Best Buy® Community Forums Terms and Conditions

WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY FORUM

These Terms and Conditions apply to all activities on the Best Buy Forum (the "Forum"). References in the Conditions of Use agreement for BestBuy.com will be deemed to include the Forum. In addition, the following Terms and Conditions apply which are specific to the Forum. The Forum is a place to exchange ideas, tips, information and techniques related to the products and services available in Best Buy store locations and Geek Squad Precincts, as well as BestBuy.com.

References to “Best Buy” refer to Best Buy Co., Inc., Best Buy Stores, L.P., Best Buy.com, LLC, Best Buy Enterprise Services, Inc., BBY Solutions, Inc., or their affiliates and subsidiaries.  Best Buy reserves the right to make changes to the Terms and Conditions for this Forum at any time.  It is your responsibility to check this page for updates to the terms.

Eligibility of Use

The Forum is intended for use by individuals 13 years of age or older. The Forum is not directed for use by children under the age of 13. Users under the age of 13 should obtain the assistance of a parent or guardian to use this site.  Best Buy does not knowingly collect information from children online.  Best Buy values our relationship with our customers and is committed to responsible information-handling practices.

Single Sign-On
You can log in to our Forum using sign-in services such as Facebook Connect. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you the option to share certain personal information with us such as your name and email address to pre-populate our sign up form. Services like Facebook Connect give you the option to post information about your activities on the Forum to your profile page to share with others within your network.

Proprietary Rights in Forum Content; Limited License

You grant to Best Buy the right to publish and use any material that you post on this Forum, for the purpose of operating and monitoring this Forum. By posting on the Forum, you surrender or assign all rights to content posted on this Forum, including but not limited to words, phrases, thoughts, theories, diagrams, music, videos and any other materials. We are always developing new ideas and would not want to have any misunderstandings should the products, services or messaging we use seem similar to that of an unsolicited submission that you might post on this Forum. Therefore, to avoid any misunderstanding, please do not post ideas that you are not comfortable sharing or having Best Buy use. You agree that any information you send to Best Buy on this Forum is non-confidential. All content on this Forum including information, videos, music, graphics, and other material is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights. Except as expressly authorized or licensed, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, augment, remove, delete, transfer, sell, lease, rent, or create derivative works from any of the content on this Forum.

All Best Buy employees engaging in an online community, including this Forum, surrender their rights to content they provide to Best Buy.  Employees must maintain the confidentiality of intellectual property and all other confidential information that belongs to the Best Buy. Intellectual property includes identifiable names, trademarks, logos, images, graphics and other copyrighted materials of Best Buy or any of its subsidiaries. Best Buy's proprietary information and competitive knowledge is confidential. It is limited for use within Best Buy unless specifically authorized for release and disclosure elsewhere.

IdeaX Idea Submission Terms

Best Buy operates an ideas engine on this forum, referred to as "IdeaX." In addition to the Community Forum Terms and Conditions, these IdeaX Idea Submission Terms apply to the IdeaX portion of the website.  To the extent any of the Community Forum Terms and Conditions conflict with the IdeaX Idea Submission Terms, the IdeaX Idea Submission Terms shall control with respect to the IdeaX portion of the site.

User Submissions and License: By using IdeaX, you agree that any materials, including but not limited to questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, plans, notes, drawings, original or creative materials or other information you provide to Best Buy via IdeaX (collectively referred to as "User Submissions"), are non-confidential. Furthermore, by submitting the User Submissions via IdeaX, you hereby grant to Best Buy and its designees a perpetual, fully-paid up and royalty-free, irrevocable, unrestricted, non-exclusive, world-wide, assignable, sub-licensable, right and license to make, use, sell, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display and otherwise exploit the User Submissions, or any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques associated with the User Submissions for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, using any form, media or technology now known or later developed, without providing compensation to you or any other person, without any liability whatsoever, and free from any obligation of confidence or other duties on our part or of our assigns. You further hereby waive all moral rights in favor of Best Buy and its designees.

Best Buy may be working on the same or a similar idea at the time of your User Submission. You understand and agree that we may continue to develop our own ideas independent of your User Submission without acknowledgment or notice to you.

