The following page consists of Mahalo.Com's terms of service.  Please review these terms and conditions before becoming active within the Mahalo community.

Mahalo content is copyrighted under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States license.  Under this license, anyone is free to copy, distribute, display, and to use Mahalo's content to make derivative works provided that the content used is attributed to Mahalo in both plain English and via a hypertext link and notice is given that the content is being used under the terms of this license.  Additionally, should the material be used in print form, the full URL address of the source material must be included in the attribution language.

Mahalo adheres to "Standard English" conventions and usage; users not respecting "Standard English" usage may be banned from the site at any time.

Mahalo monitors to see if there are multiple accounts coming from the same location. We understand that, in some cases, there are multiple individuals (family, friends) using Mahalo from the same location.  If this is the case, we ask that you contact Mahalo and make us aware of your situation.  We insist that you do not vote for answers written by users at your location as “Best Answer” and do not shift or aggregate money between these accounts under any circumstances.  If you do not contact Mahalo about your multiple accounts, or fail to use multiple accounts in a manner consistent with these regulations and principles, you are at risk for losing all accumulated Mahalo Dollars and having your account banned.

Posing questions, either under a secondary Mahalo account or anonymously and then answering those questions in order to collect a minimum tip is considered “gaming.” This behavior is monitored by Mahalo closely.  If you are discovered attempting to game the site in this way, you will lose all accumulated Mahalo Dollars and/or US Dollars and have your account removed from the system.

1. You must comply with all the terms of these Terms of Service in order to use Mahalo;
2. You must be 13 years or older to use the Mahalo Answers or Mahalo Dollar system, and 18 years of age or older to participate in the Mahalo Guide System;
3. Should you create a login and apply for an account (a "Mahalo Account"), you must provide accurate and complete registration information, and you are responsible for any activity that occurs under your username.  Multiple accounts will lead to all accounts being closed;
4. You are responsible for keeping your password secure;
5. You must not use the Services to abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate, intimidate or otherwise violate the legal rights (including rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
6. You must not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; International users agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content;
7. You are solely responsible for your conduct and any data, text, information, screen names, graphics, photos, profiles, audio and video clips, or links ("Content") that you submit, post, display and/or distribute on or through the Services;
8. You must not modify, adapt, reverse engineer, or hack the Site or the Services (including any of its subpages or software provided on or through the Site) or modify another website so as to falsely imply that it is associated with Mahalo;
9. You must not create or submit unwanted email to any of Mahalo's members ("Spam");
10. You must not transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature;
11. You must not, in the use of the Services, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, proprietary rights and copyright laws).

Violation of any of these Terms of Services will result in the termination of your Mahalo Account. While Mahalo prohibits such conduct and content on its Site, you understand and agree that Mahalo cannot be responsible for the Content posted on its Site by members, and you nonetheless may be exposed to such materials and that you use the Services at your own risk.

1. We reserve the right to modify or terminate the Services for any reason, without notice, at any time;
2. We reserve the right to alter these Terms of Service at any time.  If the alterations constitute a material change to the Terms of Service, we will notify you via internet mail.  What constitutes a "material change" will be determined at our sole discretion, in good faith and using common sense and reasonable judgment;
3. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time;
4. We may, but have no obligation to, remove Content and accounts containing Content that we determine in our sole discretion are advertisements, unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party's intellectual property or these Terms of Service.  In addition, you agree that any Content you provide shall not contain any advertisements or links to any of your affiliate websites (directly or indirectly – such link, an "Affiliated Link"), and you agree that whether any such link constitutes an Affiliated Link shall be determined by Mahalo, in its sole discretion;
5. We encourage you to use discretion while browsing the Internet using links initiated at the Site. Links presented on the Site may unintentionally lead to other sites containing information that some people may find inappropriate or offensive; sites which contain inaccurate information, false or misleading advertising; or sites containing information which violates copyright, libel or defamation laws;
6. You agree and acknowledge that you have no expectation of privacy with respect to the Internet in general. For more information on Mahalo's privacy policy, please visit http://www.mahalo.com/Privacy_Policy;
7. These Terms of Services are effective as of the time you first access the Site and shall continue in full force and effect until terminated as follows:
   1. You may terminate your Mahalo Account for any reason or no reason at any time. In the event you have registered for a Mahalo Account to use the Services, once you terminate your membership, you shall have no further rights or privileges to use the Services; or
   2. Mahalo may terminate your Mahalo Account and access to or use of the Services for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, at any time.
   (These basic and general terms were inspired by Twitter, whose terms of service were inspired, with permission, by Flickr.)

