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EA ONLINE TERMS OF SERVICE

EA Online (“EA Online” or “Service”), is composed of the Electronic Arts website, www.ea.com, and affiliated sites, and offers games, activities and services including POGO, EA SPORTS and EA GAMES products and services.  Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, “EA”) owns these sites.  Your use of EA Online is subject at all times to our Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy and the AOL Name Terms of Use. Your EA Online member account (“Account”) and all of our games, activities and other services, regardless of when they are added to EA Online, are governed by our Terms of Service.

 

Our player community is always evolving, so it's important that you periodically check here (as well as the rules and instructions in your favorite game areas) for updates and new information.

EA Online may update or revise the Terms of Service at any time. If we revise the Terms of Service, such revision shall be effective thirty (30) days after posting the new Terms of Service on EA Online. You agree to review the Terms of Service periodically to become aware of such revisions. You can view the Terms of Service at any time by clicking on the Terms of Service link at the bottom of our EA.com home page. Your continued use of the Service thirty (30) days after a revised Terms of Service is posted on EA Online will mean that you accept all such revisions. If you don't agree to the changes, or to any of the terms in this Terms of Service, your only remedy is not to use EA Online and to cancel any Account or services you have signed up for.

 

If you violate our Terms of Service, we may issue you a warning about the violation, or we may choose to immediately terminate any and all accounts that you have established. You acknowledge that EA Online is not required to provide you notice before terminating your Account, but it may choose to do so.

The Terms of Service and any posted rules or instructions regarding a particular game, activity, contest, or sweepstakes, constitutes the entire agreement between you and EA regarding your rights and obligations in your use of the Service. If there is any conflict between the Terms of Service and any other rules or instructions posted on EA Online, EA shall resolve the conflict in its sole discretion.  If you have questions about the Terms of Service, please contact us by sending an email to TOS@ea.com.

 

1.  EA ONLINE ACCOUNT REGISTRATION.

When you complete an EA Online registration process, you create an EA Online Account and become an EA Online Member (“Member”).  Your Account allows you to participate in certain games and activities on EA Online. To create an Account, you must select a login name and password. Your login name is your EA Online identity. You may not use a login name that is used by someone else, and your login name cannot be vulgar, or otherwise offensive, or be used in any way that violates the Terms of Service. You may not provide false information during the registration process. You must provide truthful and accurate information in creating your EA Online Account.  If you enter EA Online from America Online, your AOL screen name with which you enter on a given visit will be your login name on EA Online. If you enter EA Online from any other place on the Internet, you may use your AOL screen name as your EA Online login name.

 

You are solely responsible for all activity on your Account and for the security of your computer system or video console system. You may not reveal your password to other users. EA will not ask you to reveal your password or ever initiate any contact with you asking for your reminder words. (If you forget your password, you can tell us your reminder words and we will send you your password.) You agree to indemnify and hold EA harmless for any improper or illegal use of your Account. This includes illegal or improper use by someone to whom you have given permission to use your Account. Your Account is at risk if you let someone use it inappropriately and your Account in any of our services is subject to termination if you or anyone using your Account violates our Terms of Service. If your Account is terminated, you may not join EA Online again without our express permission.  If you wish to rejoin the service, please contact accountadmin.custhelp.com.

 

Charges, Billing And Free Trials.

You may have an EA Online Account without paying EA Online to participate in a game or other activity. However, EA will charge subscription fees to access certain areas of our sites, play certain premium games and participate in related activities on EA Online. You must have an EA Online Account and pay the subscription or other fees to participate in these activities. If you must pay a subscription fee to access part of our Service or play a particular game, this information will be posted on EA Online. Subscription fees and other billing information are published in the Account and Billing Support pages at billing.ea.com.

 

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION FEES ARE PAYABLE IN ADVANCE AND ARE NOT REFUNDABLE IN WHOLE OR IN PART.

 

EA reserves the right to change our fees or billing methods at any time and EA will provide notice of any such change at least thirty (30) days in advance. All changes will be posted on EA Online and you are responsible for reviewing the billing section of EA Online to obtain timely notice of such changes. Your continued use of the Service of thirty (30) days after posting of the changes on EA Online means that you accept such changes. If any change is unacceptable to you, you may cancel your subscription at any time, but EA will not refund any fees that may have accrued to your Account before cancellation of your subscription, and we will not prorate fees for any subscription. If your use of our services is subject to use or sales tax, then EA may also charge you for any such taxes, in addition to the subscription or other fees published in the billing section of EA Online. For further information please refer to the Account and Billing Support pages at billing.ea.com.

