D&D Insider Now Available for Purchase (and New EULA)

Those of you who want to buy D&D Insider now have your chance to subscribe and get access to Dragon, Dungeon, bonus tools, and the Compendium (which I had more opportunities to work with over the weekend, and discovered a few issues in the content.) I’ll be purchasing mine later on in the evening, partially so we can continue to bring you coverage of 4e, and mostly because I want it.

However, the page does contain the magic acronym EULA (end-user license agreement) that you have to agree to for access to D&DI. Just glancing through quickly, I found some of the still-onerous language that upset many when Gleemax was launched. Additionally, there are still references to Gleemax in the text itself, making it a document that will likely change again. 

I’ve included the entire text of the EULA below the jump, for easy reference and picking apart. The one that immediately jumps out at me as worrisome:

Wizards reserves the right to charge fees for the Service, or any part thereof, and to change its fees from time to time in its discretion.

Member Terms of Service

Last Updated: October 8, 2007.

These Member Terms of Service (“Member Terms”) are a contract between you and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (“Wizards”), and apply to your registration for and use of products and services (collectively the “Service”) available to registered users or paying subscribers (“Members”) through the Wizards website (the “Site”), and supplement the Wizards Website Terms of Use applicable to the Site (“TOU”). In the event of a conflict between these Member Terms and the TOU, these Member Terms shall control. The purchase or use of certain products and services available through the Site by Members may also be subject to certain additional terms and conditions.

Unless stated otherwise, Wizards may change the Member Terms at any time and the changes will become effective upon the earlier of (i) your acceptance of the revised Member Terms when prompted to do so, such as by clicking an “Accept” button, or (ii) thirty (30) days after we provide written notice to you, such as by email (in either case, the “Effective Date”), however Wizards reserves the right to change the Member Terms effective immediately upon posting the revised Member Terms in the event Wizards determines it reasonably necessary for such change to be effective without delay. You can review the most current version of the Member Terms at http://www.wizards. com/tos.

Additional operating guidelines (“Guidelines”), such as the Code of Conduct, are posted from time to time on the Site and also apply to use of the Site, and you agree to use the Site in accordance with the Guidelines. Wizards may also offer certain other products and services on other websites (e.g., Magic: The Gathering Online) that are governed by different website terms of use or other agreements posted on such websites, in which case those agreements (and not these Member Terms) will govern your use of such products and services.

1.Member Accounts

a. Registration. You agree to (i) provide accurate, current and complete information about you as may be prompted by any registration forms for the Service (“Registration Data”); (ii) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data, and any other account-related information you provide to Wizards, to keep it accurate, current and complete; and (iii) accept all risks of unauthorized access to the Registration Data and any other information you provide to Wizards.

b. Password. When you sign up to become a Member, you will also be asked to choose a password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, and you agree to maintain the security of your password. You agree not to use the account, username, or password of another Member at any time, and agree to notify Wizards immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account or access to your password. You are solely responsible for any and all use of your account.

c. Eligibility. Membership in and use of the Service is void where prohibited. By registering as a Member and using the Service, you represent and warrant that (i) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (ii) you are thirteen (13) years of age or older unless you have parental or guardian consent as demonstrated by submitting to Wizards the appropriate paperwork available at http://forums.gleem ax.com/register.php ?do=coppaform; and (iii) your use of the Service does not violate, and you will not use the Service to facilitate the violation of, any applicable law or regulation, the TOS, or any Guidelines. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning if we believe that you are under thirteen (13) years of age and without parental/guardian permission. Please note that the purchase or use of certain products or services on the Site may specify different eligibility requirements, including higher minimum age requirements.

d. Term. Member accounts will continue until terminated or until these Member Terms are terminated.

e. Fees. Wizards reserves the right to charge fees for the Service, or any part thereof, and to change its fees from time to time in its discretion. If Wizards terminates your Membership because you have breached the TOU, these Member Terms, or any other applicable agreement between you and Wizards, you shall not be entitled to the refund of any unused portion of subscription or other fees.

f. Consent to Account Access. To ensure that Wizards can provide high-quality services that are responsive to Members’ needs, you understand that Wizards representatives will have access to your Member account and usage information, and authorize such representatives to review such account and usage information as reasonably needed to investigate complaints, to provide the Service to you, or for such other purposes as contemplated in our Privacy Statement.

