Microsoft Services Agreement

Updated August 27, 2012
Effective September 27, 2012

IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES, SECTION 10 CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH MICROSOFT. PLEASE READ IT.

Thank you for choosing Microsoft!

This is an agreement between you and Microsoft Corporation (or based on where you live one of its affiliates) that describes your rights to use the software and services identified in section 1.1. For your convenience, we have phrased some of the terms of this agreement in a question and answer format. You should review the entire agreement because all of the terms are important and together create a legal agreement, once accepted by you, that applies to you.

1.1. What services are covered by this agreement? This agreement applies to Microsoft Hotmail, Microsoft SkyDrive, Microsoft account, Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft Photo Gallery, Microsoft Movie Maker, Microsoft Mail Desktop, Microsoft Writer (the foregoing are collectively referred to as the "Microsoft branded services"), Bing, MSN, Office.com, and any other software, website, or service that links to this agreement (collectively the "services").

1.2. What terms must I abide by when using the services? Our goal is to create a safer and more secure environment and therefore we require that, when using the services, users abide by these terms, the Microsoft Anti-Spam Policy (go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=117951) and the Microsoft Code of Conduct (g.live.com/0ELHP_MEREN/243), which are incorporated into this agreement by this reference (the "agreement").

1.3. How do I accept this agreement? By using or accessing the services, or by agreeing to these terms where the option is made available to you in the user interface, you agree to abide by this agreement without modification by you. If you do not agree, you may not use the services.

1.4. Can Microsoft change these terms after I have accepted them? Yes. From time to time, Microsoft may change or amend these terms. If we do, we will notify you, either through the user interface, in an email notification, or through other reasonable means. Your use of the services after the date the change becomes effective will be your consent to the changed terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the services and cancel any paid services by following the instructions in section 9.10. Otherwise, the new terms will apply to you.

1.5. What types of changes can I expect to the services? We continuously work to improve the services and may change the services at any time. Additionally, there are reasons why Microsoft may stop providing portions of the services, including (without limitation) that it's no longer feasible for us to provide it, the technology advances, customer feedback indicates a change is needed, or external issues arise that make it imprudent or impractical to continue. We may release the services or their features in beta version, which may not work correctly or in the same way the final version may work.

2.1. What is a Microsoft account? To access portions of the services, such as the Microsoft branded services, you will need a Microsoft account. The Microsoft account, formerly known as Windows Live ID, is the credentials you will use to authenticate with our network. To create a Microsoft account, you must provide a user name and password, certain demographic information, and “account proofs,” such as an alternate email address or phone number. Existing Microsoft account holders may need to provide “account proofs” to continue using their Microsoft account. You are responsible for keeping your account information and password confidential and are responsible for all activity that occurs under your Microsoft account. You can use your Microsoft account to gain access to other Microsoft products, websites, or services (like Windows, Xbox LIVE, and Windows Phone); however, the terms and conditions for those products, websites, or services, if different from this agreement, may also apply to your use of that product, website, or service. The Microsoft branded services require that you sign into your Microsoft account periodically, at a minimum every 270 days, to keep the Microsoft branded services portion of the services active, unless provided otherwise in an offer for a paid portion of the services. If you fail to sign in during this period, we may cancel your access to the Microsoft branded services. If the Microsoft branded services are canceled due to your failure to sign in, your data may be permanently deleted from our servers.

2.2. What if I can't access my Microsoft account? If you've forgotten your password or otherwise can't access your Microsoft account, you can recover your Microsoft account by visiting the Reset your password webpage (g.live.com/9uxp9cdppr/pr). Microsoft doesn't guarantee that your Microsoft account will be restored or your content (as defined later) will be safeguarded.

2.3. What if I obtained my Microsoft account from someone other than Microsoft? In some cases, we allow you to obtain your Microsoft account through a third party, like a school, a business, an Internet service provider, or the administrator of a managed domain (www.domains.live.com). In such cases, that third party may have additional rights over your Microsoft account, like the ability to reset your password, view your account usage or profile data, read or store content in your account, or suspend or cancel your Microsoft account. In these cases, you are subject to this agreement and any additional terms of use from that third party, which should be made available to you by such third party. If you are the administrator of the managed domain, you are responsible for all activity that takes place within the accounts on the managed domain.

3.1. Who owns the content that I put on the services? Content includes anything you upload to, store on, or transmit through the services, such as data, documents, photos, video, music, email, and instant messages (“content”). Except for material that we license to you that may be incorporated into your own content (such as clip art), we do not claim ownership of the content you provide on the services. Your content remains your content, and you are responsible for it. We do not control, verify, pay for, or endorse the content that you and others make available on the services.

