General Terms and Conditions (“GTC”) of InternsInBeijing

For the use of the services under the top level domain www.InternsInBeijing.com

Version: 10 September 2015

Welcome to InternsInBeijing! Below you will find the GTC governing the use of www.InternsInBeijing.com and all of its sub-domains and aliases of these domains (“InternsInBeijing Website(s)” or “Website(s)”). When using the InternsInBeijing Websites please bear in mind that www.InternsInBeijing.com is a genuine online community, and any information you disclose about yourself and everything you upload can generally be freely viewed, copied, used, and passed on by others. By registering to use the InternsInBeijing Websites you consent to the following GTC.

If you use InternsInBeijing as a consumer i.e. for a purpose that is not related to commercial or freelance activity (“consumer” according to Section 13 German Civil Code), please also see the provisions set forth in Section 13 of these GTC (Consumer’s Right to Cancellation):

  1. Scope
    1. The provisions of these GTC govern the entire legal relationship between the validly registered user (“user”) and InternsInBeijing and are applicable to all services provided to the user or offered on the InternsInBeijing Websites (“InternsInBeijing Service(s)” or “service(s)”) and also to all of the user’s actions, contents, or other material relating to the InternsInBeijing Websites. No conflicting terms of use or conditions of the user shall be applicable and are hereby rejected. The complete and valid GTC are available in a printable and storable form on each InternsInBeijing Website under “Terms & Conditions”.
    2. The user enters into this agreement on the use of services with InternsInBeijing. In so far as these GTC mention other users of the InternsInBeijing Websites, these GTC shall also govern the interaction of users. However, no user shall claim rights under this agreement against other users without prior consent of InternsInBeijing.
    3. InternsInBeijing reserves the right to amend these GTC at any time insofar as these amendments are not unreasonable for the user. InternsInBeijing shall give due notice of any amendments of these GTC to the user via the user’s email address or by placing a notice in the user’s personal inbox on the InternsInBeijing Website. The amendments to the GTC shall be effective from that point in time unless the user objects within two (2) weeks after receipt of the said notice by sending an email to InternsInBeijing, provided that InternsInBeijing has explicitly informed the user about the consequences of such non-objection.
  2. Services
  3. InternsInBeijing provides the user with an Internet platform which incorporates technical applications that allow the user to establish contact and share information with other users. This service made available via the InternsInBeijing Websites includes upload, download, and posting options regarding materials and information which InternsInBeijing, the user, or other users want to share on the InternsInBeijing Websites (“content(s)”). The services are described in detail on the InternsInBeijing Website.
  4. InternsInBeijing does not take part in any communication between users and is not responsible for or party to any agreements that users meet by communicating over InternsInBeijing Websites. This also applies to the relationship between users offering tickets for events via the Event Ticket Shop tool and users ordering such tickets or signing up for such events.

The principles set forth in this Section 2.2 shall also apply to any agreements between users and third-party service providers (for example the providers of services such as the Event Ticket Shop) providing supplemental services embedded in or linked to the InternsInBeijing Websites. Such thirdparty service providers are acting independently from InternsInBeijing, and InternsInBeijing does not accept any liability for third parties’ acts or omissions.