1. Mahalo's Trademarks.  Unless there is a written agreement between you and Mahalo, you understand and agree that nothing in these Terms of Service gives you the right to use Mahalo's trademarks, trade names, service marks, logos, domain names, and any other distinctive brand features;
2. All content you write and submit to Mahalo in exchange for payment, whether in the form of cash or Mahalo Dollars (as defined herein), the “Submitted Content,” becomes the intellectual property of Mahalo.  By submitting such Submitted Content and receiving such consideration, you agree (a) to assign to Mahalo all right, title and interest in such Submitted Content, and (b) to execute such further instruments and agreements and to give such further written assurances as may be reasonably requested by Mahalo. This includes questions and answers on the Mahalo Answers system, submissions to Mahalo Tasks and changes made to the content of Mahalo Topic Pages.  Edits and text added to your personal Mahalo user profile remains yours;
3. By submitting any Content to the Site, you agree to grant Mahalo and its users permission to access and use your Content; provided, however, that any Submitted Content shall be subject to Section 2 above.  As such, you hereby grant to Mahalo a non-exclusive, worldwide, assignable, sub-licensable, royalty-free license to publish, use, reproduce, distribute, transmit, adapt, modify, create derivative of, provide user access to, publicly perform and publicly display, in every manner and medium now or hereafter known, any and all Content (in whole or in part) solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted.  This license shall be in effect for so long as such Content remains on the Site, and will terminate at the time you or Mahalo removes such Content from the Site.  You understand and agree, however, that Mahalo may retain server copies of any Content that has been removed or deleted. Mahalo shall have no obligation to use or take any action with respect to any Content;
4. You can notify Mahalo of possible copyright infringement.  Mahalo undertakes to obey all relevant copyright laws.  We will review all claims of copyright infringement received and remove content deemed to have been posted or distributed in violation of any such laws. To make a claim, please provide us with the following:
   1. A physical or an electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest that is allegedly infringed;
   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 reasonably sufficient to permit Mahalo to locate the material;
   4. Your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and email;
   5. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law, and;
   6. A statement by you that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you, made under penalty of perjury, are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf;
   7. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notifications can be sent to copyright at mahalo dot com or Mahalo.Com, Inc., 902 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401;
5. Your Comments – by submitting ideas, comments, suggestions, documents, and/or proposals ("User Comments") to Mahalo through the Services, you agree to grant Mahalo permission to use or disclose (or choose not to use or disclose), without any restriction or limitation, any such User Comments for any purpose, in any way, in any media worldwide.  In order to allow Mahalo to use your User Comments, you acknowledge and agree that:
   1. Mahalo is not under any obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to such User Comments;
   2. Mahalo may have under consideration or in development something similar to such User Comments already;
   3. You are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from Mahalo under any circumstances for such User Comments.