2.User Content; Intellectual Property Ownership; Rights Granted to You

a. User Content

Except with respect to User Content (defined below) relating to those non-Wizards games that have an official Wizards.com webpage as set forth under Exception C under Section 3(b) of these Member Terms, if applicable, by posting or submitting any text, images, designs, video, sound, code, data, lists, or other materials or information (such User-submitted content, collectively, “User Content”) to or through the Site, including without limitation on any User profile page, you hereby irrevocably grant to Wizards, its affiliates and sublicensees, a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, and fully sub-licensable license, to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such User Content (in whole or in part) in any media and to incorporate the User Content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed. The foregoing grants shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such User Content, including but not limited to rights under copyright, trademark, service mark or patent laws under any relevant jurisdiction. It is not the intention of Wizards to commercially exploit User Content through the foregoing license grants. Rather, our lawyers tell us that this license is necessary to protect Wizards in those rare circumstances where Wizards has ideas or business plans similar to User Content.

With respect to non-Wizards games that have an official Wizards.com webpage as set forth under Exception C under Section 3(b) of these Member Terms, by posting any User Content relating to such games on or through the Service, you hereby grant to Wizards a worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such User Content solely on and through the Service.

You represent and warrant that: (i) you own or control all of the rights to the User Content that you post or you otherwise have the right to post such User Content to the Site, (ii) the User Content is accurate and not misleading, and (iii) use and posting of the User Content you supply does not violate these Member Terms and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity, including without limitation the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any User Content posted by you to or through the Site.

You are solely responsible for the User Content that you post, store or upload on or through the Site, including any material or information that you transmit to other Users. Wizards does not have an obligation to delete, screen or edit any of the User Content posted, stored or uploaded on or through the Site, however Wizards reserves the right to delete, screen or edit any User Content posted, stored or uploaded on the Site at any time and for any reason without notice. Without limiting the foregoing, Wizards may remove any User Content that in the sole judgment of Wizards violates these Member Terms, TOU, or any Guidelines, or that may be offensive, illegal or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of any person. Wizards does not endorse any User Content and takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content posted, stored or uploaded by you or any third party, or for any loss or damage thereto.

b. Intellectual Property Ownership; Rights Granted to You The Service is the proprietary property of Wizards or its licensors, and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Except as otherwise provided herein, you are granted a limited, non-sublicenseable license to access and use the Service (except where specified as prohibited) for your personal, noncommercial use only; provided, that you preserve any copyright, trademark or other similar notices contained in or associated with such Service. You agree not to use the Service in an illegal manner or for any unlawful purpose. Such license is subject to these Member Terms and does not include: (a) any resale or commercial use of the Service therein; (b) modifying or otherwise making any derivative uses of the Service, or any portion thereof; or (c) any use of the Service other than for its intended purpose. Any use of the Service other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of Wizards, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. This license is revocable at any time.

3.Use of the Service

a. Profiles and User Content

Please choose carefully the User Content you post on the Site and that you provide to other Users. Your Wizards Member profile page and any User Content you post on the Site may not include the following items: telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, and any text, photographs or other images containing nudity, or obscene, lewd, excessively violent, harassing, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable subject matter, or any content restricted under the Code of Conduct. Despite this prohibition, information provided by other Users (for instance, in Member profile pages) may contain inaccurate, inappropriate, offensive or sexually explicit material, products or services, and Wizards assumes no responsibility or liability for this material. If you become aware of misuse of the Service by any person, please click on the “Report Abuse” link at the bottom of Wizards pages. Wizards reserves the right to edit or remove your Member profile page and/or restrict, suspend, or terminate your membership or access to the Service, in its sole discretion, for any violation of this section. Please see the TOU for additional terms and conditions that apply to User Content that you and other Users post, store or upload to or through the site.

b. Commercial Use by Members The Service is for the personal use of Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically set forth below as an exception. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the Service, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email or unauthorized framing of or linking to the Site is strictly prohibited. Commercial advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation in violation of this Agreement may be removed from Member profiles without notice and may result in termination of membership privileges. Appropriate legal action may be taken for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Service.

