated from time to time. You agree that Bluelight will not be liable to you for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Services in whole or in part.

21. Disclaimer: In no event will Bluelight, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees, volunteers, Moderators and agents ("Bluelight Entities") be liable to you for any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental, special or punitive damages, or lost profits arising from or relating to these Terms or the Services, including those arising from or relating to Content made available on the Services that is alleged to be defamatory, offensive or illegal. Access to, and use of, the Services is at your own discretion and risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your device or computer system, or resulting loss of data. In no event will the aggregate liability of the Bluelight Entities exceed one hundred AUS dollars ($100). The limitations of this section will apply to any theory of liability, including but not limited to, those based on warranty, contract, statute, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise.

22. Third-Party Content and Advertisements: The Services may contain (a) links to third-party websites, products, or services, which may be posted by advertisers, our affiliates, collaborators, Volunteers, or personnel (unless expressly stated that it is on behalf of Bluelight), or other users, or (b) content created by researchers or chatbots (collectively "Third-Party Content"). Third-Party Content is not under our control, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Content, including but not limited to, websites, products, services, or other content. Your use of Third-Party Content is at your own risk and you should make any investigation you feel necessary before proceeding with any transaction in connection with such Third-Party Content. The Bluelight Entities do not take responsibility for any Third-Party Content; for questions related to Third-Party Content, please reach out to us or directly to the relevant third-party. The Services may also contain sponsored Third-Party Content or advertisements. The type, degree, and targeting of advertisements are subject to change, and you acknowledge and agree that we may place advertisements in connection with the display of any Content or information on the Services, including Your Content.

23. Articles: You acknowledge that all articles posted on the Services are written by third parties and that Bluelight disclaims all representations made by third-party authors of articles.

Limitations on Use

24. Rules in relation to use: Rules have been established to protect Bluelight and its members against abuse. When using or accessing the Services, you must comply with these Terms and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Unlawful use of Bluelight's Services is strictly prohibited. In addition to other restrictions set forth herein, you may not do any of the following:

1. Use the Services in any manner that could interfere with, disable, disrupt, overburden, or otherwise impair the Services;
2. Gain access to (or attempt to gain access to) another user's Account or any non-public portions of the Services, including the computer systems or networks connected to or used together with the Services;
3. Upload, transmit, or distribute to or through the Services any viruses, worms, malicious code, or other software intended to interfere with the Services, including its security-related features;
4. Use the Services to violate applicable law or infringe any person's or entity's intellectual property rights or any other proprietary rights;
5. Access, search, or collect data from the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) except as permitted in these Terms or in a separate agreement with Bluelight (scraping the Services without Bluelight's prior written consent is prohibited);
6. Use the Services in any manner that we reasonably believe to be an abuse of or fraud on Bluelight;
7. Use Bluelight in any way, shape or form for unlawful purposes, including, without limitation:
   1. attempting to solicit, obtain sell or supply contraband substances or substances of a quasi-legal status or requesting information on how to do so;
   2. posting or exchanging any information on ongoing or future criminal activity, any information which can be construed as discussing such activity or actively encouraging others to engage in criminal activities;
   3. ask for advice or methods for evading or defeating, workplace, or any other type of drug tests;
   4. use ineffective self-incrimination avoidance terms. Terms include but are not limited to: SWIM; my dog; etc.
8. Register multiple accounts ("alts/alter egos");
9. Use a vendor name as your Bluelight username;
10. Act as an official representative of Bluelight;
11. Associate a third-party website with Bluelight without authorization;
12. Interfere with service to any user or host including, without limitation, mail-bombing, flooding, and attempting to deliberately overload the system;
13. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to data, accounts or systems of this site, or probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system of this site;
14. Disseminate in any way, content originally posted in any Volunteer-only or Staff-only area of the site;
15. Use Bluelight to spread unsolicited bulk mail (UBE) or post advertisements without prior consent from an administrator;
16. Use other Internet sites to promote libelous or slanderous messages about Bluelight or incite abuse against Bluelight;
17. Use Bluelight to solicit members to third-party sites;
18. Use the Content for unapproved commercial exploitation;
19. Decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, license, sublicense, share, assign, distribute, host, or create derivative works from the Services or the Content;
20. Use any network monitoring or discovery software or access the Services or Content to determine the site architecture, to build a similar or competitive website, product, or service, or to extract information about usage or users;
21. Use any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to monitor or copy the Services or the Content without prior written permission from Bluelight;
22. Use the Services to transmit any false, misleading, fraudulent or illegal communications;
23. Copy, modify, reproduce, republish, distribute, display, or transmit for commercial, non-profit or public purposes all or any portion of the Services, except to the extent permitted above;
24. Use or otherwise export or re-export the Services or any portion thereof, the content or any software available on or through the Services in violation of the export control laws and regulations of Australia, or the national and local jurisdiction for where you are physically located when using the Services;
25. Use the Services or their content in any manner that may infringe any copyright, intellectual property right, proprietary right, or property right of Bluelight or any third parties or violate the laws or regulations of Australia, or the national and local jurisdiction for where you are physically located; or
26. Anything else that would reasonably be considered unauthorized use of the Services or its content.