3.2. Who can access my content? You have initial control over who may access your content. If you share content in public areas of the services or in shared areas available to others you’ve chosen, you agree that anyone you have shared content with may, for free, use, save, reproduce, distribute, display, and transmit that content in connection with their use of the services and other Microsoft, or its licensees’, products and services. If you don't want others to have that ability, don't use the services to share your content. If you use or share content on the services in a way that infringes others’ copyrights, trademarks, other intellectual property rights, or privacy rights, you are breaching this agreement. You represent and warrant that for the duration of this agreement you have (and will have) all the rights necessary for the content you upload or share on the services and that the use of the content, as contemplated in this section 3.2, won't violate any law.

3.3. What does Microsoft do with my content? When you upload your content to the services, you agree that it may be used, modified, adapted, saved, reproduced, distributed, and displayed to the extent necessary to protect you and to provide, protect and improve Microsoft products and services. For example, we may occasionally use automated means to isolate information from email, chats, or photos in order to help detect and protect against spam and malware, or to improve the services with new features that makes them easier to use. When processing your content, Microsoft takes steps to help preserve your privacy.

3.4. Does Microsoft have voice enabled services? Yes. If you use voice enabled services, you consent to Microsoft recording and collecting your voice input. The voice input will be used to provide the voice enabled services to you and improve Microsoft products and services. Microsoft won't use your voice input for any other purpose.

3.5. What type of content isn't permitted? Content that violates this agreement, which includes the Microsoft Anti-Spam Policy (go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=117951) and the Microsoft Code of Conduct (g.live.com/0ELHP_MEREN/243) or your local law isn't permitted on the services. Microsoft reserves the right to review content for the purpose of enforcing this agreement. Microsoft may block or otherwise prevent delivery of any type of email, instant message, or other communication to or from the services as part of our effort to protect the services or our customers, or otherwise enforce the terms of this agreement.

3.6. Can Microsoft remove my content from the services? Yes. We may ask you to remove your content from the services if it violates this agreement or the law. Failure to comply may result in loss of access to, or cancellation of, the services or your Microsoft account. Additionally, Microsoft may remove your content without asking you if we determine it's in violation of this agreement or the law, or if we receive a notice of intellectual property infringement from a third party.

4.1. What happens if I don't abide by these terms? If you violate this agreement, we may take action against you including (without limitation) removing your content from the services, suspending your access to the services, asking you to refrain from certain activities, canceling your services, and/or referring such activity to appropriate authorities. Additionally, we enforce a policy that provides for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of the accounts of users who are repeat infringers. In the event we take action against you for a violation of this agreement, we may permanently delete, and you may permanently lose, some or all of your content stored on the services and/or we may cancel your services in their entirety. Data that is deleted may be irretrievable.

4.2. Are there other ways I could lose access to the services? Yes. Portions of the services require that you sign into your Microsoft account at least once every 270 days. Failing to do so will (unless provided otherwise in an offer for paid services) result in a closure of your access to and use of that portion of the services, and you may permanently lose your content on that portion of the services. If you sign up for a paid portion of the services and fail to make an on-time payment, we may suspend or cancel that service (see section 9.1 for more details).

4.3. How can I terminate the services? You may terminate the services at any time and for any reason. You can do this by going to Account Services (https://accountservices.passport.net) and following the account closure process. To cancel a paid portion of the services, see section 9.10. If you are canceling your services, the quickest means of eliminating your content on the services is to manually remove it from the various components of the services (for example, manually delete your email). However, please note that while content you have deleted or that is associated with a closed account may not be accessible to you, it may still remain on our systems for a period of time.

4.4. What happens if my services are canceled or terminated? If your services are canceled or terminated (whether by you or us), your right to use the services stops immediately and your license to use our software ends. You must then uninstall the software, or, alternatively, we may disable it. If your services are canceled or terminated, we may permanently delete your content from our servers and we have no obligation to return content to you.

5.1. Does Microsoft collect my personal information? Your privacy is important to us. We use certain information that we collect from you to operate and provide the services. Additionally, as part of the services, we may also automatically upload information about your machine, your use of the services and services performance. Please read the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement (go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=253457) to learn how we use and protect your information.

5.2. Does Microsoft disclose my personal information outside of Microsoft? You consent and agree that Microsoft may access, disclose, or preserve information associated with your use of the services, including (without limitation) your personal information and content, or information that Microsoft acquires about you through your use of the services (such as IP address or other third-party information) when Microsoft forms a good faith belief that doing so is necessary (a) to comply with applicable law or to respond to legal process from competent authorities; (b) to enforce this agreement or protect the rights or property of Microsoft or our customers; or (c) to help prevent a loss of life or serious physical injury to anyone.