 

A.  Payment Options.
You may pay for subscriptions by Credit Card, Check Payment, Game Time Card or Paypal.  Game Time Cards, Paypal and Check Payment are only available for select games or services.  Subscriptions paid by Credit Card will automatically renew, unless you affirmatively cancel your subscription. Customers who use Paypal or Check Payment will incur an additional processing fee, and must contact EA each time they want to add time to their subscriptions. For further information please refer to the Account and Billing Support pages at billing.ea.com.

 

Credit Card
You may use a credit card to pay for your subscription(s). When you provide credit card information to EA, you represent to EA that you are the authorized user of the credit card that is used to pay subscription or other fees. Each month that you have an EA Online Account, you agree and reaffirm that EA is authorized to charge your credit card for the subscription fee. You agree to promptly notify EA of any changes to your credit card account number, its expiration date and/or your billing address, and you agree to promptly notify EA if your credit card expires or is canceled for any reason.

As the Account holder, you are responsible for all charges incurred, including applicable taxes, and all purchases made by you or anyone that uses your Account, including your family or friends. This means that, unless your Account or credit card information is obtained unlawfully or fraudulently by someone other than those authorized by you to use your Account, you will be responsible for all usage and purchases on your Account.

Game Time Card

You may purchase Game Time Cards at the EA STORE, or through billing.ea.com

 
Paypal

To use Paypal, please review EA’s PayPal Instructions at billing.ea.com. If you do not have a PayPal account, you may set up a free account at www.PayPal.com. EA is not affiliated with PayPal.

 
Check Payments

Check Payments are currently only available to residents inside the U.S. and require a valid checking account and driver’s license.  To pay by Check, please contact billing.ea.com.  

 

B. Trial Subscriptions.
For some games and activities, we may offer a free trial subscription. If you accept a free trial subscription, we will begin to bill your Account for that game or activity when the free trial subscription expires, unless you cancel your subscription before that time; or if you agree to terms of any other promotion associated with that subscription. You are always responsible for any Internet service provider, telephone, wireless and other connection fees that you may incur when using EA Online, even when we offer a free trial subscription.  Trial subscriptions may not be transferred at any time to any other user.

C. Fees Charged By Third-Party Sites And Vendors.
We may provide links to other web sites. Some of these web sites may charge separate fees, which are not included in any subscription or other fees that you may pay to EA. EA may also provide access to or through third-party vendors, who provide content, goods and or services on EA Online,  the Internet or via wireless. Any separate charges or obligations you incur in your dealings with these third parties are your responsibility.

 

Termination Of Account.

EA and you both have the right to terminate or cancel your Account or a particular subscription at any time.  You understand and agree that the cancellation of your Account or a particular subscription is your sole right and remedy with respect to any dispute with EA Online. This includes, but is not limited to, any dispute related to, or arising out of: (1) any term of this Terms of Service or EA’s enforcement or application of this Agreement; (2) the Content available through EA Online or any change in Content provided through EA Online; (3) your ability to access and/or use EA Online; or (4) the amount or type of fees, surcharges, applicable taxes, billing methods, or any change to the fees, applicable taxes, surcharges or billing methods.

 

You can cancel your Account or a particular subscription by delivering notice to EA Online's Customer Service Department at cancel@ea.com. EA reserves the right to collect fees, surcharges or costs incurred before you cancel your Account or a particular subscription. In addition, you are responsible for any charges incurred to third-party vendors or content providers before your cancellation. In the event that your Account or a particular subscription is terminated or canceled, no refund will be granted; no online time or other credits (e.g., points in an online game) will be credited to you or converted to cash or other form of reimbursement, and you will have no further access to your Account or anything within EA Online associated with it (such as points, tokens or in-game items). Active EA Online Account holders may not allow former Account holders whose Account has been terminated by EA Online to use their Accounts. Any delinquent or unpaid Accounts or Accounts with unresolved issues with EA Online must be settled before EA Online may allow you to register again.