25. Nature of Content: You agree that you must not post or otherwise include Content, or links to content, which:

1. is defamatory, deceptive, fraudulent, tortious, inaccurate, abusive, hateful, menacing, scandalous, inflammatory or threatening;
2. victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or any other reason;
3. is spam or spam-like;
4. is likely to offend;
5. contains violent, abusive, pornographic or sexually-explicit material;
6. contains the confidential information of others or otherwise invasive of another's privacy;
7. violates the rules of the specific sub-forum or forum on which it is posted; or
8. encourages harm.

26. Infringing Content: Bluelight respects the intellectual property of others and requires that users of our Services do the same. Our Terms include the removal of any infringing material from the Services and for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of users of our Services who are repeat infringers. If you believe that anything on our Services infringes a copyright or a trademark that you own or control, you may notify Bluelight by contacting [email protected].

27. Request for removal: If you are participating in the Services while located within the U.S., you must provide us with the following information when requesting us to remove anything from the Services. Such a request must be made through an official correspondence and sent to [email protected]:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as a name, address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A notarized statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

28. Bluelight rights: Bluelight reserves the right:

1. to publish, edit, delete or restore contributed Content as it sees fit;
2. to discuss the content of private messages sent to them with any and all personnel of Bluelight for the purposes of community management;
3. to edit any user profile at any time for any reason;
4. remove any Content from its sites which Bluelight, in its sole discretion, determines to be harmful, offensive, or otherwise in violation of these Terms;
5. in case of suspected violation of policies or if required to by Court order or otherwise by law, perform selective electronic monitoring of any traffic through its systems; and
6. if Bluelight receives a Court order with a properly authorized request, provide any stored information to law enforcement officials or regulatory agencies or authorities.

Other Legal Matters

29. Privacy: To create an account, you will need to provide us with an active email address, username and password of your choosing. Bluelight's Privacy Policy explains why and how we collect, use, and share your information when you access or use the Services. By creating an Account, you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy. We will protect your personal information in accordance with the Policy. However, we may disclose the information we have about you if we are required by law to do so, or if we believe that there is an emergency and we need to disclose the information to protect you or another person.

30. Indemnity: Except to the extent prohibited by law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold Bluelight, Entities (defined above) harmless from and against any claim or demand made by any third party, and any related liability, damage, loss and expense arising in out of, or in connection with:

1. your use of the Services;
2. your breach of these Terms;
3. your breach of applicable laws or regulations of Australia or the jurisdictions in which you are located and/or accessing the Services; and
4. Content.

Bluelight Entities reserve the right to control the defense of any matter for which you are required to indemnify the Bluelight Entities, and you agree to fully cooperate with the Bluelight Entities defense of these claims.

