Prologue 3 (1/2)

Terms of Service

The gist:

We (the ) run a blog and website hosting platform called and would love for you to use it. WordPress.com’s basic service is free, and we offer paid upgrades for advanced features such as domain hosting and extra storage. Our service is designed to give you as much control and owners.h.i.+p over what goes on your website as possible and encourage you to express yourself freely. However, be responsible in what you publish. In particular, make sure that none of the prohibited items (like spam, viruses, or serious threats of violence) appear on your website.

If you find a WordPress.com website that you believe violates these Terms of Service, please .

We also have additional services and products designed to make the web a better place like , , , , , and .

(We’ve made the below Terms of Service available under a license, which means you’re more than welcome to repurpose it for your own use. Just make sure to replace references to us with ones to you, and if you don’t mind we’d appreciate a link to WordPress.com somewhere on your website. We spent a lot of money and time on the below, and other people shouldn’t need to do the same.)

Terms of Service:

The following terms and conditions (“Terms”) govern all use of the WordPress.com website and all content, services, and products available at or through the website, including, but not limited to, Jetpack (“Jetpack”), VaultPress (“VaultPress”), and WordPress.com VIP (”VIP Service”), (taken together, our “Services”). Our Services are offered subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules, policies (including, without limitation, ) and procedures that may be published from time to time by Automattic (collectively, the ”Agreement”). You agree that we may automatically upgrade our Services, and these Terms will apply to any upgrades. If you reside in the United States or Brazil, your agreement is with Automattic Inc. (US), and if you reside outside of the United States or Brazil, your agreement is with Aut O’Mattic Ltd. (Ireland) (each, ”Automattic” or ”we”).

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using our Services. By accessing or using any part of our Services, you agree to become bound by the Terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to all the Terms of this Agreement, then you may not access or use any of our Services. If these Terms are considered an offer by Automattic, acceptance is expressly limited to these Terms.

Our Services are not directed to children younger than 13, and access and use of our Services is only offered to users 13 years of age or older. If you are under 13 years old, please do not register to use our Services. Any person who registers as a user or provides their personal information to our Services represents that they are 13 years of age or older.

Use of our Services requires a WordPress.com account. You agree to provide us with complete and accurate information when you register for an account. You will be solely responsible and liable for any activity that occurs under your username. You are responsible for keeping your pa.s.sword secure.

1. WordPress.com.

Your WordPress.com Account and Website. If you create a blog or website on WordPress.com, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and blog, and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under the account and any other actions taken in connection with the blog. You must immediately notify Automattic of any unauthorized uses of your blog, your account, or any other breaches of security. Automattic will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.

Responsibility of Contributors. If you operate a blog, comment on a blog, post material to WordPress.com, post links on WordPress.com, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) material available (any such material, ”Content”), you are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content or your conduct. That is the case regardless of what form the Content takes, which includes, but is not limited to text, photo, video, audio, or code. By using WordPress.com, you represent and warrant that your Content and conduct do not violate these Terms or the . By submitting Content to Automattic for inclusion on your website, you grant Automattic a world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing, and promoting your blog. This license allows Automattic to make publicly-posted content available to third parties selected by Automattic (through the Automattic Firehose, for example) so that these third parties can a.n.a.lyze and distribute (but not publicly display) your content through their services. You also give other WordPress.com users permission to share your Content on other WordPress.com websites and add their own Content to it (aka to reblog your Content), so long as they use only a portion of your post and they give you credit as the original author by linking back to your website (the on WordPress.com does this automatically!). If you delete Content, Automattic will use reasonable efforts to remove it from WordPress.com, but you acknowledge that caching or references to the Content may not be made immediately unavailable. Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, Automattic has the right (though not the obligation) to, in Automattic's sole discretion, (i) reclaim your username or website’s URL due to prolonged inactivity, (ii) refuse or remove any content that, in Automattic's reasonable opinion, violates any Automattic policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (iii) terminate or deny access to and use of WordPress.com to any individual or ent.i.ty for any reason. Automattic will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.

Web Traffic. We use a third party, comScore, Inc. (”comScore”), to measure WordPress.com's audience and usage. By hosting your site on WordPress.com, you agree to a.s.sign the traffic relating to your website to Automattic and authorize us to sign a Traffic a.s.signment Letter on your behalf for comScore audience measurement reports. Your website's traffic will be included under Automattic. You understand that your website will not receive credit for traffic in these reports, and you must not a.s.sign your website's traffic to any other party. If we or comScore require additional doc.u.mentation to verify owners.h.i.+p of your website or domain name, you agree to make reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests.

