User Agreement

THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBES THE TERMS ON WHICH Columbus Messenger OFFERS YOU ACCESS TO OUR WEB SITE AND SERVICES. PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. BY USING OUR WEB SITE AND SERVICES, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS.

Welcome to Columbus Messenger. Columbus Messenger uses a Patent Pending business process and innovative technology to bring to you a new and exciting way to buy and sell within "Your Local Marketplace." You can Buy, Sell, Rent, Connect and have fun all within your Local Community. Our service is based upon trust, and this User Agreement (the "Agreement") helps to promote trust between you and other members of the Columbus Messenger community.

When accessing the pages or the information contained on the Columbus Messenger web site, http://www.CoolerAds.com/ ("the Site" or "our Site"), or by using the Columbus Messenger services (the "Services") in any manner, you must adhere to the terms of this Agreement. When using particular Columbus Messenger Services, you may also be subject to additional guidelines or rules which we may post from time to time. In addition, if you arrive at our Site through any of our partners' or affiliate web sites, you may also be subject to the terms and conditions of that web site. All such guidelines and rules are hereby incorporated by reference into this Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, please exit the Site immediately, and cease all use of our Services.

You may review a current version of this Agreement at any time by clicking on the User Agreement link at the bottom of any page of the Site.

1. Modifications of Terms: We reserve the right to make changes to this Agreement, or the guidelines or rules incorporated herein, at any time, and will notify you of any such changes by posting a notice on the General Announcements section of the Community page of the Site (our "Announcement Board"). In addition, we may notify you directly (via email) of such changes. Your continued use of our Site will signify your acceptance of any revised terms to this Agreement. Therefore, you should regularly visit this page to make yourself familiar with our current Agreement. This Agreement may not otherwise be amended, except in writing, by both you and Columbus Messenger. Unless otherwise stated, all amended terms to this Agreement shall be effective immediately once notice of those changes is posted on our Announcement Board. We last updated this Agreement on Mar 23, 2004.

2. Membership / Access Eligibility: Our Services are available only to, and may be used only by, individuals who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. Without limiting the foregoing, our Services are not available to children (persons under the age of 18) unless their use of our Services is in conjunction with and under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian. Further, our Services are not available to any person whose Columbus Messenger membership has been suspended (temporarily or indefinitely) or permanently terminated. If you do not qualify, please do not use our Site.

   If you are using the Site or our Services on behalf of a business entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind the entity to this Agreement.

   You agree that Columbus Messenger may, under certain circumstances and without prior notice, immediately terminate Your Account, and your access to our Services. Cause for termination shall include, but not be limited to, (a) breach of this Agreement or other guidelines or rules incorporated herein, (b) request by law enforcement or other government agencies, (c) request by you, (d) discontinuance or material modification to our Services (or any part thereof), (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems, and (f) extended periods of inactivity. You agree that any termination shall be at Columbus Messenger's sole discretion, and that Columbus Messenger shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of Your Account or your access to our Services.

3. Registration / Your Account: You may browse the Site for free and without registering. However, you must register as a member ("Registration") to post an ad on our Site. During Registration you will be asked to create an account consisting of a Member ID and Password ("Your Account") to identify yourself in future visits to the Site. You will be asked to provide information such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, city, state and zip code. All of the information that you provide during Registration is collected according to the terms of our Privacy Policy (http://www.coolerads.com/content/1/Privacy-Policy). It is YOUR responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of your Member ID and Password and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under Your Account. You may not transfer, assign or sell Your Account (including rating and feedback) to any third party.
   
   PLEASE NOTE: You must provide accurate and current information to us. If you provide any information that is false, misleading, inaccurate, not current or incomplete during Registration or otherwise, Columbus Messenger may suspend (temporarily or indefinitely) or permanently terminate Your Account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site and our Services (or any portion thereof). Without limiting any other remedies, Columbus Messenger has the right to suspend (temporarily or indefinitely) or permanently terminate Your Account if we suspect that you have engaged in any fraudulent activity through the Site.
4. Ownership of Data: Columbus Messenger takes privacy seriously and your personal information is never shared with third parties. If you registered for the Columbus Messenger service through a co-brand web site, then your information may be shared with that co-brand partner for audit purposes. Co-brand partners may contact you in regards to their services, subject to the terms and conditions of their company's privacy policies and user agreement.
   
