Terms of Service

By using Hi, you signify that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms and conditions.

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the services and Hi's websites (the "Services"), and any information, photos, text, video images or other materials uploaded, downloaded or appearing on the Services (collectively referred to as "Content"). By creating a Hi account an accessing these services you agree that you have read and agreed to comply with these Terms. By use of the Hi services you hereby agreed to bound by these Terms.

All right, title, and interest in and to the Hi Services (excluding Content provided by users) are the exclusive property of Hi Technology, Inc. Services are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws of both the United States and foreign countries. Nothing in the Terms gives you a right to use the Hi trademarks, logos, domain names, and other features of the Hi brand.

Hi reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any of these Terms of Service, or change, suspend, or discontinue the Service (including without limitation, the availability of any feature, database, or content) at any time by posting a notice on the Site or by sending you notice through the Service or via email. Hi may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability. It is your responsibility to check these Terms of Service periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Service following the posting of any changes to these Terms of Service constitutes acceptance of those changes.

• You may browse the Site and view Content without registering, but as a condition to using certain aspects of the Service, you will be required to register an account with Hi and represent, warrant and covenant that you are providing Hi with accurate and complete registration information (including, but not limited to your Screen Name, e-mail address and a password you will use to access the Service) and you further agree to keep your registration information accurate should it change in the future. Failure to do so shall constitute a breach of these Terms of Service, which may result in immediate termination or suspension of your Hi account.
• You are not required to use your real name when creating a Hi account but may voluntarily elect to do so. You agree that you shall not 1) Provide any false personal information to Hi or create any account for anyone other than yourself without such person's express permission 2) Use a Screen Name that is the name of another person with the intent to impersonate that person 3) Use a Screen Name or Hi account that is subject to any rights of a person other than you without appropriate authorization or 4) Use a Screen Name that is a name that is otherwise offensive, vulgar or obscene or otherwise unlawful. Hi reserves the right to refuse registration of, or cancel a Screen Name in its sole discretion for any reason whatsoever.
• You may use the Services only if you can legally form a binding contract with Hi and are not a person barred from receiving services under the laws of the United States or other applicable jurisdiction. You may use the Services only in compliance with these Terms and all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and such rules and regulations that apply.
• The Services that Hi provides may change from time to time with or without prior notice to you. In addition, Hi may stop providing the Services or any features within the Services to you or to users generally and may not be able to provide you with prior notice. Due to the substantial amount of content uploaded to Hi, we reserve the right to create limits on your use and storage in our sole discretion at any time without prior notice to you.
• Hi reserves the right to remove any content for any reason whatsoever. Specifically, any content uploaded that is pornographic or offensive in nature (including nudity, violence, sexual acts, or sexually provocative images.), infringes upon copyrights not held by the uploader, is illegal or violates any laws. All Content, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, is the sole responsibility of the person who created and/or uploaded such Content. We do not monitor or control the Content posted via the Hi Services and we cannot take responsibility for such Content. Any use or reliance on any Content or materials posted via the Services or obtained by you through the Services is at your own risk. Violating these terms may result in termination or suspension of your ability to upload further content. We reserve the right to ban any individual uploader or website domain from using our services for any reason.
• Any information that you provide to Hi is subject to our Privacy Policy, which governs our collection and use of your information which you can find at www.hiapponline.com/policy.php.You understand that by using the Services you consent to the collection and use as set forth in the Privacy Policy of this information, including the transfer of this information to the United States and/or other countries for storage, processing and use by Hi. From time to time as part of providing you the Services, we may need to provide you with certain communications, such as service announcements and administrative messages. These communications are considered part of the Services and your Hi account, which you may not be able to opt-out from receiving.
• Account security is important with Hi. You are solely responsible for safeguarding the password that you use to access the Services and for any activities or actions under your password. We encourage you to use "strong" passwords (passwords that use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols) with your account. Hi cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with the above requirements.
• Hi cannot be held liable for any damages related to uploaded content. All data, location information, "echoes", photographs, videos, messages, graphics, comments, information, text, tags, or other materials generated, provided, or otherwise made accessible by Hi on or through the Service ("Content"), are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. You, and not Hi, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available through Hi. We do not control the Content posted and do not guarantee the accuracy or integrity of such Content.
• You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services and Hi does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") that you transmit, submit, display or publish ("post") on, through or in connection with the Hi Services.. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed). You agree that this license includes the right for Hi to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Hi for the syndication, broadcast, distribution or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use. Such additional uses by Hi, or other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Hi, may be made with no compensation paid to you with respect to the Content that you submit post, transmit or otherwise make available through the Services. After you remove your Content from the Hi Services we will cease distribution as soon as practicable, and at such time when distribution ceases, the license will terminate. If after we have distributed your Content outside of the Hi Services, you change the Content's privacy setting to "private," we will cease distribution of such "private" Content outside of the Hi Services as soon as practicable after you make the change. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand and agree that once Content is distributed to a linked service or incorporated into other aspects of the Hi Services, Hi is under no obligation to delete or ask other users or a linked service to delete that Content, and therefore it may continue to appear and be used indefinitely.
• From time to time we may modify or adapt your Content in order to transmit, display or distribute it over computer networks and in various media and/or make changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to any requirements or limitations of any networks, devices, services or media.
• You are responsible for your use of the Services, for any Content you provide, and for any consequences thereof, including the use of your Content by other users and our third party partners. You understand that your Content may be rebroadcasted by our partners and if you do not have the right to submit Content for such use, it may subject you to liability. Hi will not be responsible or liable for any use of your Content by Hi in accordance with these Terms. You represent and warrant that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the rights granted herein to any Content that you submit.
• Hi gives you a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to use the software that is provided to you by Hi as part of the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the Services as provided by Hi, solely in the manner permitted by these Terms.
• All right, title, and interest in and to the Services (excluding Content provided by users) are and will remain the exclusive property of Hi and its licensors. The Services are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws of both the United States and foreign countries. Nothing in the Terms gives you a right to use the Hi name or any of the Hi trademarks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features. Any feedback you provide to us is entirely voluntary and is without any obligation to you.
• We reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services and to terminate users or reclaim usernames as we find necessary. We also reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (ii) enforce the Terms, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (iii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v) protect the rights, property or safety of Hi, its users and the public. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Hi Users, third party developers or any other parties with whom you interact through the Hi Services and/or Linked Services.
• Except as permitted through the Services (or these Terms), you are required to use the Hi API if you want to reproduce, modify, create derivative works, distribute, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, or otherwise use the Content or Services.

