Terms & conditions

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF SERVICE CAREFULLY BECAUSE THEY DESCRIBE YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

This is the official Terms of Service Agreement ("Agreement") for BarkingUniverse.com ("Site," "we," "us," or "our"), an Internet website owned and operated by James M. Young and any app/game listed on the site. This Agreement governs only the content, features, and activities related to this Site and any apps/games that were produced and licensed by us.

This agreement applies to BarkingUniverse.com and all microsites contained within it, namely Solitaire, Productivity, MetroMaps and Flash games.

This Site is offered and made available only to users thirteen (13) years of age or older. If you are not yet 13 years old or the required greater age for certain features, please discontinue using the Site immediately, or if for any reason, you do not agree with all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, please discontinue using the Site and any apps/games immediately because by using or attempting to use the Site or any apps/games, you certify that you are at least 13 years of age (or other required greater age for certain features, where applicable) and meet any other eligibility requirements of the Site. If you are found to be underage, you may be blocked/your account may be terminated without notice.

These terms and conditions regarding your use of the Site constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the Site and James M. Young. In this Agreement, the term "Site" includes all websites and web pages within the Site as well as any equivalent, mirror, replacement, substitute or backup websites and web pages that are associated with the Site and also any apps/games available on the site. By using this Site or apps/games, you understand, acknowledge and agree that you will abide by the terms of this Agreement and any additional terms that govern certain products and services.

The words "use" and/or "using" in this Agreement mean any time an individual (a "user"), directly or indirectly, with or without the aid of a machine or device, does or attempts to access, interact with use, display, view, print or copy from the Site, transmit, receive or exchange data or communicate with the Site, or in any way utilizes, benefits, takes advantage of or interacts with any function, service or feature of the Site, for any purpose whatsoever. This Agreement does not cover your rights or responsibilities with respect to third party content or sites or any links that may direct your browser or your connection to third party sites or pages. This is the entire and exclusive Agreement between you and us regarding use of the Site and it cannot be modified, except as specifically described below in the modifications section.

Registration and use of password

We may require each user to have a unique username and password combination in order to access and use certain features or functions of the Site or apps/games. Please read our Privacy policy, which describes the personally identifiable information ("Personal Information") we collect, use, disclose, manage and store. As part of the registration process for the feature or function, you will choose a username and password. Your username and password are personal to you and you may not allow any others to use your username or password under any circumstances. We are not liable for any harm caused or related to the theft or misappropriation of your username or password, disclosure of your username or password, or your authorization of anyone else to use your username or password. You agree to notify us immediately if you become aware of or believe there is or may have been any unauthorized use of (or activity using) your username or password or any other need to deactivate your username or password due to security concerns. PASSWORDS ARE ISSUED ON A PERSONAL BASIS. ACCORDINGLY, ALL CONTENT OR INSTRUCTIONS TRANSMITTED BY OR RECEIVED FROM ANYONE PRESENTING YOUR PASSWORD ON THE SITE WILL BE DEEMED BINDING ON YOU. You agree that you are solely responsible and liable for all actions taken via your password, whether or not made with your knowledge or authority. You agree to guard your password carefully, with the full awareness that a failure to keep it secure will enable others to engage in transactions through the Site for which you will be legally responsible.

Subscriptions

Some of the Site's apps/games include subscriptions, which when purchased give you additional features. When a subscription is purchased, it will run from the date it was purchased till the same date the next year (or a day before if a leap year). If you already have a subscription for an app then the subscription end date will be a year after the previous subscription expires. Once a subscription has been purchased it cannot be refunded for any reason. Subscriptions can be renewed up to 1 month before they expire. At this time you will have to manually confirm renewal of a subscription. This may change in the future, we will notify via email if it does. If your account is deleted all subscriptions will be cancelled from the date of account deletion and no refunds will be offered. All prices for subscriptions are in GBP. We reserve the right to change the prices of subscriptions from time to time.

Payments

Payments for subscriptions are managed by Stripe, a third party payment provider. By purchasing a subscription you are also agreeing to their terms & conditions. Stripe deal with payment details, no card details or payment account details are stored on Barking Universe's servers.

Modifications

We reserve the right, at any time and from time to time, for any reason in our sole discretion, to change the terms of this Agreement. We will post or display notices of material changes on the Site and/or email you or notify you upon login about these changes; the form of such notice is at our discretion. Once we post them on the Site, these changes become effective immediately and if you use the Site after they become effective it will signify your agreement to be bound by the changes. You should check back frequently and review the terms and conditions of this Agreement so you are aware of the most current rights and obligations that apply to you and the terms and conditions of your agreement with us.