5.3. How does Microsoft respond to legal process? Similar to other providers of Internet services, Microsoft is served with legal demands and requests from law enforcement, government entities, and private litigants for content stored on our network. This information may relate to an alleged crime or civil matter and is usually requested pursuant to the normal legal process of the country or locality where the activity occurred. Microsoft may be obligated to comply with requests for your information or your content as part of such investigations or legal proceedings.

We strive to keep the services up and running; however, all online services suffer occasional disruptions and outages, and Microsoft isn't liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result. You should regularly backup the content that you store on the services. Having a regular backup plan and following it can help you prevent loss of your content.

7.1. What terms govern the software that is part of the services? If you use or receive software from us as part of the services, it's governed by one of two sets of license terms (the “license terms”): If you are presented with a license for the software, the terms of that license apply to the software; if no license is presented to you, the terms of this agreement apply not only to the services but also to the software (and the term “services” in this agreement includes the software). The software is licensed, not sold, and Microsoft reserves all rights to the software not expressly granted by Microsoft under the license terms, whether by implication, estoppel, or otherwise. If this agreement governs the website you are viewing, any third party scripts or code, linked to or referenced from this web site, are licensed to you by the third parties that own such code, not by Microsoft.

7.2. How can I use the software that is provided as part of the services? We grant you the right to install and use one copy of the software per device for use by only one person at a time as part of your use of the services, but only if you comply with all other terms in this agreement.

7.3. Are there things I can't do with the software or services? Yes. In addition to the other restrictions in this agreement, you may not circumvent or bypass any technological protection measures in or relating to the software or services or disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer any software or other aspect of the services that is included in or accessible through the services, except and only to the extent that the applicable copyright law expressly permits doing so; separate components of the software or services for use on different devices; publish, copy, rent, lease, or lend the software or the services; or transfer the software, any software licenses, or any rights regarding the services, except as expressly permitted by this agreement. You may not use the services in any unauthorized way that could interfere with anyone else’s use of them or gain access to any service, data, account, or network. You may not enable access to the services by unauthorized third-party applications.

7.4. How is the software updated? We may automatically check your version of the software. We may also automatically download updates to the software from time to time. You agree to accept such updates subject to these terms unless other terms accompany the updates. If so, those other terms apply. Microsoft isn't obligated to make any updates available and doesn't guarantee that we will support the version of the system for which you licensed the software.

8.1. Office.com and Office Web App media elements and templates.. If you use Microsoft Office.com or the Microsoft Office Web Apps, you may have access to media images, clip art, animations, sounds, music, video clips, templates, and other forms of content (“media elements”) provided with the software available on Office.com or as part of services associated with the software. You may copy and use the media elements in projects and documents. You may not (i) sell, license, or distribute copies of the media elements by themselves or as a product if the primary value of the product is the media elements; (ii) grant your customers rights to further license or distribute the media elements; (iii) license or distribute for commercial purposes media elements that include the representation of identifiable individuals, governments, logos, trademarks, or emblems or use these types of images in ways that could imply an endorsement or association with your product, entity or activity; or (iv) create obscene works using the media elements. For more information, see the Use of Microsoft Copyrighted Content webpage (www.microsoft.com/permission).

8.2. MSN Video. The videos and embeddable video player available on MSN Video are for your non-commercial, personal use only and, unless otherwise stated elsewhere in this agreement, may not be downloaded, copied, or redistributed without authorization from the rights holders. You may not use the embeddable video player on any website whose purpose is primarily for the display of advertising or collection of subscription revenues or is in direct competition with MSN Video unless you first get our express, written consent. You agree that your use of the embeddable video player may result in additional third-party costs, fees, and royalties, including applicable public performance royalties in your country or region.

8.3. Bing. If you have location enabled on your device when you use m.bing.com, you consent to Microsoft collecting and using your location information in accordance with the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement (go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=253457). We use your location information to provide and improve search and mapping results.

9.1. Charges. If there is a charge associated with a portion of the services, you agree to pay that charge. The price stated for the service excludes all applicable taxes and currency exchange settlements, unless stated otherwise. You are solely responsible for paying such taxes or other charges. We may suspend or cancel the services if we don't receive an on time, full payment from you. Suspension or cancellation of the services for non-payment could result in a loss of access to and use of your account and its content.

9.2. Your billing account. To pay the charges for a service, you will be asked to provide a payment method at th