Exception A – Digital Dealers. A “Digital Dealer” is defined as a Member who trades digital objects with another Member and advertises such trading on his or her personal Gleemax webpage as permitted under these Member Terms. Digital Dealers may engage in limited commercial activity only as expressly stated herein and subject to such registration requirements, fees, and other terms and conditions as Wizards may specify from time to time. Wizards retains the right to terminate any such privileges in its sole discretion at any time without notice. Digital Dealers may advertise on their personal Wizards.com webpage the Wizards products that they would like to trade with other Members. Digital Dealers may not include any statements that such Wizards products are available for trade for anything other than other Wizards products.

Exception B – Hobby Game Retailers. Members who operate a retail hobby game store may engage in limited commercial activity only as expressly stated herein and subject to such registration requirements, fees, and other terms and conditions as Wizards may specify from time to time. Such Members may advertise on their Wizards.com webpage the products they offer for sale provided they do not state any pricing information. This exception does not apply to online-only retailers. Wizards retains the right to terminate such privileges in its sole discretion at any time.

Exception C – Official Wizards.com Webpages for Non-Wizards Games. Members may create webpages on Wizards.com for non-Wizards games that constitute such game’s official Wizards.com webpage. In addition to all other representations and warranties in these Member Terms, each such Member represents and warrants that he or she (i) is a duly authorized representative of such game’s publisher or distributor acting on behalf of such publisher or distributor, and (ii) has sufficient rights and authority to grant the licenses to Wizards as contemplated herein and in the TOU. Pages that incorrectly claim to be the official page for that particular game, will be modified or removed by Wizards, and the Member may be subject to sanctions. For the avoidance of doubt, Members may create webpages for non-Wizards games, but are prohibited from creating a webpage for a game publisher or distributor.

c. Alpha/Beta Testing The Service includes any alpha or beta testing or other evaluation or use of products or services (whether in final or prerelease form) that you may conduct (“Testing”). Except to the extent otherwise provided in another agreement between you and Wizards, your participation in any Testing and use of any content, information, or other materials in connection with such Testing shall be subject to these Member Terms and the TOU.

d. Interactive Services The Service may include blogs, “wiki” features (that allow certain text, images, designs, logos, video, sound, code, data, and other materials and information, as well as the selection and arrangement thereof, available through the Site (collectively, “Site Content”) to be written or created collaboratively), Member profile and group pages, chat and messaging functions, and other areas or services in which you or other Members can create, post or store User Content on the Site (“Interactive Services”). You are solely responsible for your use of such Interactive Services and use them at your own risk. As with other Services, your use of any Interactive Services is subject to the Guidelines (including without limitation the Code of Conduct) and TOU (including without limitation the irrevocable licenses you grant to Wizards in such User Content). CertainInteractive Services (such as an avatar gallery), may also provide tools for you to use Site Content, arrange or display Site Content in a manner of your choosing, or customize Site Content. You agree that any such Site Content, arrangement or display, or customization is not User Content and shall be owned exclusively by Wizards.

e. Intra-Member Disputes You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users, including any disputes with other Members. Wizards reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor, moderate or resolve disputes between you and other Users, regardless of the causes or alleged causes of the dispute. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Wizards shall not be liable to you or any third party for any attempt it may make to moderate or resolve any disputes between Members, including without limitation any restrictions that Wizards may effect on Members’ use of the Services or any termination of memberships or Member accounts.

4. Privacy Notice Please refer to our Privacy Statement. Privacy Statement for information on how Wizards

collects, uses and discloses personally identifiable information from you and other Users.

 

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WIZARDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WIZARDS DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE. WIZARDS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE OR THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SERVICE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE THE SERVICE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU (AND NOT WIZARDS) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR AND CORRECTION.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL WIZARDS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ANY DOWNLOADED MATERIALS), EVEN IF WIZARDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL WIZARDS’ TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FROM ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO WIZARDS, IF ANY, FOR THE SERVICE.

APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, OR THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

6. Indemnity You agree to indemnify, defend at your cost and hold harmless Wizards, its affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies, and contractors, and each of their current and former officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and representatives (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”), from and against any losses, liabilities, expenses, claims, damages and costs of any nature, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or related to any User Content you post, store or otherwise transmit on or through the Service or your use or inability to use the Service, including without limitation any actual or threatened suit, demand or claim made against the Indemnified Parties arising out of or relating to your User Content, your conduct, your violation of these Member Terms, or your violation of the rights of any third party.

7. General a. Language; Interpretation It is the express wish of the parties that the Member Terms and all related documents have been drawn up in English. C’est la volonte expresse des parties que la presente convention ainsi que les documents qui s’y rattachent soient rediges en anglais. The headings of sections, paragraphs and subparagraphs of these Member Terms are for convenience of reference only and are not intended to restrict, affect or be of any weight in the interpretation or construction of the provisions of such sections, paragraphs or subparagraphs.

b. U.S.Export Controls Software available in connection with the Service (the “Software”) is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the Site or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of U.S. export laws. Downloading or using the Software is at your sole risk. You further agree not to upload to the Site any data or software that cannot be exported without prior written government authorization, including, but not limited to, certain types of encryption software.

c. Termination; Deletion of Content; Survival Wizards reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, to terminate your membership or these Member Terms (including any license use the Service), delete your Member profile and any User Content that you have posted on the Site, and to block or prevent your future access to and use of the Service. You may also terminate your membership or these Member Terms at any time, provided that any termination of your membership shall automatically cause these Member Terms to terminate. Upon termination of these Member Terms for any reason, Sections 5 (disclaimers; limitation on liability); 6 (indemnity) and 7 (General), together with any licenses granted to Wizards hereunder, will survive.

d. Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction; Time Limit to Bring Claims These Member Terms and your use of the Service shall be governed by laws of the State of Washington , without regard to its conflict of laws principles. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts within King County, Washington , for any claims arising out of or relating to your use of the Service, the materials on this Site, and/or these Member Terms. In no event shall any claim, action or proceeding by you related in any way to the Service (including your use or inability to use the Service) be instituted more than one (1) year after the cause of action arose.

e.Severability; Waivers If any provision of these Member Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable by any court having competent jurisdiction, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. The failure of Wizards to insist upon or enforce any of the provisions of these Member Terms, or to exercise any rights or remedies under these Member Terms, will not be construed as a waiver of Wizards’ right to assert or rely upon any such provisions, rights, or remedies in that or any other instance; rather, the same will be and remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of these Member Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term.

f.Assignment; Transfer of Memberships These Member Terms may not be assigned in whole or in part by you, and any such attempted assignment shall be void. Memberships are personal to the Member and may not be transferred without the written consent of Wizards. ©1999-2007 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. ® and TM denote trademarks owned by Wizards and/or its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, licensors, licensees, or other companies. Any use by Wizards of another’s trademarks does not imply objection to such party’s intellectual property rights.

Code of Conduct

Last Updated: August 13, 2007

As part of Wizards of the Coast’s commitment to make this website (the “Site”) a great place to meet and interact with other gamers around the world, members and guests of the Site agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. You are responsible for knowing and abiding by these conduct rules, the Site Terms of Use and the Gleemax Member Terms of Service to ensure that everyone feels welcome.

All community and social networking aspects of the Site are subject to the Code of Conduct (often referred to as “the CoC”). This includes, without limitation, account names, group/clan names, profile content, blog content and comments, chat and forum activity, e-mail or private messages to Wizards of the Coast staff.

Violation of the Code of Conduct rules is grounds for Site account(s) termination. Termination includes you forfeiting all product/content associated with your account(s) and being no longer permitted use of our online services or tools in any way. Wizards of the Coast staff are the final judges of whether a member’s behavior qualifies as inappropriate or a disruption.

This Code of Conduct is subject to change at any time at Wizards of the Coast’s sole discretion.

1. Choose your account’s screen names carefully. Screen names that are deemed offensive may be modified or deactivated without notice. For example:

Misspellings, phonetic, and alternative spellings of prohibited names are subject to modification or deactivation. Variations of a deactivated screen name, as may be evidenced by your declarations under a new screen name that you are “really” the deactivated name, may also be deactivated and the account holder may have his or her account terminated.