Not Professional Advice. Information provided via the Services is not intended to substitute for informed medical, psychiatric, psychological, financial, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice.  If you desire or require professional assistance or advice, please consult a qualified provider who is licensed in your state or country.  You should always seek independent professional advice in the applicable area before acting on any opinion, advice, or information available on the Service;

Confidentiality; Use of Information. The questions or comments you submit and the responses you receive do not form the basis for a professional-client relationship, including but not limited to attorney-client, physician-patient, or therapist-patient and are not subject to standards or requirements of confidentiality and/or privilege associated therewith;

No Reliance on Term "Expert." Throughout this Site, certain terms, including "Expert", "Specialist", "Consultant" or "Advisor" may be used to refer to someone who claims to have certain knowledge, background or experience that may be useful in responding to a question posed by a user.  Use of such terms provides no assurance that the person answering your question has any expertise or qualifications to give such advice.  You acknowledge that Mahalo has not and cannot independently verify their qualifications.

Mahalo "currency", which is called Mahalo Dollars, is a limited license right available for purchase at Mahalo's discretion.

You acknowledge that the Service presently includes a component of fictional currency ("Currency" or "Mahalo Dollars" or "M$"), which constitutes a limited license right to use a feature of our product when, as, and if allowed by Mahalo. Mahalo may distribute Mahalo Dollars, in its sole discretion.  Regardless of terminology used, Mahalo Dollars represent a limited license right governed solely under the terms of this Agreement. You agree that Mahalo has the absolute right to manage, regulate, control, modify and/or eliminate such Currency as it sees fit in its sole discretion, in any general or specific case, and that Mahalo will have no liability to you based on its exercise of such right. Mahalo Dollars are for use only within the Mahalo economy including the Mahalo Store. All Mahalo Dollars in user accounts not accessed for 90 consecutive days will be swept from the user account and re-circulated back into the Mahalo economy.

Direct Questions with attached tips should be utilized only as compensation for an individual, appropriate Answer.  It is considered a violation of these terms to use “tipping” to sell, purchase or trade Mahalo Dollars with other Mahalo users as part of an outside arrangement.

Notwithstanding any other language or context to the contrary, as used in this Agreement and throughout the Service in the context of Currency transfer:

1. The term "sell" means "to transfer for consideration to Mahalo the licensed right to use Currency in accordance with the Terms of Service"
2. The term "buy" means "to receive for consideration from Mahalo the licensed right to use Currency in accordance with the Terms of Service."

You set the tip you're willing to offer for a helpful answer, and we collect a deposit from your Mahalo Dollars balance.  To honor the time answerers spend helping you, you are required to choose a best answer, and give the tip you offered, if any helpful answer is received.

If you do not receive a helpful answer, your deposit is fully refundable.  To receive a refund, select “no best answer” on the page with your question within four days of when you asked the question and we will refund the Mahalo Dollars to your account.  If you select “no best answer” and rescind the tip, we'll note that you rescinded a tip on your profile, and the people who answered your question will be invited to give you public feedback.  You should only rescind a tip if you feel your question was not answered.

If you do not select “no best answer” within four days of asking your question, you forfeit your right to a refund and the answer with the most votes will automatically be selected as best answer. In the event of a tie, or a situation in which no answer has received a vote after four days, the question will remain open until a Best Answer is chosen.  Once you select a best answer or four days pass without the use of the “no best answer” option, no refunds are permitted or possible.

Tip any answer or comment.  You can give a tip to the author of any answer or comment you find particularly helpful.  When you give a tip for a specific answer or comment, we send the tip immediately and do not offer refunds.

When you ask a direct question, you can set the tip you're willing to give for a helpful answer at or above the answerer's minimum tip, and we'll collect a deposit via PayPal or from your account balance.  To honor the time the answerer spends helping you, you are required to rate the answer, and give the tip you offered, if you receive a helpful answer.

If you do not receive a helpful answer, you can request a full refund.  To request a refund, click request refund on the page with your direct question and explain the reason for your request.  All reasonable refund requests will be honored.  If you funded the tip with a credit card or PayPal and we honor the refund request, we will issue a full refund via PayPal.  If you funded the tip using your account balance and we honor the refund request, we will refund the Mahalo Dollars to your account. However, once you rate the answer, no refunds are permitted or possible.  If you do not rate the answer or request a refund within seven days of receiving an answer, your tip will be given to the answerer.

