Terms of Use for the www.gamescomponents.eu website
FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUR TELEKOMMUNIKATION UND KOOPERATION EV (“FTK”), established in MARTIN-SCHMEISSER WEG 4, DORTMUND 44227, Germany, DE153303875, hereby issues the following Terms of Use (“ToU”). They describe the conditions under which a portfolio of products and services offered by the so-called RAGE Ecosystem portal must be used.
Preamble
FTK operates the www.gamescomponent.eu website (the “Website”) offering a portfolio of products and services which are part of the so-called RAGE Ecosystem. The RAGE Ecosystem is in turn the main outcome of the RAGE RIA project funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme, under Grant Agreement 644187.
This portfolio of products and services (“the Products”, singular “Product”) consists of a catalogue of reusable software components designed to facilitate the development of games, training material, and services presented in the Website.
These ToU are intended
- to establish basic guidelines for the proper usage of the Products and the Website
- to ensure that the rights of third parties are protected (e.g. software licenses, data protection and security)
- to oblige users to use the Products and the Website responsibly and economically
- to inform the users about the measures that may be taken in the event of violations of the ToU.
§ 1 Area of validity
These ToU are valid for the Website, all the Products provided through it and uploaded to it and all duly authorised Users of the Website.
§ 2 Individuals and organisations with right of use of the Website and the Products
The right of use is applicable to the any legally enabled individuals, as well as companies or any organisations willing to make use of the Products.
The User acknowledge and agrees that, by accessing, uploading or using the Products, indicates that User has read, understand and agree to be bound to these ToU. If the User does not agree to these ToU, then it has no right to access or use any of the Products.
§ 3 Formal user authorisation
(1) Anyone wishing to use the Products must obtain a formal user authorisation from FTK as the Website administrator. This authorisation becomes valid after Users complete the process of registration established in the Website.
(2) The following are excepted: Authorisations for which anonymous access has been specifically set up (e.g. information services, library services, short term user accounts for participants in certain RAGE Ecosystem events);
(3) The application for a user authorisation must contain all the data requested on the corresponding form.
(4) FTK shall decide on the application. It can make the user authorisation contingent upon proof of specific know-how relating to the use of the system.
(5) The user authorisation may be refused if the applicant's compliance with its duties as a user (§ 4) does not appear to be ensured;
(6) The user authorisation can be withdrawn or restricted temporarily or permanently if
a) one of the reasons for rejection pursuant to § 3 occurs or is discovered subsequently;
b) the user uses the Website for criminal offences or causes harm to the RAGE Ecosystem, FTK or other Website Users
The steps according to this provision shall not be taken until after a prior warning was ignored. The affected party has the right to reply to the accusations. The party shall be permitted an opportunity to save its data. Temporary restrictions of use will be removed if proper use appears to be guaran-teed.
§ 4 The User's obligations
(1) The Website may only be used for the purposes mentioned in § 2. The User must refrain from any form of abusive use of the Website and the Products.
(2) The user is obligated to make sure that he or she uses the existing equipment (workstations, CPU capacity, disk space, line capacity, peripheral devices and consumables) responsibly and economically. Users are obligated to avoid any foreseeable operational disturbances, and, to the best of their knowledge, refrain from any activities which might cause damage to the IT infrastructure or other users.
(3) FTK can issue policies for specific user groups, as well as requirements and instructions in an individual case. The user is obligated to
a) exclusively work with the user accounts, the use of which has been permitted to him or her. Passing on of user accounts and passwords is generally not permitted;
b) protect the access to RAGE Ecosystem's IT infrastructure by a password which must be kept secret or by an equivalent procedure;
c) Take precautions so that unauthorised third parties are denied access to RAGE Ecosystem's IT infrastructure, with this including not using primitive, obvious passwords, changing passwords frequently and properly logging out at the end of a session;
d) report cases that might be relevant to security which he or she has gained knowledge of to the local person in charge of data processing or to FTK.
(4) The User bears full responsibility for all acts performed under his or her user account, even if these actions are performed by third parties that the user permitted to have access at least negligently.
(5) Furthermore, the user is obligated to
a) comply with the statutory regulations (legal protection of copyright) when using software (sources, objects), documentations and other data;
b) inform themselves regarding the terms under which the software, documentations or data were made available, partly within the framework of license agreements, and to observe these terms;
c) not copy software, documentations and data or pass them on to individuals other than those who are authorised to receive them, unless this is explicitly permitted, and, in particular, not use them for commercial purposes.