Ecommerce. There are certain features on WordPress.com, such as Store and , that enable you to sell items (goods, content, services, etc.) on your website. Store is powered by WooCommerce and Jetpack, so if you use Store, apply. You are solely responsible for all of your ecommerce activities, including your store, your items, its operation, all applicable taxes and fees,  compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and compliance with any applicable laws. Among other things, this means that:

You should use your best judgment when setting up your store, operating your store, processing payments, and selling items. For example, you may not want to accept check payments if you are not comfortable sharing your mailing address with a customer, or you may want to publish payment and return policies.

We are not involved in your relations.h.i.+ps or transactions with any customer or potential customer.

You are responsible for resolving all support questions, comments, and complaints, including refunds, chargebacks, or pricing questions. You should provide contact information so that customers may contact you with questions or complaints.

You are responsible for delivering items sold to your customers, and for fulfilling all promises, representations, or warranties you make to them in connection with a sale.

You may choose to set up and/or use third party services, such as or to collect payment, or for tax calculations. If you do so, be aware that some of your — and your customers' — data may be pa.s.sed to the respective third party, and the respective third party's terms of service, privacy policy, and other policies may apply. We are not involved in these relations.h.i.+ps. If you use Store, please note that some of these third party services (like TaxJar) may be enabled by default, but you may disable them before your store is set up. If you do not want to use these third party services, please disable them in Store settings.

You are responsible for all taxes and fees a.s.sociated with your ecommerce activities. You must collect, report, and/or pay the correct amounts to the appropriate authorities, if applicable, and if needed, inform your customers about any taxes they may be required to pay and issue appropriate invoices. While Store enables you to include sales tax in transactions, you should not rely solely on this feature.

You must not violate our or .

HTTPS. We offer free HTTPS on all WordPress.com sites by default, including those using custom domains, via . By signing up and using a custom domain on WordPress.com, you authorize us to act on the domain name registrant’s behalf (by requesting the necessary certificates, for example) for the sole purpose of providing HTTPS on your site.

Advertis.e.m.e.nts. Automattic reserves the right to display advertis.e.m.e.nts on your blog unless you have purchased an Ad-free Upgrade or a VIP Service account.

Attribution. Automattic reserves the right to display attribution text or links in your site footer or toolbar, attributing WordPress.com or the theme author, for example. The toolbar may not be altered or removed. Attribution text or links may only be hidden if you are subscribed to WordPress.com Business or VIP.

Friends of WP.com Themes. By activating a partner theme from the Friends of WP.com section of our themes directory, you agree to that partner’s terms of service. You can opt out of their terms of service at any time by de-activating a partner theme.

Payment and Renewal.

General Terms. Optional paid services such as extra storage or domain purchases are available (any such services, an “Upgrade”). By selecting an Upgrade you agree to pay Automattic the monthly or annual subscription fees indicated for that service. Payments will be charged on a pre-pay basis on the day you sign up for an Upgrade and will cover the use of that service for a monthly or annual subscription period as indicated. More details are available in .

Automatic Renewal. Unless you notify Automattic before the end of the applicable subscription period that you want to cancel an Upgrade, your Upgrade subscription will automatically renew and you authorize us to collect the then-applicable annual or monthly subscription fee for such Upgrade (as well as any taxes) using any credit card or other payment mechanism we have on record for you. Upgrades can be canceled at any time in the Upgrades section of your website’s dashboard.

VIP Service. VIP Hosting/Support and VIP Support services are provided by Automattic under the terms and conditions for each such service, which are located at and , respectively. By signing up for a VIP Hosting/Support or VIP Support services account, you agree to abide by such terms and conditions.

2. Jetpack.

Description. Jetpack is a plugin that connects your self-hosted WordPress website to WordPress.com's infrastructure to give you the most powerful WordPress.com features.

Jetpack Content. You're fully responsible for the content of any website you own that runs Jetpack (”Jetpack Content”).

License. You agree that we may scan your website, and compile aggregated/anonymized statistics for our internal use to optimize Jetpack's performance.

Features. Jetpack includes various features, and you can visit Jetpack.com to learn more about them. Some features, like Enhanced Distribution, when activated, will include your Jetpack Content in the WordPress.com Firehose. By activating these features, you grant us permission to display your Jetpack Content on WordPress.com for the purpose of distributing and promoting your website. Some features are on by default and others you need to enable manually. You can see which features are active, and activate and deactivate features, on your dashboard.

Storage of Information. Certain Jetpack features rely on WordPress.com servers to function, such as those that allow you to send email, publish links, relate posts to each other, or resize images. To take advantage of the performance boosting features of Jetpack, certain information about the content, settings, and setup of your site are synced with our servers, as described on .