Ownership of intellectual property

The contents of this Site, including all Site software, design, text, images, photographs, illustrations, audio and video material, artwork, graphic material, databases, proprietary information and all copyrightable or otherwise legally protectable elements of the Site, including, without limitation, the selection, sequence and 'look and feel' and arrangement of items, and all trademarks, service marks and trade names (individually and/or collectively, "Material"), are the property of James M. Young. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise or we explicitly say so in writing, the term "Site" includes "Material" as well. The Site is to be used solely for your non-commercial, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable and limited personal use and for no other purposes. You must not alter, delete or conceal any copyright or other notices contained on the Site, including notices on any Material you download, transmit, display, print or reproduce from the Site. You shall not, nor will you allow any third party (whether or not for your benefit) to reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, display, perform, publish, distribute, disseminate, broadcast or circulate to any third party (including, without limitation, on or via a third party website), or otherwise use, any Material without the express prior written consent of James M. Young. Any unauthorized or prohibited use of any Material may subject you to civil liability, criminal prosecution, or both, under applicable federal, state and local laws. We require users to respect our copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights. We likewise respect the intellectual property of others. We take protection of copyrights, both our own and others, very seriously. We therefore employ multiple measures to prevent copyright infringement over this Site and to promptly end any infringement that might occur.

Rules of conduct

Your use of the Site is subject to all applicable local, state, national laws and regulations and, in some cases, international treaties. You are solely responsible for all activities, acts and omissions that occur in, from, through or under your username or password. You shall not use, allow, or enable others to use the Site, or knowingly condone use of this Site by others, in any manner that is, attempts to, or is likely to:

be libelous, defamatory, indecent, vulgar or obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit or sexually suggestive, racially, culturally, or ethnically offensive, harmful, harassing, intimidating, threatening, hateful, objectionable, discriminatory, or abusive, or which may or may not appear to impersonate anyone else;
affect us adversely or reflect negatively on us, the Site, our goodwill, our employees or moderators, our name or reputation, or cause duress, distress or discomfort to us or anyone else, or discourage any person, firm or enterprise from using all or any portion, features or functions of the Site, or from advertising, linking or becoming a supplier to us in connection with the Site;
send or result in the transmission of junk e-mail, chain letters, duplicative or unsolicited messages, surveys, contests, pyramid scheme, or so-called "spamming" and "phishing", or encourage other users to copy a message;
be used for commercial or business purposes, including, without limitation, advertising, marketing or offering goods or services, whether or not for financial or any other form of compensation or through linking with any other website or web pages;
transmit, distribute or upload programs or material that contain malicious code, such as viruses, timebombs, cancelbots, worms, trojan horses, spyware, or other potentially harmful programs or other material or information, or link to any web site which promotes or teaches these actions;
create a false identity for the purpose of misleading others (including the creation of alternate accounts) or forge any TCP/IP packet header or part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting for any reason;
contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
"stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;
violate any laws, regulations (including, without limitation, laws regarding the transmission of technical data or software exported from the United Kingdom), judicial or governmental order or any treaties, or violate or infringe upon any intellectual property rights, rights of publicity or privacy or any other rights of ours or of any other person, firm or enterprise; gain unauthorized access to the Site, other users' accounts, names, passwords, personally identifiable information or other computers, websites or pages, connected or linked to the Site or to use the Site in any manner which violates or is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement;
modify, disrupt, impair, alter or interfere with the use, features, functions, operation or maintenance of the Site or the rights of use and enjoyment of the Site by any other person, firm or enterprise; or
collect, obtain, compile, gather, transmit, reproduce, delete, revise, view or display any material or information, whether personally identifiable or not, posted by or concerning any other person, firm or enterprise, in connection with their or your use of the Site, unless you have obtained the express, prior permission of such other person, firm or enterprise to do so.

Limited non-commercial license to use site

Barking Universe hereby grants you the limited right to access, view and use the Site only for the purposes of accessing, viewing or downloading content, placing store orders or for accessing information, apps/games and services. Barking Universe reserves the right to suspend or deny, in its sole discretion, your access to all or any portion of the Site. This license is limited to personal and non-commercial uses by you. Any rights not expressly granted to you herein are reserved to Barking Universe. Unless you have received specific written permission from Barking Universe, you may not (a) "frame" or otherwise impose editorial comment, commercial material or any information or content on, or in proximity to, content displayed on the Site; (b) alter or modify any content on the Site; or (c) deep link or gain unauthorized access to any portion of the Site. Without limiting other restrictions, you agree not to reproduce, transmit, sell, or otherwise exploit the Site and/or apps/games for any commercial purpose.