• You agree to use the Hi Services only for purposes that are permitted by (a) these Terms and (b) any applicable law, regulation or generally accepted practices or guidelines in the relevant jurisdictions (including any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the United States or other relevant countries). You also agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of the Services by any means other than through the Hi Interface. You specifically agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of the Services through any automated means (including use of scripts or web crawlers) at any time. You agree that you will not engage or attempt to engage in any activity that interferes with or disrupts the Services (or the servers and networks which are connected to the Services). You agree that you are solely responsible for (and that Hi has no responsibility to you or to any third party for) any breach of your obligations under the Terms and for the consequences (including any loss or damage which Hi may suffer) of any such breach.

  The following are examples of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited to post on, through or in connection with the Hi Services. Hi reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Hi's sole discretion, violates this provision, including, without limitation, removing the offending Content from the Hi Services, terminating the Membership of such violators and/or reporting such Content or activities to law enforcement authorities. Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to, Content that in the sole discretion of Hi:

  • is patently offensive or promotes or otherwise incites racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
  • harasses or advocates harassment of another person;
  • exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;
  • contains nudity, excessive violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;
  • solicits or is designed to solicit personal information from anyone under 18;
  • publicly posts information that poses or creates a privacy or security risk to any person;
  • constitutes or promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libellous;
  • constitutes or promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacturer-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;
  • involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing, instant messaging, "spimming," or "spamming";
  • contains restricted or password only access pages or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
  • furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to, making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
  • solicits or is designed to solicit passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other Users;
  • involves commercial activities and/or sales without prior written consent from Hi such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;
  • includes a photograph or video of another person that you have posted without that person's consent;
  • for band, comedy, filmmaker and other profiles, uses sexually suggestive imagery or any unfair, misleading or deceptive Content intended to draw traffic to the profile; or
  • violates or attempts to violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademark rights, contract rights or any other rights of any person.
  • criminal or tortuous activity, including, but not limited to, child pornography, fraud, trafficking in obscene material, drug dealing, gambling, harassment, defamation, stalking, spamming, spimming, sending of viruses or other harmful files, copyright infringement, patent infringement, or theft of trade secrets;
  • advertising to, or solicitation of, any Member to buy or sell any products or services through the unauthorized or impermissible use of the Hi Services. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Members. In order to protect our Members from such advertising or solicitation, Hi reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period to a number which Hi deems appropriate in its sole discretion.
  • circumventing or modifying, attempting to circumvent or modify, or encouraging or assisting any other person in circumventing or modifying any security technology or software that is part of the Hi Services;
  • activity that involves the use of viruses, bots, worms, or any other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware, or otherwise permit the unauthorized use of or access to a computer or a computer network;
  • modifying, copying, distributing, downloading, scraping or transmitting in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, any Content from the Hi Services other than your Content which you legally post on, through or in connection with the Hi Services;
  • providing or using "tracking" or monitoring functionality in connection with the Hi Services, including, without limitation, to identify other Users' views, actions or other activities on the Hi Services;
  • covering or obscuring the banner advertisements and/or safety features (e.g., report abuse button) on your personal profile page, or any Hi page via HTML/CSS or any other means;
  • any automated use of the system, such as, but not limited to, using scripts to add friends or send comments, messages, status or mood updates, blogs or bulletins;
  • interfering with, disrupting, or creating an undue burden on the Hi Services or the networks or services connected to the Hi Services;
  • impersonating or attempting to impersonate Hi or a Hi employee, administrator or moderator, another Member, or person or entity (including, without limitation, the use of email addresses associated with or of any of the foregoing);
  • using the account, username, or password of another Member at any time or disclosing your password to any third party or permitting any third party to access your account;
  • selling or otherwise transferring your profile, your email address or URL;
  • using or distributing any information obtained from the Hi Services in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person or entity, or attempting to do the same;