As part of our license to your User Submission, Best Buy may make modifications to, derivative works of, or improvements to your User Submission. These modified or improved versions shall be owned exclusively by Best Buy.

Submission under a Patent or Patent Application: You agree to disclose to Best Buy if any portion of your User Submission is protected by a patent registration or the subject to a pending patent application. If your User Submission is not yet patented, but you wish to patent your idea in the future, you also agree to disclose this information to Best Buy.

If any portion of your User Submission is patented, subject to a pending patent application, or if you intend to file for patent protection, these Terms automatically grant Best Buy a license under the terms of the previous section entitled User Submission and License. Such license may be superseded only by a separate written license or assignment agreement between you and Best Buy.

Posting your idea to IdeaX may impact your ability to protect your idea under patent law. If your goal is to patent your idea, we suggest you consult with an attorney before posting your idea on IdeaX. You agree not to hold Best Buy liable for any loss of ability to obtain patent protection.

Your Responsibilities for your Materials: You are responsible for the User Submissions that you submit to Best Buy. By making a submission to IdeaX, you represent and warrant that: (a) you own, control, or have permission to use the User Submission that you submit to this site; (b) the User Submission does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, or any other intellectual property or other legal rights of any person or entity; (c) you will indemnify and hold harmless Best Buy, its parent entity, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents, from any claims and damages (including reasonable attorney’s fees) arising from or relating to the breach or alleged breach of your representations and warranties related to your submission; and (d) the information that you submit to IdeaX is true and accurate at the time of your submission and you will update Best Buy if any of the information regarding your submission changes. You agree that you remain solely responsible and liable for any material you post on this Forum or to IdeaX, including your User Submission.

Best Buy may, at its sole discretion, reject any idea User Submission and prevent it from being posted on IdeaX.

Option to Purchase: Best Buy has the option to purchase from you all right, title, and interest, including, but not limited to, any intellectual property rights in your User Submission. If Best Buy exercises this option, you agree to accept payment of $ 1,000 in full consideration for the purchase of these rights relating to your User Submission. Furthermore, you agree to fully cooperate with Best Buy and execute any required documents necessary to complete the transfer of the User Submission.

User Code of Conduct

In addition to other statements in these Terms and Conditions, you agree that the following are forbidden, and you agree not to post or make available for viewing or listening any content that is or may tend to be: libelous, slanderous or defamatory; abusive; inflammatory; vulgar; hateful; threatening; sexually oriented; racially insensitive, religiously, ethnically or otherwise insensitive; or promoting illegal conduct of any kind.  Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned from the use of the Forum as well as reprimanded in compliance with Best Buy company policy. The IP address of each post is recorded to aid in enforcing these Terms and Conditions. You agree that the web host, administrator, moderators and Best Buy management have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should they see fit.  Inappropriate words or phrases as determined by Best Buy will be either deleted or altered.

While the administrators and moderators of this Forum will attempt to remove or edit any generally objectionable material as quickly as possible, it is impossible to review every message. Therefore you acknowledge that all posts made to these Forums express the views and opinions of the author and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster (except for posts by these individuals) and hence those individuals will not be held liable.  Best Buy retains sole discretion to delete or edit any and all posts it deems necessary without providing notification to the author.

You also agree not to use this Forum in a manner that may promote or appear to promote any of the following prohibited activities: copying large amounts of e-mail or any other contact information for any purpose; using the Forum in any (lawful or unlawful) manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Forum; using automated scripts to collect information from or otherwise interact with the Forum; using the Forum in any manner that could be interpreted as a violation of a person's right of privacy or right of publicity.  As a user, you agree to any information you have entered above being stored in a database on an external hosting company. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent, the administrator, moderators and Best Buy cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised.  Furthermore, Best Buy is not liable for changes in pricing information or incorrect information published on this Forum.

We reserve the right to reclaim usernames if at our discretion usernames contain vulgar references or references otherwise disallowed within the Forum. We reserve the right to reclaim usernames that appear to impersonate or disparage businesses, individuals, or official forum moderators and administrators.

Termination

Best Buy may, in its sole discretion, terminate or restrict your right to use this Forum for any reason or no reason.