Limited non-commercial license to use apps/games

Barking Universe may offer you the ability to use certain apps/games, including without limitation, email functions, software and services that allow you to download specific content from the Site. The apps/games that are made available to you are the copyrighted work of James M. Young. The use of each app/game is governed by the end user license agreement ("EULA") that accompanies or is included in the app/game or is expressly stated on the Site pages accompanying the app/game and this Agreement. In the event that no EULA accompanies the app/game, then only this Agreement shall govern your use of the app/game. You may not download or use any app/game from the Site without agreeing to the EULA, if any, and this Agreement. Barking Universe may cease support of any app/game at any time in its sole discretion or terminate your use of or access to any app/game.

Hyperlinks to third party sites

The appearance, availability, or your use of URLs or hyperlinks referenced or included anywhere on the Site or any other form of link or re-direction of your connection to, with or through the Site, does not constitute an endorsement by, nor does it incur any obligation, responsibility or liability on the part of, the Site, BarkingUniverse.com.

Deactivation/termination of your registration or use

If you are registered to use the Site, your account will remain active. If you wish to discontinue use of the site, you should no longer log into your account or login and then delete your account. If you delete your account it will remain on our system for 30 days before it is then permanently deleted. It is your responsibility to contact us in this 30 day window if you want your account reinstated. A permanently deleted account, along with any content and transactions associated with it, cannot be restored.

DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY THIS SITE, AND ALL MATERIALS, PRODUCTS AND POSTINGS ARE MADE AVAILABLE ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OR ANY GUARANTY OR ASSURANCE THE SITE WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR USE, OR THAT ALL PRODUCTS, FEATURES, FUNCTIONS OR OPERATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE OR PERFORM AS DESCRIBED. Without limiting the foregoing, we are not responsible or liable for any malicious code, delays, inaccuracies, errors, or omissions arising out of your use of the Site. You understand, acknowledge and agree that you are assuming the entire risk as to the quality, accuracy, performance, timeliness, adequacy, completeness, correctness, authenticity, security and validity of any and all features and functions of the Site, including, without limitation, Postings and Materials associated with your use of the Site.

EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT, WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO ANY AND ALL PRODUCTS. EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY MADE IN WRITING, WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF ANY AND EVERY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO ANY AND ALL PRODUCTS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, THIS SITE, BARKINGUNIVERSE.COM, ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES, OR THEIR RESPECTIVE SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, LICENSORS, OPERATIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS, ADVERTISERS, OR SUPPLIERS, SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE, OF ANY KIND, DIRECT OR INDIRECT, IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING FROM USE OF THE SITE OR FROM THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COMPENSATORY, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

YOU AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR ANY BREACH OF THESE TERMS BY THE SITE SHALL BE, AT THE SITE'S OPTION, (1) SUBSTITUTION OR REPLACEMENT OF ALL OR PART OF THE APPLICATION OR GAME THAT GIVES RISE TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY YOU IN REASONABLE RELIANCE ON THE SITE; OR (2) REFUND OF THE AMOUNT THAT YOU PAID TO THE SITE. YOU AGREE THAT THE DAMAGE EXCLUSIONS IN THESE TERMS SHALL APPLY EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

Assumption of risks and mature content

YOU ASSUME ALL RISKS THAT THE SITE, CONTENT, USER MATERIALS, APPS/GAMES, AND RELATED INFORMATION ARE SUITABLE OR ACCURATE FOR YOUR NEEDS AND WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE. ANY APPS/GAMES DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE ARE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER OR LOSS OF DATA.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold the Site, BarkingUniverse.com, and any of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, licensors, Advertisers, suppliers, and operational service providers harmless from and against any and all claims, actions, losses, expenses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees), resulting from any breach or violation of this Agreement by you, or public posting of your Postings.

Privacy

We respect your privacy and the use and protection of your Personal Information. Please see our Privacy policy for important information and disclosures relating to the collection and use of your Personal Information in connection with your use of the Site.

International usage

This Site is controlled and operated by James M. Young from its offices within Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. Barking Universe makes no representation that the Site, apps/games, or related information offered are appropriate or available in other locations. Those who choose to access the Site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

Law that applies to this agreement & miscellaneous terms

This Agreement, together with any Additional Terms, Rules, our Privacy Policy and any other regulations, procedures and policies which we refer to and which are hereby incorporated by reference, contains the entire understanding and agreement between you and the Site and supersedes any and all prior or inconsistent understandings relating to the Site and your use of the Site. This Agreement cannot be changed or terminated orally. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, this will not affect any other provisions and the Agreement will be deemed amended to the extent necessary to make it legal, valid and enforceable. Any provision which must survive in order to allow us to enforce its meaning shall survive the termination of this Agreement; however, no action arising out of this Agreement or your use of the Site, regardless of form or the basis of the claim, may be brought by you more than one (1) year after the cause of action has arisen (or if multiple causes, from the date the first such cause arose).

This Terms of Service Agreement was last modified on 5th January 2024, and is effective immediately.