  • relaying email from a third party's mail servers without the permission of that third party;
  • using invalid or forged headers to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted to or through Hi's computer systems, or otherwise misrepresenting yourself or the source of any message or Content;
  • using any automated system, including, but not limited to, scripts or bots in order to harvest email addresses or other data from the Hi Website for the purposes of sending unsolicited or unauthorized material;
  • engaging in, either directly or indirectly, or encouraging others to engage in, click-throughs generated through any manner that could be reasonably interpreted as coercive, incentivized, misleading, malicious, or otherwise fraudulent; or
  • using the Hi Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all Applicable Law.
• U.S. Export Controls. Software available in connection with the Hi Services (the "Software") is further subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from the Hi Services or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of U.S. export laws. Downloading or using the Software is at your sole risk.
• If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any User Submission or other content infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing our Copyright Agent with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C 512©(3) for further detail):
  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
  • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
  • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail;
  • A statement 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
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
  • Hi's designated Copyright Agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement is: Hi Technology, Inc., Attn: Copyright Agent, 8 Faneuil Hall, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02109. You can also email your notice to us at [email protected] .
  • You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section 8(A) your DMCA notice may not be valid.
  • Counter-Notification. If you believe that your User Submission that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or that you have the authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owners agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the content in your User Submission, you may send a counter-notice containing the following information to the Copyright Agent identified above:
  • Your physical or electronic signature;
  • Identification of the content that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the content appeared before it was removed or disabled;
  • A statement that you have a good faith belief that the content was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the content; and
  • Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the State of Delaware and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.
  • If a counter-notice is received by the Copyright Agent, Hi may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that it may replace the removed content or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider, member or user, the removed content may be replaced, or access to it restored, in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at Hi's sole discretion.

  The Services are Available "AS-IS"

  Your access to and use of the Services or any Content is at your own risk. You understand and agree that the Services is provided to you on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. Without limiting the foregoing, Hi and its partners disclaim any warranties, express or implied, of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We make no warranty and disclaim all responsibility and liability for the completeness, accuracy, availability, timeliness, security or reliability of the Services or any content thereon. Hi will not be responsible or liable for any harm to your computer system, loss of data, or other harm that results from your access to or use of the Services, or any Content. You also agree that Hi has no responsibility or liability for the deletion of, or the failure to store or to transmit, any Content and other communications maintained by the Services. We make no warranty that the Services will meet your requirements or be available on an uninterrupted, secure, or error-free basis. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained from Hi or through the Services, will create any warranty not expressly made herein. The Services may contain links to third-party websites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible or liable for: (i) the availability or accuracy of such websites or resources; or (ii) the content, products, or services on or available from such websites or resources. Links to such websites or resources do not imply any endorsement by Hi of such websites or resources or the content, products, or services available from such websites or resources. You acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from your use of any such websites or resources.

  Limitation of Liability

  To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, hi and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, partners and licensors will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, including without limitation, loss of profits, data, use, good-will, or other intangible losses, resulting from (i) your access to or use of or inability to access or use the services; (ii) any conduct or content of any third party on the services, including without limitation, any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of other users or third parties; (iii) any content obtained from the services; and (iv) unauthorized access, use or alteration of your transmissions or content, whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence) or any other legal theory, whether or not hi has been informed of the possibility of such damage, and even if a remedy set forth herein is found to have failed of its essential purpose.

• Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the limitations above may not apply to you.
• The failure of Hi to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision. In the event that any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect.
• These Terms and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to or application of its conflict of law provisions or your state or country of residence. All claims, legal proceedings or litigation arising in connection with the Services will be brought solely in Dover, Delaware, and you consent to the jurisdiction of and venue in such courts and waive any objection as to inconvenient forum. If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of a United States federal government entity that is legally unable to accept the controlling law, jurisdiction or venue clauses above, then those clauses do not apply to you but instead these Terms and any action related thereto will be will be governed by the laws of the United States of America (without reference to conflict of laws) and, in the absence of federal law and to the extent permitted under federal law, the laws of the State of Delaware (excluding choice of law).
• These Terms, the Hi Rules and our Privacy Policy are the entire and exclusive agreement between Hi and you regarding the Services (excluding any services for which you have a separate agreement with Hi that is explicitly in addition or in place of these Terms), and these Terms supersede and replace any prior agreements between Hi and you regarding the Services. Other than members of the group of companies of which Hi is the parent, no other person or company will be third party beneficiaries to the Terms.
• We may revise these Terms from time to time, the most current version will always be at www.hiapponline.com/hi/legal.html. If the revision, in our sole discretion, is material we will notify you via an @Hi update or e-mail to the email associated with your account. By continuing to access or use the Services after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms.
• These Services are operated and provided by Hi Technology, Inc., 8 Faneuil Hall, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02109. If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at [email protected].

Hi Community Standards

Hi provides people around the world the opportunity to create their own online persona and profile. We believe in the ability to separate your real life from your online presence and encourage users to interact and grow new conversations and topics with each other. The users, profiles and conversations that happen on Hi are constantly growing and changing and in order to foster the best user experience we are required to enforce specific rules regarding certain types of behavior which we feel is detrimental to Hi users as a whole. As such, we have instituted our Community Standards which we ask users abide by at all time.

Please review these standards. They will help you understand what type of expression is acceptable and what type of content may be removed or result in an account suspension or ban when reported.

• Identity and Privacy

  On Hi people have the opportunity to create an online persona separate and apart from their true identity. This approach provides for users to freely express themselves and engage new friends and users more easily. Should you willingly choose to provide your true identity to any user or group of users, please use caution in what you choose to share. Under no circumstances can you publish other people's personal information.

• Impersonation

  While it is permissible to create online personas different from your true identity, we do not permit users to impersonate others. Claiming to be another person, creating multiple accounts, or falsely representing an organization is harmful to our community and violates our Terms of Service. We don't allow impersonation of others or other behavior that is misleading or intended to be misleading. If you believe that another user is impersonating you on Hi, please report such users by using the Report Post function.

• Spam, Malware and Phishing

  Hi does not allow transmission of malware, viruses, or anything that may disrupt service or harm other users. Spam is also prohibited and includes: product advertisements, link spam and links to pornography or other explicit content. Malicious scripts and password phishing scams are also not permitted.

• Violence and Threats

  You may not engage in hate speech, or promote such activity against others based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity. You may also not threaten to harm others, or organize acts of real-world violence. We will remove reported content and may contact the authorities when we perceive a genuine risk of physical harm, or a direct threat to public safety. Hi should not be used for unlawful purposes or for promotion of dangerous or criminal activities. If you engage in such activity we may terminate your account, and notify the proper authorities or take other appropriate action.

• Bullying and Harassment

  Hi does not tolerate bullying or harassment on any level. We encourage our users to engage in discussion and conversation but will not permit users to engage in bullying or harassment. If we identify such activity we will take action on all reports of abusive behavior directed at individuals (both users and non-users). Repeatedly targeting other users with unwanted friend requests, group invites or messages is a form of harassment.

• Self-Harm

  Hi takes threats of self-harm seriously. We will remove any reported content reported which includes evidence of suggestion of self-mutilation, eating disorders or drug abuse. We may also report such content to the authorities if reason exists.

• Nudity, Graphic Content and sexually explicit material

  We don't allow nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material. We also do not permit graphic and sadistic violent content.

• Private and Confidential Information

  Hi prohibits publishing of people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, Passport Numbers, Social Security Numbers, driver's and other license numbers, or any other information that is not publicly accessible. In order to protect your own privacy and your confidential information, be careful not to post to Hi or share private or confidential information with others.

• Intellectual Property

  Before sharing content on Hi, please be sure you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect others copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights.

Should you have additional questions or feel a user is violating these Community Standards, please contact us at [email protected].

Effective: July 20, 2012