3. WooCommerce Services.

Description. WooCommerce is an open-source, customizable ecommerce platform for self-hosted WordPress websites. If you use WooCommerce, also apply. Certain features offered via WooCommerce (”WooCommerce Services”), such as those related to tax calculation, payment, and s.h.i.+pping, require Jetpack to function. As such, if you enable or use those features, these terms and the Jetpack-specific terms will also apply.

Usage of Information. WooCommerce Services may require Automattic's servers, a connection to our partners, and/or data from your site, to work, as described on

Prohibited Uses. You may not use WooCommerce Services for any unlawful purposes, or in furtherance of illegal activities. We may terminate your access to WooCommerce Services if we determine (in our sole discretion) that your use is in any way harmful or objectionable.

Third Party Services. You may choose to set up and/or use third party services, such or to collect payment, to calculate taxes, or to manage s.h.i.+pping. If you do so, be aware that some of your — and your customers' — data may be pa.s.sed to the respective third party, and the respective third party's terms of service, privacy policy, and other policies may apply. We are not involved in these relations.h.i.+ps.

Tax Calculations. Tax Calculations are provided by . You are responsible for all taxes and fees a.s.sociated with your ecommerce activities. You must collect, report, and/or pay the correct amounts to the appropriate authorities, if applicable, and if needed, inform your customers about any taxes they may be required to pay and issue appropriate invoices. While WooCommerce Services allow you to include sales tax in transactions, you should not rely solely on this feature.

s.h.i.+pping Services.

s.h.i.+pping labels are provided by and allow you to take advantage of real-time s.h.i.+pping rates to purchase postage and print s.h.i.+pping labels from certain mailing services, such as and . We act only as an intermediary between you and these third parties; we are not involved in any way with your product or its s.h.i.+pment. We also do not warrant that the results you obtain from the use of these services (rates and labels, for example) will be accurate or reliable.

You are solely responsible for compliance with all applicable rules and regulations, including domestic and international s.h.i.+pping and customs regulations and those of the relevant mailing service. For example, if you use USPS postage, you will need to comply with their and , among others.

In addition, you are solely responsible for customs charges, import taxes or duties, or any other charges related to your s.h.i.+pments. If any charges are a.s.sessed against us as a result of your use of the s.h.i.+pping services, you will reimburse us for the full amount within 7 days.

You authorize us to charge you for the fees a.s.sociated with each s.h.i.+pping label you create. Each fee will be charged separately to the payment method you provided in your WordPress.com account, which you can view and manage as described . If you have multiple payment methods, you can select which should be used for the s.h.i.+pping label service by going to the WooCommerce Settings page in your store's wp-admin and clicking on the ”WooCommerce Services” tab. If we are unable to collect payment from you for these fees, you will be responsible for payment within 7 days; please contact us to remit payment.

Refunds for unused s.h.i.+pping labels must be requested in your store's wp-admin within 30 days of creating the label. Please note that depending on your bank and the third party involved, it may take up to 45 days for your refund to issue. If you haven't received your refund within this time frame, please contact us.

The s.h.i.+pping labels service may only be used for WooCommerce orders, and you may not transfer or sell postage and/or s.h.i.+pping labels to a third party.

4. VaultPress.

Description. VaultPress is a subscription-based security and backup service for self-hosted WordPress websites.

VaultPress Content. VaultPress will backup your WordPress content (e.g., your WordPress database, plugins, themes, and uploads, as well as some additional files, as described ) (”VaultPress Content”). You can view the Content that VaultPress backs up via . You're fully responsible for your VaultPress Content. It's your responsibility to ensure that your website's Content abides by applicable laws and by these Terms. We don't actively review the VaultPress Content.

Access. If you lose access to your WordPress.com account, you may not be able to access your backed up VaultPress Content.

License. By using VaultPress, you grant us access to your website's servers for the purpose of backing up and securing your VaultPress Content, and restoring files and database information (which may include access details for multiple servers or accounts for each website that we backup). In order to address security vulnerabilities, we may push an upgrade to your site, or we may access your site to remove malicious code. We may also scan VaultPress Content, and compile aggregated/anonymized statistics for our internal use to optimize the performance of the VaultPress service. You also grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to copy and store your VaultPress Content, to the extent necessary to operate the VaultPress service. These Terms don't give us any rights in your VaultPress Content, beyond those we need to operate VaultPress. You own your VaultPress Content.

Prohibited Uses. When using VaultPress, you agree not to:

Publish material or engage in activity that is illegal under applicable law.

Use VaultPress to overburden Automattic's systems, as determined by us in our sole discretion.

Disclose the sensitive personal information of others.