 

2.  ONLINE CONTENT.

By "Content," we mean the software, communications, images, sounds, and all the material and information you see on our Service. EA, our Members, our affiliates, and our independent content providers provide most of the Content on EA Online. EA does not pre-screen all Content. You bear the entire risk of the completeness, accuracy or usefulness of Content found on EA Online.

Strong vulgar language, crude or explicit sexual references, discussions of illegal drugs, and hate speech are always inappropriate Content for EA Online. Content standards may vary depending on where you are on EA Online, the type of game you are playing and the expectations of the community. Some game play and chat rooms may involve use of stronger language than others, including mild expletives.  Always use your best judgment in online conduct. If you would not say something in a room full of people you have never met, or in the workplace, don't post it on our message boards or chat.

EA Online representatives may monitor your communications on EA Online. But we cannot monitor all of the Content on EA Online, and we do not attempt to do so.  Some of the areas on EA Online allow you to filter the chat you see. You can use this feature to reduce your exposure to words you do not wish to see. Reading the game help documents or asking our EA Online staff members or other players in the game is a great way to learn how to use these tools. If you encounter something you don't want to see, you can report it to the game support or complaint e-mail address for the area in which the incident occurred.  EA does not endorse, approve, or prescreen any Content that you or other users communicate on the Service.  EA does not assume any responsibility or liability for Content that is generated by Members or other guests on EA Online.  We reserve the right to remove Content that is objectionable to us for any reason. This determination is in our sole discretion, and is final.  EA does not assume any liability for any failure to remove, or any delay in removing, Content.

 

If we removed Content that you created, we may send you a warning. If it's a serious offense or you've violated our rules before, we may ban you from participating on EA Online and terminate your Account.

 

3.  ONLINE CONDUCT.

Online conduct should be guided by common sense and basic etiquette.  The laws that apply in the offline world must be obeyed online as well. We have zero tolerance for illegal behavior on EA Online. You must also obey rules for use of third party tools, and rules of interactive service providers, state, local, federal laws, or foreign or international law where appropriate. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. We terminate use of EA Online and cooperate with law enforcement for illegal behavior.

 

You agree that you will be personally responsible for your use of EA Online and for all of your communication and activity on the Service, including any Content you contribute, and that you will indemnify and hold harmless EA., its affiliates, employees, officers, and directors from any liability or damages arising from your conduct on EA Online, including any Content that you contribute.

 

You will violate the Terms of Service if you (or others using your Account) do any of the following:

    * Post, transmit, promote, or distribute Content that is illegal

    * Harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another Member or guest that is unwanted. This means: don't say bad things about them, don't keep sending them unwanted messages, don't attack their race, sexual orientation, religion, heritage, etc. If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person.

    * Transmit or facilitate distribution of Content that is harmful, abusive, racially or ethnically offensive, vulgar, sexually explicit, defamatory, infringing, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, or in a reasonable person's view, objectionable. Hate speech is not tolerated.

    * Disrupt the flow of chat in chat rooms with vulgar language, abusiveness, hitting the return key repeatedly or inputting large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, use of excessive shouting [all caps] in an attempt to disturb other users, “spamming” or flooding [posting repetitive text].

    * Impersonate another person (including celebrities), indicate that you are an EA employee or a representative of EA Online, or attempt to mislead users by indicating that you represent EA or any of EA 's partners or affiliates.

    * Attempt to get a password, other account information, or other private information from a Member or any other user on EA Online. Remember: EA Online employees will NEVER ask for your password. Don't give your password, reminder words, or billing information out to anyone.

    * Upload any software or Content that you do not own or have permission to freely distribute.

    * Promote or encourage any illegal activity including hacking, cracking or distribution of counterfeit software

    * Upload files that contain a virus or corrupted data.

    * Post messages for any purpose other than personal communication, including without limitation advertising, promotional materials, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or make any commercial use of our Service.

    * Improperly use in game support or complaint buttons or make false reports to EA Online staff members.
    * Use or distribute “auto” software programs, “macro” software programs or other “cheat utility” software program or applications.

·       You may not modify any part of the Service or any Service Web Site that EA does not specifically authorize you to modify.

