PebblePad Personal Account

Code of Conduct

This is the Code of Conduct for users of a PebblePad Personal Account (‘a Personal Account’) provided by Pebble Learning Ltd (‘us’ or ‘our’). It outlines both the expectations we have for users (‘you’ or ‘you’) and your legal responsibilities. The Code of Conduct, our Pebble Pad Personal Account Terms and Conditions and our website Terms of Use are in addition to any provisions set by your service provider. ‘Content’ means files, creative materials, links and comments uploaded to your Personal Account

Overview

You agree that you will not make or permit Unacceptable Use of your Personal Account.

Unacceptable Use means Personal Account users must not use of the Personal Account for the transmission or receipt of any material which is offensive; in breach of codes on harassment, wasteful of resources; or strays too far from the context of the service as a developmental and educational tool, excessive data transfer; use which is detrimental to the Personal Account or other users; use which is abusive, offensive; deceptive, pornographic, obscene, defamatory, advocates illegal activity, harms minors in any way or which reflects badly upon users, or on the PebblePad Personal Account. Providing links (either explicitly, or by allusion) to such material is also unacceptable.

Unacceptable use also consists of use of the Personal Account by users who attempt to imitate, or falsely transmit materials under the guise of another user, person or organisation.

It is not possible to upload or download programs using the Personal Account. This is to prevent the distribution of malicious programs and to prevent their introduction into the Personal Account. However, should a user introduce a disruptive program (knowingly, or not), we reserve the right to recover all costs from the user. This includes, but is not limited to; the cost of systemic repairs, the cost of repairs for all affected users, the cost of retrieving, or re-creating lost data, the costs associated with disruption to the business and any costs caused by increased data transfer.

Personal Account monitoring and sanctions

The Personal Account is not routinely monitored, however all users are expected to use it responsibly and in compliance with this code. Within the provisions of the law, the right is reserved to intercept and monitor communications in accordance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act; The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practise) (Interception of Communications) Regulations and any other relevant legislation.

Such interception/monitoring will normally only take place with the express written approval of a relevant authority but may be undertaken without any prior notice to those affected users.

Shared or published items may be removed if they are reported to be inappropriate use of the Personal Account.

You acknowledge that we have the absolute right (but not the obligation) to delete, move, and edit materials for any reason, at any time, without notice.

When you access and/or use the Personal Account, you agree that you are responsible for any Content that you submit. You acknowledge that we do not guarantee the accuracy, quality or appropriateness of Content available in your Personal Account or in any other Personal Account. In no event shall we, our directors or employees be liable for claims arising from or related to any Content in any Personal Account.

Any suspected breach in this code will result in the user’s Personal Account being suspended, pending investigation. Breaches in the law, or the terms of this Code of Conduct will result in withdrawal of all Personal Account privileges. Please be aware that if you are using the Personal Account within an institute, they may choose to enact their disciplinary process also.

If you have any doubts about what is acceptable practice, please email support@pebblepad.co.uk

No Resale of PebblePad

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any part of the PebblePad Personal Account, use of the service, or access to the service for any commercial purposes.

Copyright

What You License to Us

In order for us to make your Content available to you and people you choose to share with, we need the rights to make use of all Content in the Personal Account (in accordance with and subject to these Terms, of course). Importantly, you remain the owner of all Content that you submit to the Personal Account,

Accordingly, as a condition of this contract, you hereby grant us a perpetual, universal, non exclusive right to copy, display, modify, transmit, make derivative works of and distribute any Content transmitted or provided to the Personal Account by you, solely for the purpose of providing the Personal Account and its functionality.

As a condition of using the Personal Account, you represent and warrant to us that you are the owner of the copyright of content you upload to the Personal Account or that you have written permission from the copyright owner to submit such content.

Copyright Protection for Content on the Service

All the information, Content, files, software and materials offered by the Personal Account are protected by English and international copyright laws and by other applicable laws. You understand that we are unable to provide you with permission to copy, display or distribute material for which you do not own the copyright, and we do not provide others with such rights to your Content (unless you give us permission to do so). You may not copy or distribute such material without the written consent of the copyright owner, and you are solely responsible for any copyright violations that you may incur as a result of your Personal Account activities. We have the absolute right to terminate this contract and exclude you from your Personal Account if you use your Personal Account or your access to another Personal Account to infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. In situations where copyright disputes occur; we may be required to suspend access to the content whilst the issue is resolved.

If you believe that your work or the work of another has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, we have a process in place to respond to your concerns. We request that you supply us with as much information and evidence as they can. This, along with contact information will allow us to deal with issues swiftly, and fairly.

Statutory and other provisions of English Law

There are a number of statutory and other legal provisions which may impact upon use of the Personal Account. We think it is helpful to draw your attention to the following statutory provisions but you should not rely upon the following as an accurate or complete statement of the law. Please be aware that discovery of a breach of the law arising from use of the Personal Account will be referred to the appropriate authorities.

Computer Misuse Act 1990

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 makes it a criminal offence to access, or attempt to access computer material without proper authority or to make unauthorised modification of computer material. Persons convicted of an offence under the Computer Misuse Act are subject to a maximum of 5 years' imprisonment or a fine or both. In the context of the Personal Account, it is likely that the following examples would be considered illegal:

The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988

It is an offence under this Act to copy software, images, sounds or other Internet materials without authority. It is immaterial whether such unauthorised copying is done with a view to personal convenience or for monetary gain. Unlimited fines and up to two years' imprisonment may be imposed on offenders.

The use of any unauthorised or unlicensed software, images, sounds or other Internet materials should not be tolerated and users may be required to provide evidence that use of any materials contained within the Personal Account is lawful.

Data Protection Act 1998

This Act prohibits the holding, processing or disclosure of personal information data about others on a computer or in a 'structured' manual form, unless the data user is properly registered with the Information Commissioner and observes the data protection principles. In view of the complexity of the legislation, all users of the PebblePad system should avoid establishing, holding or processing any personal data concerning other persons: this includes both 'uploading and downloading' of such data via the Internet.

Race Relations, Disability Discrimination and Sexual Discrimination

Discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, disability or gender is unlawful under the provisions of legislation dealing with these matters. Any material published or received via the Personal Account which discriminates or encourages discrimination is in contravention of the legislation.

Child Protection Legislation including the Protection of Children Act 1978, the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

It is a criminal offence to possess pornographic or obscene material of or involving minors, material considered to be excessively violent or an extreme pornographic image. In the context of the Personal Account it would apply to the transmission, receipt and storage of text, audio and graphic images.

Laws of Defamation

Any publication of a statement, comment or innuendo about another individual or organisation which cannot be justified at law may render the author liable to an action for defamation. In the context of the Personal Account, the author of the material is responsible all actions, proceedings, claims and costs resulting therefrom. A disclaimer to this effect is accessible from each published output of the Personal Account.

Telecommunications Act 1984 & Communications Act 2003

A person who sends a message or other matter that is grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing in character via the public telecommunication system or sends a false message for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another shall be guilty of a criminal offence. The Internet makes use of the "public telecommunication system". A breach of this Act will result in a substantial fine and/or imprisonment.

International Law

Users of the PebblePad system should be aware that any material which they create and transmit is potentially accessible World-Wide and that such material must not therefore contravene any international laws or treaties. Users should be aware that material lawfully provided in the United Kingdom but accessed in another country may constitute an offence within that recipient country.

Advertising or Trading

Users of the Personal Account should not use or permit it’s use to create, place or distribute any advertisement on the Internet which is in the nature of a commercial activity or use the Personal Account for trading.