2. Do not use, post, distribute or link to obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, graphically or gratuitously violent, derogatory, demeaning, malicious, defamatory, abusive, offensive, hateful or discriminatory language or content. This includes “masking” language by using alternative characters/spelling /spacing to get around profanity filters or claims of profanity filter “testing.”

3. Do not harass, bully, threaten, harm or cause discomfort for other persons, including any other members. For example:

4. Do not promote, plan, glorify or engage in any illegal activity or otherwise make available content that would encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense. These topics include crimes relating to drugs, drug paraphernalia, rape, solicitation of a minor, computer hacking, and copyright violation.

5. Do not impersonate other persons, including members or Wizards of the Coast staff, by screen name or self-representation , or attempt to obtain sensitive information from other members.

6. Do not disrupt chat, forums, blog comments or other communication channels. For example:

• Spam through repeated posts, or off-topic content by word or intent to forums or comments (scrolling, flooding, polling, or by “bumping” a post more than once in 48 hours) 
• Make off-topic posts or chat or trades in the wrong forums or chat rooms (casual chat or roleplay in rooms or forums not designated for these types of activities) 
• Advertise trades or sales outside of the designated areas

7. Do not advertise. This includes: 
• Advertising matches that card gamble/play for ante 
• Advertising player-run tournaments 
• Advertising trades or sales outside of the designated areas 
• Advertise or promote a business or commercial website outside of the designated areas 
• Sending unsolicited commercial or purportedly informational messages to any members

8. Do not attempt to use or gain access to another’s accounts or service, engage another member under false pretenses or otherwise defraud another member. Anyone linking to, posting, distributing or promoting hacks, modifications, viruses, or password mining websites may face legal action in addition to normal account penalties.

9. Do not attempt to artificially alter the outcome of a league, sanctioned event, or organized game.

For example:

Explanation of Disciplinary Escalation and Procedures 
If a member of Wizards.com has demonstrated he or she cannot follow this Code of Conduct, the Website Terms of Use, or the Wizards Member Terms of Service, then the member may lose access to ALL of his or her accounts and all associated content and screen names.

Moderators issue formal warnings, by post, private message or email when a member has made a Code of Conduct infraction. Depending on the severity of the infraction, Wizards of the Coast may issue a warning, timed suspension or termination of the account.

This explanation of disciplinary procedure is meant to be a guideline for members to understand what their status may be with regard to the process. It is only a guideline and Wizards of the Coast may deviate from this procedure at any time in any manner it deems appropriate without notice. A specific chat, forum, list or online game situation may require other measures to ensure the family orientation of the Site.

5. Disclaimers; Limitation on Liability THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WIZARDS DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SERVICE IN TERMS OF ITS CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.• Names of offensive or notorious persons, controversial political figures, references to cultural tragedies or of significant religious or occult meaning

• Names containing profanity, obscene slang, graphic anatomical references, racial, ethnic, sexist, or religious slurs

• Names with word combinations that produce an offensive result

• Names of or references to illicit substances or drug-related paraphernalia

• Names with the intent or effect of harming the reputation of another

• Names including protocol prefixes and domain suffixes (e.g. http://, .org, .com)

• Names that impersonate the representation of a specific business or website, including any business or website you may operate or represent

• Proper names of Wizards of the Coast staff or their titles 
• Use hate speech or racial, ethnic, sexist, homophobic or religious slurs

• Harass a specific person (repeated flaming, personal attacks or posting their private information) 

• Troll or bait the community in general with inflammatory statements, such as ones designed to elicit a negative response from the community 

• Post or otherwise disclose any personal or private information of another person, or any confidential information pertaining to a business, without consent 

For example:

• Falsely claim an official title or to hold position relating to the Site 

• Falsely claim the representation of another business or website 

• Fake an existing member’s screen name by using similar-looking characters 

• “Spoof” or “emote” another member’s text in a chat room 

• Falsely claim to be a law enforcement officer 

• Solicit passwords or personal information from other members 

• Bribe or offer compensation in order to change the game outcome 
• Stall, spam, harass, or behave in any unsportsmanlike manner that affects the game