   We reserve the right to change, suspend or discontinue the fees due for our Services at any time in our sole discretion. Temporary changes to our fees (for example, discounts or free promotional offers) will be effective when we post information about such promotional events on our Site.
5. Columbus Messenger is Only a Venue: Our Site acts as an open marketplace for users to buy, sell, rent and negotiate the purchase and sale of goods and services with other users. Columbus Messenger provides only a service and is not involved in any transaction between buyers and sellers who use our Site and Services and does not handle any goods physically. Based on same basic online verification, Columbus Messenger may identify some accounts as verified or unverified; however, we do not confirm the identity of our users, nor the accuracy of any listings posted on the Site. As a result, Columbus Messenger does not guarantee or endorse the authenticity, quality, safety, or legality of any items offered or sold, the truth or accuracy of any listings, or the ability of sellers to sell items or of buyers to buy items. We cannot assure that all transactions will be completed. Additionally, Columbus Messenger does not guarantee the ability or intent of users to fulfill their obligations in any transactions. You are solely responsible for assessing the truthfulness of any buyer or seller with whom you deal, and for evaluating the accuracy of any listing posted on the Site.? You agree that Columbus Messenger has no liability for any misrepresentation, incomplete statement or failure to disclose by any user, or for any claims arising from a transaction initiated through the Site.
6. Safe Trading: Because user authentication on the Internet is difficult, Columbus Messenger cannot and does not confirm each user's purported identity. We therefore encourage you to take all steps you believe are appropriate (including, where possible, meeting in person) to confirm the accuracy of any listing posted on the Site, and the identify of any buyer or seller with whom you deal. In addition, we have established a system to assemble feedback from other users (again, not screened or confirmed by us) to help you evaluate the buyer or seller with whom you are dealing.
7. Selling / Posting: You must have the legal authority to sell, rent or provide the goods and services that you are listing on our Site. You must accurately describe your item and all terms of transaction in your listing. If another user buys your item (accepts your offer), you are legally obligated to complete the transaction unless (i) the transaction is prohibited by law or this Agreement, (ii) the buyer materially modifies the terms and conditions of his or her offer, or (iii) a typographical error exists in the listing information which materially affects the terms of sale. You are also responsible for payment of all Columbus Messenger fees. Any listed item which is an imitation, replica, or facsimile must use the terms "imitation" or "replica" in both the title and description of the listing. Your listing title and description should never confuse buyers as to the authenticity of the item. In addition, if your item is pictured with a trademarked logo, it must be produced by that company. Images of authentic items are not permitted when selling replicas. Your pictures must be of the item you are selling. In short, be up front about the nature of the goods you are selling, and make sure your listing title is not confusing to buyers.
8. Buyer Contacting a Seller or Poster: As a potential buyer, you agree to contact the seller or poster on Columbus Messenger only if you are interested in the posting. You agree not to contact the poster for any other reason including to conduct any spam or fraudulent activity.
   