·        You must obey all applicable laws, regulations and rules wherever you are on the Service. This includes rules for use of third-party technology and content, rules of interactive service providers, and federal, state, local and foreign laws where applicable. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.  The laws that apply in the offline world must be obeyed online as well.  We have zero tolerance for illegal behavior on the Service.  We will cooperate with law enforcement in such matters.

·        You may not post or communicate any player’s real-world personal information within the Service or through any Service Web Site or any Service bulletin board.

·       You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running the Service.

·        You will not exploit any bug in the Service or in any EA product to gain unfair advantage in the game and you will not communicate the existence of any such bug (either directly or through the public posting) to any other user of the Service.

·        You will not attempt to play your EA game on or through any service that is not controlled or authorized by Electronic Arts.  You will not participate in any online service that provides online features or game play for your EA game that is not authorized by Electronic Arts.

·        You will not do anything that interferes with the ability of other Service users to enjoy playing an EA game and using the Service, in accordance with its rules, or that materially increases the expense or difficulty of Electronic Arts in maintaining the Service for the enjoyment of all its users.

If you encounter another user of the Service who is violating any of the Rules of Conduct described above, please report them using the “Help” or “Report Abuse” functions of the Service (e.g., to capture chat and to report abusive users).


Electronic Arts does not recognize or condone any outside service that may be used for the exchange of points, assets or attributes that you may accumulate as a result of participating in the Service or playing your EA game.  This includes the exchange of points or EA Elite cards on services including eBay™ or Yahoo!™ Auctions.  We don’t assume any responsibility for, and won’t support, such transactions.  ALWAYS USE CAUTION WHEN EXCHANGING ASSETS ON THESE SERVICES!

YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT THESE RULES WILL APPLY TO ANYONE THAT YOU ALLOW TO USE YOUR SERVICE ACCOUNT OR USER ID, AND THAT YOU ARE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES (INCLUDING TERMINATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT) THAT MAY RESULT IF ANY SUCH PERSON BREAKS THESE RULES.


IN ORDER TO HELP MAKE THE SERVICE A GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR EVERYONE, EA MAY OCCASIONALLY FIND IT NECESSARY TO MAKE CHANGES TO, OR RESET CERTAIN PARAMETERS OF, THE SERVICE IN ORDER TO BRING IT BACK INTO BALANCE. THESE CHANGES OR RESETS MAY AFFECT CHARACTERS OR TEAMS UNDER YOUR CONTROL AND MAY CAUSE YOU SETBACKS WITHIN THE GAME WORLD.

THESE RULES MAY BE CHANGED, AND NEW RULES MAY BE ADDED, AT ANY TIME. YOU AGREE TO CHECK THE SERVICE WEB SITE FROM TIME TO TIME TO REVIEW ANY RULE CHANGES THAT ELECTRONIC ARTS MAY HAVE MADE.

Public Nature of Communications.

You acknowledge and agree that your communications with other users via chats, conferences, bulletin boards, and any other avenues of communication on this Service are public and not private communications, and that you have no expectation of privacy concerning your use of this Service. You acknowledge that personal information that you communicate on this Service may be seen and used by others and result in unsolicited communications, therefore we strongly encourage you not to disclose any personal information about yourself in your public communications on our Service. EA is not responsible for information that you choose to communicate to other users on the Service, or for the actions of other users.

 

Once you post or send any Content to EA Online, you expressly grant EA. the complete and irrevocable right to quote, re-post, use, reproduce, modify, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and perform the Content in any form, anywhere, with or without attribution to your screen name in EA's discretion, and without any notice or compensation to you of any kind.

 

Commercial Activity and Unsolicited E-mail.

You may not advertise any goods or services on EA Online. Chain letters and pyramid schemes are not allowed. You may not use any area of EA Online to collect information, including login names, about EA Online Members, and use of such information to send unsolicited e-mail or for any other purpose is strictly prohibited. You may not exploit EA Online, or any games or services offered on EA Online for any commercial purpose. Any violation of these provisions can subject your EA Online Account(s) to immediate termination (or result in revocation of Guest status, if you are a guest) and further legal action.

Use of Machines, Computers, Scripts.