31. Liability: To the extent allowed by law, Bluelight and its directors, volunteers, or any other person associated with Bluelight are not liable for any loss or damage, however caused (including through negligence), which you may directly or indirectly suffer in connection with your use of the Bluelight website or forums. Nor do we accept any responsibility for any such loss arising out of your use of, or reliance on information contained on or accessed through the Bluelight website.

32. Jurisdiction: Unless a law requires otherwise, this Agreement is governed by the laws and the courts of the state of Victoria, Australia, and you and Bluelight consent to the jurisdiction of the courts in the State of Victoria, Australia for any legal dispute.

33. Disputes: We want you to enjoy and benefit from our Services, so if you have an issue or dispute, you agree to raise it and try to resolve it with us informally. You can contact us with feedback and concerns by emailing [email protected].

34. Changes to this Agreement: We may make changes to this Agreement without notice from time to time. If we believe that these changes materially affect your rights under this Agreement or your use of Bluelight platforms, we will give reasonable notice by sending an email to the email address associated with your Account. By continuing to access or use the Services on or after the changes take effect, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms.

35. Additional terms: Because we offer a variety of Services, you may be asked to agree to additional terms, policies, guidelines, or rules before using a specific product or service offered by Bluelight (collectively, "Additional Terms"). All Additional Terms are incorporated by this reference into, and made a part of, these Terms, and to the extent any Additional Terms conflict with these Terms, the Additional Terms govern with respect to your use of the corresponding Services. If you participate in any portion of the Services that is subject to Additional Terms, you also agree to those Additional Terms by agreeing to these Terms.

36. Termination: You may terminate these Terms at any time and for any reason by deactivating your Account and discontinuing use of all Services. If you stop using the Services without deactivating your Account ("Abandoned Account"), your Account may be subject to deactivation due to prolonged inactivity; Bluelight reserves the sole right to make the determination that your account has been abandoned. Account deactivation does not remove posts associated with that account; instead, your username is replaced by a random account username and your profile is deleted.

37. Deactivated or Abandoned Accounts: Bluelight reserves the sole right to delete any and all data associated with a deactivated or an Abandoned Account including, but not limited to: (1) any posts made by the user; (2) any blog entries made by the user; and (3) profile information entered by the user. For the avoidance of doubt, this applies even when deletion is requested by a user.

38. General right to suspend or terminate: To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we may suspend or terminate your Account, Moderator status, or ability to access or use the Services (in whole or in part) at any time for any or no reason, including, but not limited to, for violating these Terms. You agree that Bluelight will not be liable to you for any suspension, discontinuation or termination of the Services (in whole or in part).

39. Enforceability: In the event that any provision of these Terms is determined to be void, invalid, unenforceable, or illegal, for whatever reason, by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision(s) shall be null and void; provided, however, that the remaining provisions of these Terms shall be unaffected thereby and shall continue to be valid and enforceable.

Miscellaneous

40. Entire agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other agreements expressly incorporated by reference into these Terms, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding your access to and use of the Services. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not operate as a waiver of such right or provision.

41. No assignment: You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without our consent. Bluelight may freely assign any of Bluelight's rights and obligations under these Terms.

42. Headings and interpretation: Headings are used in these Terms for reference only and will not be considered when interpreting these Terms. For purposes of these Terms: (a) the words "include," "includes," and "including" will be deemed to be followed by the words "without limitation;" (b) the words "such as," "for example," "e.g.," "including" and any derivatives of those words will mean by way of example and the items that follow these words will not be deemed an exhaustive list; and (c) the word "or" is used in the inclusive sense of "and/or" and the terms "or," "any," and "either" are not exclusive. You agree that no ambiguity will be construed against any party based on a claim that the party drafted the language.

43. Status of agreement: These Terms are a legally binding agreement between you and Bluelight. If you have any questions about these Terms or about closing your account, subject to the terms set forth herein, please contact [email protected].