   In order to maintain a consistent user experience, Columbus Messenger prohibits the inclusion of offsite web URLs and email addresses in postings on Columbus Messenger.com, including in postings and the Columbus Messenger community boards.
9. Feedback: Columbus Messenger offers a system to collect feedback from users regarding their transactions with one another, and to make that feedback available to future buyers and sellers with whom those users may deal. Columbus Messenger does not screen or otherwise review the truthfulness or accuracy of any user feedback. You may not take any action that may undermine the integrity of the feedback system. We may limit the number of transactions and listings you may place on the Site, or may suspend or terminate Your Account, based upon negative feedback you have received.
10. User Information: "User Information" is defined as any and all information or data you provide to Columbus Messenger or other users during the Registration, post, sale, buy or any other process, and through any interactive feature of the system, including email. You represent and warrant that your User Information (i) is not false, inaccurate, incomplete or misleading; (ii) is not fraudulent and does not involve the sale of illegal, counterfeit or stolen items; (iii) does not infringe any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy; (iv) does not violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including without limitation those governing export control, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising); (v) is not defamatory, libelous, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing; (vi) is not obscene and does not contain child pornography; (vii) does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, bots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (viii) does not create liability for Columbus Messenger nor cause Columbus Messenger to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers; and (ix) does not link directly or indirectly to another web site. Furthermore, you may not list any item on our Site (or consummate any transaction that was initiated using our Service) that, by paying to us a listing or other type of transaction fee pursuant to our Fee Policy, could cause us to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation, or that violates our current listing restrictions. You agree not to make use of any other user's User Information other than as necessary to complete any transactions in which you and that user are involved.
11. Limited License: You agree to grant and hereby do grant Columbus Messenger a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers) right and license to exercise all copyright, publicity and database rights you have, in any existing or future media, known or unknown, in your User Information, provided, however, that Columbus Messenger will at all times comply with its Privacy Policy (http://www.coolerads.com/pages/privacy_policy).
12. Use Restrictions: Our Site and Services may be used only for lawful purposes. You may not use the Site or our Services to transmit, post, distribute or store any material or conduct any activities in violation of any applicable local, state, provincial, federal or foreign law or regulation. This includes without limitation any unauthorized use or distribution of material protected by patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or the sale or distribution of material that is obscene, defamatory or libelous, constitutes an illegal threat, violates rights of privacy or publicity or violates export control laws. You agree to comply with any applicable laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations in your use of the Site and our Services. You agree not to use the Site or our Services in any manner that violates, or proposes a transaction which, if consummated, would violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation, expose Columbus Messenger to civil or criminal liability, or violate this Agreement. You agree that you are solely responsible for obtaining all necessary licenses and permissions necessary for your transactions and for verifying that other Site users with whom you transact do the same. You agree that you will not use any information gained from the Site or our Services, including without limitation information you learn about any buyer, seller or other users, for any purpose not necessary to complete transactions on our Site.
13. Listing Restrictions: Columbus Messenger prohibits the listing or sale of any item that is illegal to sell under any applicable law, statute, ordinance, or regulation. It is your responsibility to sell only legal goods and services and you must make sure that what you list for sale on the Site is legal and conforms to all the legal requirements of your local, state, provincial, federal or foreign law and regulations. Items prohibited or restricted for posting on Columbus Messenger.com include but are not limited to:
    • Academic, Beta or OEM Software
    • Copyright or Trademark-Sensitive Goods
    • Counterfeit or Knock-Off Goods (including currency & stamps)
    • Fireworks, Explosives, & Hazardous Materials
    • Gambling Items
    • Goods Made From Protected Animal/Plant Species
    • Government IDs
    • Hacking/Surveillance/Interception/Descrambling Equipment
    • Human Parts, Bodily Fluids & Human Remains
    • Illegal Drugs, Drug Paraphernalia, Steroids, & Other Controlled Substances
    • Individual Contracts or Non-Transferable Items
    • Items Subject to Embargo
    • Offensive Material (items that promote hatred, violence, racism, or intolerance)
    • Police-Related Items
    • Prescription/OTC Drugs & Medical Devices
    • Recalled Items
    • Stocks, Bonds & Securities
    • Stolen Property or Items Used For Theft
    • Weapons & Ammunition
    • The sale of alcohol to persons not of lawful age
    • The sale of tobacco products to persons not of lawful age
    Columbus Messenger prohibits the listing of any adult-oriented products or services, or listings which solicit directly or indirectly sexually-oriented services, or sexually-explicit content.
14. Content Policy: You agree not to post any Offensive Content on the Site or post any links or URL's (web addresses) to sites containing Offensive Content. "Offensive Content" includes, without limitation, words, images, sounds or other content which: (i) is profane, obscene or involves child pornography; (ii) denigrates a class of people because of their race, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation or gender; (iii) depicts violent or criminal acts, perpetrators or victims of violence or crime, or seeks to incite violence or crime; (iv) relates or pertains to any "hate group," i.e., groups that are organized in part to promote the oppression of or assert the supremacy of any class of people; or (v) contains defamatory or libelous statements or unlawfully disparaging remarks or threats.
15. Screening: Columbus Messenger may employ automated filters and/or manual reviews to screen listings and content, either before those listings and/or content are posted on the Site or at any time thereafter. In the event that Columbus Messenger, in its sole discretion, determines that any listing offers for sale any illegal item or service, that any content is Offensive Content, or that any listing or content is otherwise objectionable, Columbus Messenger may refuse to post such listing or content, or may remove such listing or content from the Site. Further, Columbus Messenger may suspend (temporarily or indefinitely) or permanently terminate Your Account due to improper listings or posts.
16. Intellectual Property and Rights of Publicity: You agree not to use the Site in any manner which violates, or proposes a transaction which, if consummated, would violate the trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, trade dress, publicity or privacy rights or other proprietary rights of Columbus Messenger or any third party. You agree not to link to any third party's web site or file on that web site without that party's permission. You agree that you will not use any automatic or manual process to monitor or copy any portion of the Site without Columbus Messenger's prior written permission.
17. Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Infringement: If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide Columbus Messenger's Copyright Agent the following information:
    1. an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;
    2. a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
    3. a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site;
    4. your address, telephone number, and email address;
    5. a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
    6. a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.