The use of machines, computers, scripts or any automated system on EA Online is strictly prohibited and may result in criminal liability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Section 1030 of the United States Code. You may only play EA Online games with one type, version or copy of browsing software application at any one time. EA may terminate and permanently disqualify any Members who, in its sole discretion, determines as being in violation of these Terms of Service.   All decisions by EA are final.

 

Proprietary Rights; Copyrights and Trademarks.

Much of the Content available on EA Online is owned by EA or our licensors, and is protected by copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights. You shall not copy or download any Content from EA Online unless we have expressly authorized you to do so.

You must have the legal right to upload any Content to EA Online before you do so. You shall not copy, transmit, modify, distribute, show in public or in private, modify or create any derivative works from the Content you find on EA Online, unless EA expressly authorizes you to do so  in writing. Making unauthorized copies of any Content found on EA Online can lead to the termination of your EA Online Account(s) (or revocation of Guest status, if you are a guest) and may subject you to further legal action. Similarly, other content owners may take criminal or civil action against you. In that event, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless EA and its subsidiaries, affiliates, related companies, employees, officers, directors and agents.
 

EA Online Software.

Some games on EA Online may require that you download software from EA or its licensors onto your computer ("EA Online Software"). EA grants to you a non-exclusive, limited license to use EA Online Software to play games on our Service. You may not sub-license, or charge others to use or access EA Online Software. You may not use EA Online Software for any other purpose. You may not translate, reverse-engineer, reverse-compile or decompile, disassemble or make derivative works from EA Online Software. You may not modify EA Online Software or use it in any way not expressly authorized in writing by EA. You understand that EA’s introduction of various technologies may not be consistent across all platforms and that the performance and some features offered by EA may vary depending on your computer and other equipment.

NEITHER EA NOR ITS LICENSORS HAVE ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND OR NATURE IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE EA ONLINE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING LIABILITY FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES OR DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE), AND THE ENTIRE RISK OF USE (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE) RESIDES WITH YOU.

 

EA Online Software may be subject to United States export controls. By downloading EA Online Software from EA, you warrant that you are not located in any country, or exporting EA Online Software to any person or place, to which the United States has embargoed goods.

 
Export Control Laws.

You agree to abide by U.S. and other applicable export control laws and not to transfer, by electronic transmission or otherwise, any Content or EA Online Software subject to restrictions under such laws to a national destination prohibited by such laws, without first obtaining, and then complying with, any requisite government authorization. You further agree not to upload to EA Online any data or software that cannot be exported without prior written government authorization, including, but not limited to, certain types of encryption software. The assurances and commitments in this Section shall survive termination of this Agreement.

User’s Computer Information.

When you connect to EA Online, we may retrieve information from the computer used to log onto the Service about the computer's hardware system and any data related to the computer's operation of EA Online Software. We will not collect any personal information about you, however, without your knowledge and consent as stated in our Privacy Policy.

 

Links to Third-Party Sites.

EA Online may include hyperlinks to web sites operated by parties other than EA including advertisers and other content providers. Those sites may collect data or solicit personal information from you. EA does not control such web sites, and is not responsible for their content, privacy policies, or for the collection, use or disclosure of any information those sites may collect.

 
Additional Terms and Conditions for Specific Games.

When you subscribe to play certain games (for example, Ultima Online), you may need to read and agree to a service or membership agreement that is specific to that game, and which may have terms that are slightly different from the ones that are found here. Your subscription to that game, and play of that game, is subject to those specific terms and this Terms of Service. If there are any inconsistencies between the game specific terms and these terms, EA will be the final and sole arbiter of any such inconsistencies.

C. Fees Charged By Third-Party Sites And Vendors.
We may provide links to other web sites. Some of these web sites may charge separate fees, which are not included in any subscription or other fees that you may pay to EA. EA may also provide access to or through third-party vendors, who provide content, goods and or services on EA Online,  the Internet or via wireless. Any separate charges or obligations you incur in your dealings with these third parties are your responsibility.

I was reading EA's TOU and found this.  How does it affect the EULA or copyright?  Aren't they saying that it is ok to sell content?  This is just a question, because I really don't know.

I hear changes are in the wind, but that's all I can say....just be on the lookout though.

I hear changes are in the wind, but that's all I can say....just be on the lookout though.

I hear changes are in the wind, but that's all I can say....just be on the lookout though.