If you do not rate the answer or request a refund within seven days of receiving an answer, your tip will be given to the answerer.

Private questions, and their answers, are only visible to you and the person you asked the question. However, Mahalo does not guarantee absolute confidentiality.  Private questions could be viewed by other people in response to a court order, or if internet traffic is intercepted, or due to a programming bug or administrative error.

If your answer to a question offering a tip is selected as the Best Answer, we will deposit the tip into your Mahalo account.  Mahalo Dollars are only redeemable through purchases made at the Mahalo Store. If you answer a direct question offering a tip and the asker doesn't request a refund, we will deposit the tip into your Mahalo account.

Without limiting any other remedies, Mahalo may suspend or terminate your account if we suspect, in our sole judgment, that you (by conviction, settlement, insurance or escrow investigation, or otherwise) have engaged in fraudulent activity in connection with the Site or have engaged in activities in violation of the terms of this Agreement.  If Mahalo suspends or terminates your account, you may not open a new account, under your name, a fictitious name or someone else's name.  Any tips accumulated under such an account, or any terminated Mahalo account, will not be paid out and will be the property of Mahalo.

Most of Mahalo's new content is generated and maintained by Mahalo “Guides,” independent contractors paid a flat, monthly stipend for their work on Mahalo. Mahalo Guides must be invited to take the position by a member of Mahalo staff. All Mahalo Guides must be at least 18 years of age, and may be asked to verify their age with Mahalo staff at any time.  Guides serve at the discretion of Mahalo, and Guides can be removed from their position and lose their privileges as a Mahalo Guide at any time for any reason.  In the event that you are invited by Mahalo to become a Guide, and you accept such invitation to become a Guide, you agree to execute an independent contractor services agreement and/or any other related documents (collectively, the “Consulting Services Agreement”), pursuant to which you will become a Guide, subject to the terms of the Consulting Services Agreement.  Nothing contained herein shall be construed as giving you any right to be retained, in any position, as an employee or independent contractor of Mahalo.

In our sole discretion, we reserve the right to place a temporary hold on your account if we have reason to believe that tips were received under suspicious circumstances or that the tips were received from a suspect customer account.

We will continue to investigate the matter until we reach an adequate resolution, as determined by us, and which may require the involvement of certain third parties, including any applicable credit card company.  We will make every commercially reasonable effort not to exceed sixty days hold on your account as we investigate.

In addition, we reserve the right to remove "earned" tips from your account to compensate for fraud.  To the extent your balance is insufficient; you are required to reimburse Mahalo in the full amount necessary to compensate for such fraud within 15 days of written request by Mahalo.

If you have not logged into your account in 90 days, your account will be considered inactive and your account balance will become the property of Mahalo.

SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO ONLY THE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS BELOW WHICH ARE LAWFUL IN OUR JURISDICTION WILL APPLY TO YOU, AND MAHALO'S LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT OF THE LAW.

1. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
   1. MAHALO MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, IN RELATION TO THE SITE OR THE SERVICES.
   2. MAHALO DISCLAIMS
      1. ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, CONTENT, COMPLETENESS, LEGALITY, RELIABILITY, OR AVAILABILITY OR OPERABILITY OF INFORMATION OR MATERIALS DISPLAYED ON THE SITE OR ANY OF ITS SUBPAGES;
      2. ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONDUCT OF ANY USER OF THE SITE OR ANY VISITOR OF THE SITE;
      3. ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DELETION, FAILURE TO STORE, MIS-DELIVERY, OR UNTIMELY DELIVERY OF ANY INFORMATION OR MATERIAL;
      4. ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY HARM RESULTING FROM DOWNLOADING OR ACCESSING ANY INFORMATION OR MATERIAL ON THE INTERNET THROUGH THE SITE OR ANY OF ITS SUBPAGES.
   3. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS.  MAHALO MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR WILL IN ANYWAY MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR EXPECTATIONS.
2. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
   1. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL MAHALO BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, ANY LOSS OF DATA, OR ANY OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSS) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, THE SITE, THE SERVICES, THE USE OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICES, OR THE INTERNET GENERALLY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION:
      1. YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES;
      2. ANY CHANGES TO OR INACCESSIBILITY OR TERMINATION OF THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES;
      3. ANY DELAY, FAILURE, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF ANY TRANSMISSION OR DATA;
      4. ANY MATERIAL OR DATA SENT OR RECEIVED OR NOT SENT OR NOT RECEIVED;
      5. ANY TRANSACTION OR AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO THROUGH THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES;
      6. ANY DATA OR MATERIAL FROM A THIRD PERSON ACCESSED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY IS ASSERTED ON THE BASIS OF TORT OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT MAHALO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SUCH LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF AND RELIANCE ON MAHALO, THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
   2. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY SHALL BE FOR YOU TO DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES.