    Columbus Messenger's Copyright Agent for notice of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows:

    By mail:
    Copyright Agent
    c/o Columbus Messenger
    5 Vista Dr
    Flanders NJ 07836

    By phone: 908-698-4357

    By fax:908-325-0499

18. Breach: Without limiting other remedies, we may limit your activity, immediately remove your listings, bids and/or posts, warn our community or specific users within our community of your actions, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate Your Account and refuse to provide our Services to you if: (a) you breach this Agreement or the guidelines or rules it incorporates by reference; (b) we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or (c) we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or Columbus Messenger.
19. Release: You agree that Columbus Messenger is not a party to any negotiations or transactions between the buyers and sellers who use its Site. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more users arising from any communications, negotiations, transactions, or other activities conducted or initiated through the Site or our Services, you release Columbus Messenger and (as applicable) its officers, directors, employees, agents, parents, subsidiaries, partners and affiliates from claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing this release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."
20. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES: YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE SITE AND OUR SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SITE AND OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND. Columbus Messenger EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND NONINTERFERENCE WITH YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE SITE OR SERVICES. Some states do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, so the foregoing disclaimer may not apply to you.
    
    Columbus Messenger MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES WILL SATISFY YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE AVAILABILITY OF THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR FREE, OR VIRUS FREE. NOR DOES Columbus Messenger MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES.
    
    YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT OBTAINING ANY INFORMATION OR MATERIAL AND/OR GOODS OR SERVICES THROUGH THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM ANY TRANSACTION. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM Columbus Messenger OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HEREIN.
21. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: IN NO EVENT SHALL Columbus Messenger OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, (HOWSOEVER ARISING, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR LOSS OF PROFITS, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLES, RESULTING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH (I) OUR SITE, SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT, (II) THE RECEIPT OR LOSS OF DATA, INFORMATION OR MESSAGES TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES, (III) TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES, OR (IV) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF USER'S TRANSMISSIONS OR INFORMATION, EVEN IF Columbus Messenger HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND EVEN IF ANY LIMITED REMEDY SPECIFIED HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL Columbus Messenger BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF THE SITE OR OUR SERVICES, WHETHER SUCH INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION WAS JUSTIFIED OR NOT, NEGLIGENT OR INTENTIONAL, INADVERTENT OR ADVERTENT.
    
    IN NO EVENT SHALL Columbus Messenger'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR CAUSE OF ACTION EXCEED THE LESSER OF (I) THE DOLLAR VALUE OF THE ACTUAL LOSS OR (II) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100). Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of warranties or of liability for incidental or consequential damages so some of the foregoing above may not apply to you.
22. Indemnity: You agree to defend, indemnify and hold Columbus Messenger and (as applicable) its officers, directors, employees, agents, parents, subsidiaries, partners and affiliates harmless from and against any and all claims made by or liabilities to any third party resulting from any activities conducted under Your Account, your use or misuse of the Site or our Services, including, but not limited to, posting content on the Site, entering into transactions with other Site users, contacting others as a result of their posting(s) on the Site, infringing a third party's intellectual property or other rights, failing to deliver goods or payment to other Site users or otherwise arising out of your breach of this Agreement.
23. Notice: Any notices given pursuant to this Agreement that are directed to Columbus Messenger shall be given by postal mail to: Columbus Messenger, 5 Vista Dr, Flanders NJ 07836, Attn: Legal. Any notice from Columbus Messenger that is directed to you shall be delivered to the mailing address or email address you provided us at the time of Registration, or as you may update that information from time to time. Notice shall be deemed given twenty four (24) hours after email is sent or, in the case of notice sent via postal mail, three (3) business days after the date of mailing.
24. Language: It is the express intent of the parties that this Agreement and any related documents be drawn up and executed in the English language.
25. General: This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, without regard to its conflict of laws principles, as if formed by and between New Jersey residents. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall not apply to this Agreement. You and Columbus Messenger agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the County of Morris, New Jersey. Headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of any section of this Agreement. If any part of this Agreement is deemed invalid or void, that part of the Agreement shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any of the remaining conditions. Columbus Messenger's failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. You and Columbus Messenger are independent contractors. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employer-employee or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Agreement. You agree that, except as expressly provided herein, there shall be no third party beneficiaries to this Agreement. Sections 4 (Fees and Charges), 11 (Limited License), 17 (Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Infringement), 19 (Release), 20 (Disclaimer of Warranties), 21 (Limitation of Liability), 22 (Indemnity), 23 (Notice) and 25 (General) shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement.
26. Additional Terms: The following policies are incorporated herein by reference:
    • Our Privacy Policy is available at http://www.coolerads.com/pages/privacy_policy. We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time.

In addition, other rules and guidelines posted throughout the Site may govern your activities and use of our Services.

Columbus Messenger
5 Vista Dr
Flanders NJ 07836
(908) 698-4357