(6) The Website may only be used in a legally appropriate manner. Attention is explicitly drawn to the fact that the following actions are subject to legal prosecution ac-cording to the German Penal Code (StGB):
a) trying to find out other users' passwords, spying out and intercepting data (§ 202 a|b|c StGB)
b) unauthorised alteration, deletion, suppression or damaging of data to the point it can no longer be used (§ 303 a StGB)
c) computer sabotage (§ 303 b StGB) and computer fraud (§ 263 a StGB)
d) dissemination of propaganda of unconstitutional organisations (§ 86 StGB) or depicting of violence (§ 131 StGB)
e) dissemination of certain forms of pornography on the Internet (§ 184 ff. StGB) accessing or ownership of documents containing child pornography (§ 184 (1) 5 StGB)
f) defamatory offences such as insults, libel or slander (§ 185 ff. StGB)
g) infringements of copyright, e.g. due to illegal duplication of software or offering of movies or pieces of music in a file sharing exchange (§ 106 ff. of the German Copyright Act, UrhG)
(7) Users are obligated to consult with the system operator prior to commencement of a project involving the processing of personal data.
(8) The User is not permitted to gain knowledge of and/or use certain messages intended for other Users delivered through the messaging facilities integrated in the Website,
§ 5 User liability
(1) The User is liable for all disadvantages resulting to the Website and/or FTK as a result of abusive or illegal use of Website and/or the Products and/or which result because the User did not comply with its obligations arising from the ToU.
(2) The user is also liable for damages resulting from authorised use by third parties if he or she is responsible for such use by a third party, e.g. because the user account was passed on. In this case, FTK is entitled to charge a usage fee for third party use in accordance with the catalogue of Products.
(3) To the extent that the User can be held liable, he or she shall release FTK from any and all claims for damages, inaction or other relief brought against FTK by third parties as a result of the user’s misuse or unlawful conduct. FTK will serve third party notice to the user if third parties take FTK to court.
§ 6 FTK's rights and duties
As Legal responsible for the operations of the Website, FTK:
(1) shall document the user authorisations that have been issued insofar as it has not delegated this task to a Third Party
(2) is authorised to document and analyse the individualised use of the Website by the Users, but only to the extent necessary:
a) to guarantee proper system operation,
b) for resource planning and system administration,
c) to protect the personal data of other users,
d) for accounting purposes,
e) for troubleshooting and
f) for resolving and preventing unlawful and abusive use.
(3) shall contribute to the prevention or detection of misuse in an appropriate manner, particularly in the form of regular audits. For this purpose, it is authorised to check passwords and user data and to take the necessary measures in terms of protection, such as changing passwords that are easy to guess, to protect the Website and user data from unauthorised access by third parties. If user passwords, access authorisations for user files and other protective measures relevant to usage need to be changed, the user shall be notified immediately.
(4) In order to guarantee proper Website operation, FTK is also authorised to inspect User files, whilst observing data secrecy, insofar as this is necessary to eliminate existing faults or resolve and prevent acts of misuse. Inspection of these files is only admissible in-so far as this is indispensable for the elimination of existing faults in the Website services. Inspection shall be documented in each case and the respective user shall be informed immediately after the goal has been achieved.
(5) FTK shall designate a contact for organizational arrangements for the use of RAGE Ecosystem's services for all of the institutions with authorisations of use.
(6) FTK is obligated to abide by the usage and access guidelines of other providers when communicating with their computers and networks.
(7) For reasons of operation, FTK can restrict use of the IT infrastructure temporarily or block individual user accounts temporarily. The respective users shall be notified beforehand insofar as possible.
(8) If there are justified grounds that a user is making unlawful contents available on FTK's IT infrastructure, FTK may prevent further use until the facts of the case have been resolved sufficiently.
§ 7 FTK's liability
(1) FTK neither warrants that the Website functions meet the User's specific requirements nor that the Website will operate without fault or interruption. Nonetheless, FTK shall make every effort to ensure a high level of quality of services of the Website.
(2) The services are all provided by FTK on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any representations, warranties, covenants or conditions of any kind
(3) FTK shall not be liable for any damage whatsoever caused to the user resulting from the use of the Website and/or the Products
(4) FTK reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify, discontinue or terminate the services offered by the Website. FTK may also modify the ToU at any time and without prior notice. If ToU are modified such modifications will be duly published in the Website. FTK will also update the “Last updated” date at the bottom of these ToU.
§ 8 Miscellaneous
(1) Products are described in the Portal catalogue ( https://www.gamecomponents.eu/page/home)
(2) If parts of these ToU are invalid or become so, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the other parts.
§ 9 Final provisions
(1) Amendments of these ToU shall be decided by FTK.
(2) These ToU shall enter into force on the day of publication on the Website.