No Reliance

Participants provide most of the material in the Forum. Such third-party content is the sole responsibility of the person originating the material. Best Buy does not control and is not responsible for this third-party material. Where Best Buy and/or Geek Squad employees contribute materials or provide opinions, such materials or opinions are not the position of Best Buy or Geek Squad, and are not binding on Best Buy and Geek Squad.

Best Buy and Geek Squad Employees

Your use of this site as a Best Buy and/or Geek Squad employee is voluntary and for your own benefit; it is not required, expected or encouraged as part of your employment, and outside of your normally scheduled work time is not work time. Your opportunity for promotion or other employment conditions will not be affected by whether or not you use this site.

Best Buy monitors this site.  Therefore, you should have no expectation of privacy in anything you post on this site.  If you post anything that is or could be damaging or disparaging to Best Buy or its affiliates, or if you violate any company policies (such as, for example, by posting confidential company information or any pricing information), you may be subject to discipline, including termination of employment.

Copyright

Notification of Copyright Infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act: If you believe that your copyrighted material may have been infringed, please provide Best Buy's designated copyright agent with the following information in writing:

• 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 is 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 the complaining
  party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.  
• A statement that the complaining party has 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.  
• A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Best Buy's designated agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement can be reached by: 

Mail: DMCA Agent, BBY Solutions, Inc., B6-Legal Dept., 7601 Penn Ave. S., Richfield, MN 55423

E-mail: dmca.agent@bestbuy.com

Fax: 612-292-2323

Phone: 612-291-1000

For additional information regarding this procedure, please reference 17 USC 512.

Linking to Any other Web Sites

This Forum may contain links to other sites operated by third-parties, including but not limited to third-party sites that display Best Buy trademarks ("Third-Party Site(s)"). These links are available for your convenience and are intended only to enable access to these Third-Party Sites and for no other purpose.

Best Buy does not warrant or make any representation about the substance, quality, functionality, accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability or any other representation about any Third-Party Site or its content. A link to a Third-Party Site through this Forum does not constitute sponsorship, endorsement, approval or responsibility for any Third-Party Site. Best Buy makes no representation or warranty as to any products or services offered on any Third-Party Site.

The conditions of use and privacy policy of any Third-Party Site may differ substantially from the Conditions of Use and legal notices that apply to your use of the Forum. Please review the conditions of use for all Third-Party Sites for more information about the terms and conditions that apply to your use of Third-Party Sites.

PRIVACY

Your use of the Forum is subject to our Privacy Policy [make “Privacy Policy” a link to privacy policy].  Please review the policy for more on how we collect and use information.

How To Contact Us

If you have questions about Best Buy's Privacy Policy, contact us by:

Phone: 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289)

E-mail: PrivacyManager@bestbuy.com

Regular mail:

Best Buy Corporate Campus

Attn: Customer Care/Privacy

7601 Penn Ave South

Richfield, MN 55423-3645

Representations and Warranties

By using this Forum, you represent, warrant and agree that you will abide by all of the Terms and Conditions and that no material you submit to, post to, or through this Forum will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including, copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights, including but not limited to claims of libel, slander or defamation.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Best Buy harmless from and against any claims arising from your breach or alleged breach of your representations and warranties set forth herein.

Limitation on Liability

THIS FORUM IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND BEST BUY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABLILTY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGMENT. BEST BUY
CANNOT AND DOES NOT PROMISE ANY PARTICULAR RESULT FROM USE OF THIS FORUM OR FROM THE USE OF ANY SERVICES OR GOODS MENTIONED IN THIS FORUM. BEST BUY DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT CONTENT OR MATERIALS IN THIS FORUM ARE ACCURATE AND/OR FREE FROM ERROR. BEST BUY DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE FORUM IS SAFE FOR USE ON YOUR COMPUTER. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THIS FORUM IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

IN NO EVENT SHALL BEST BUY OR ITS AGENTS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR SHAREHOLDERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION LOSS OR LOST DATA ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE FORUM.

CERTAIN STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

Governing Law, Venue and Jurisdiction

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota without regard to conflict of law rules.

Any action brought in connection with this Forum shall be brought in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Hennepin County, Minnesota shall be deemed to have proper jurisdiction over any dispute in connection with this Forum.

Severability

If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remainder of these terms will remain in full force and effect.

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