YOU AGREE TO HOLD HARMLESS AND INDEMNIFY MAHALO, ITS STOCKHOLDERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS FROM AND AGAINST ANY ACTION, CAUSE CLAIM, SUIT, JUDGMENT, DAMAGE (ACTUAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL), DEBT, DEMAND, EXPENSE OR LIABILITY (INCLUDING REASONABLE COSTS AND ATTORNEY'S FEES) OF EVERY KIND AND NATURE, ASSERTED BY ANY PERSON, ARISING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO:

1. THE CONTENT YOU SUBMIT, TRANSMIT, POST OR OTHERWISE MAKE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES;
2. ANY VIOLATION BY YOU OF THESE TERMS OF SERVICES; OR
3. ANY VIOLATION BY YOU OF ANY RIGHTS OF ANOTHER.

1. The terms of the sections labeled “Basic Terms”, "General Conditions," "Proprietary Rights," “Account Management”, "Limitations and Exclusions," "Indemnification," and "Miscellaneous" shall survive any termination or expiration of these Terms of Services;
2. These Terms of Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California.  You and Mahalo agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Los Angeles, California to resolve any legal matter arising from the Terms.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, you agree that Mahalo shall still be allowed to apply for injunctive remedies (or an equivalent type of urgent legal relief) in any jurisdiction;
3. No waiver of any term, provision or condition of these Terms of Service in any one or more instances, shall be deemed to be, or shall constitute, a waiver of any other term, provision or condition hereof, nor shall such waiver constitute a continuing waiver of any such term, provision or condition hereof. No waiver shall be binding unless executed in writing by the party making the waiver.  You agree that if Mahalo does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in the Terms of Service (or which Mahalo has the benefit of under any applicable law), this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of Mahalo's rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to Mahalo;
4. These Terms of Services constitute the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between the parties with respect to the Site and the Services and supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous communications, representations, statements and understandings, whether oral or written, between the parties concerning the Site and the Services;
5. If any action in law or in equity is necessary to enforce the terms of these Terms of Service, the prevailing party will be entitled to actual fees of attorneys, accountants, and other professionals, and costs and expenses in addition to any other relief to which such prevailing party may be entitled;
6. The provisions of these Terms of Services are severable, and in the event any provision hereof is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or un-enforceability shall not in any way affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions hereof;
7. No provisions of these Terms of Services are intended, nor will be interpreted, to provide or create any third party beneficiary rights or any other rights of any kind in any user, client, customer, affiliate, or any party hereto or any other person unless specifically provided otherwise herein, and except as so provided, all provisions hereof will be personal solely between the parties to these Terms of Service; except that section labeled "Indemnification" is intended to benefit Mahalo and its stockholders, officers, directors, employees, and agents;
8. Mahalo may assign its rights and duties under these Terms of Services to any party at any time without notice to you.  You may not transfer or assign any of your rights and duties under these Terms of Service without the prior written consent of Mahalo;
9. You agree that Mahalo may provide you with any notices by e-mail, regular mail, or postings through the Site.