  1. Users who want to take advantage of the services provided on InternsInBeijing Websites have the option to register for a free membership (“Basic Membership”) {or for a paid membership in a premium community forum (“Premium Membership” or “Emperor Membership”)}. InternsInBeijing reserves the right to upgrade registrants from the Basic Membership to a temporary Emperor Membership free of charge during the beta period of InternsInBeijing Websites or for general promotional purposes at any time thereafter. The terms of such upgrade shall be determined at the sole discretion of InternsInBeijing.
  2. The services include offers to join certain groups or subgroups and other forums on the InternsInBeijing Websites (“groups”). The user acknowledges that these groups may be established by other Users of the services and accordingly, the user moderating the respective group is free to choose whether the user may join or remain in the group. InternsInBeijing is not responsible or liable for the participation or any action of the user or any other users, including the group moderator, in the group.
  3. InternsInBeijing reserves the right to modify the services or to offer services different from those offered at the time of the user’s registration at any time unless this is unreasonable for the user. InternsInBeijing shall give due notice of any amendments of services to the user via the user’s email address or by placing a notice in the user’s personal inbox on the InternsInBeijing Website. The amendments to the Services shall be effective from that point in time unless the user objects within two (2) weeks after receipt of the said notice by sending an email to InternsInBeijing, provided that InternsInBeijing has explicitly informed the user about the consequences of such non-objection.
  4. The user understands that it is technically impossible to offer or guarantee the 100% availability of the InternsInBeijing Websites. InternsInBeijing will make reasonable efforts to keep the InternsInBeijing Websites available without unplanned interruption. However, maintenance, security or other planned actions, and/or events beyond InternsInBeijing’ reasonable control (e.g., disruptions in public communication networks, power failures), may cause temporary interruptions or other failures of the services.
  5. Registration
  6. In order to sign up for a Basic or Emperor Membership users must apply for registration by completing the registration procedure on the InternsInBeijing Website. By completing the registration procedure, the user consents to enter into this agreement to use the services. InternsInBeijing accepts this offer by activating the user’s membership and personal account.
  7. The user guarantees and represents that the information submitted to InternsInBeijing for registration is complete and truthful. The user shall not use pseudonyms or nicknames. The user shall keep the user’s profile up to date, in particular with regards to the user’s email address. The user shall ensure that InternsInBeijing can establish contact at all times with the user via the contact details provided by the user in the user’s profile on the InternsInBeijing Website.
  8. InternsInBeijing reserves the right to refuse registration of any user for any or no reason.
  9. The user hereby confirms that the user is of legal age at the time of registration and has not already registered with InternsInBeijing, i.e., only maintains one (1) user account.
  10. User accounts are not transferable.
  11. During registration the user must determine a password which the user will use to identify the user in order to access the Website(s), the services, and the user’s personal account. The user is responsible for keeping the password secret and preventing other persons from accessing the user’s account via this password. The user agrees to notify InternsInBeijing immediately of any unauthorized use of the user’s password or account or any other breach of security through the contact form available on each InternsInBeijing Website under “Contact”. The user promises to immediately inform I InternsInBeijing if there is any indication that the password is being used by third parties. InternsInBeijing will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the user’s failure to comply with this section.
  12. In so far as the user is in breach of the agreements in Section 3, InternsInBeijing shall be entitled to terminate this agreement with immediate effect, to block the user’s account and/or to prevent further use of the services and the website(s) by the user.
  13. {The prices for the Emperor Membership are set forth on each InternsInBeijing Website under "Membership" in your account section and shall be binding. The total amount shall be due immediately upon invoicing and can be affected by any of the debiting procedures made available by InternsInBeijing. The user is aware of the fact and agrees that in case of online debiting procedures (i.e. payment via credit card) any data (e.g. name, credit card number, expiry date, bank details, etc.) which is necessary for the due processing of such payment will be transferred to third parties involved in the execution of the debiting procedure (e.g. operator of payment module, credit card acquirer, and the bank issuing the credit/debit card). }
  14. The user shall at all times provide for sufficient funds to allow for collection of any fees in the course of the debiting procedures designated by the user. Any costs (such as bank charges etc.) triggered by the failure to do so shall be borne by the user.
  15. InternsInBeijing reserves the right to amend the prices for future provisions of the services. Any price amendments shall become effective one (1) month after due notice by InternsInBeijing of the amendment via the user’s email address or by placing a notice in the user’s personal inbox on the InternsInBeijing Website. The user may terminate the agreement within two (2) weeks after receipt of the said notice by sending an email to InternsInBeijing.
  16. {The user accepts that he will receive an online invoice. The invoice will not be sent by mail to the user. The online invoice is not legally binding.}
  17. The user shall only provide true and accurate personal, social, and professional information and shall not post on InternsInBeijing Websites any photographs identifying the user which are older than three (3) years or on which the user cannot be clearly and plainly recognized. The user shall not use any nicknames or pseudonyms to identify the user.
  18. The user shall not use, upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any contents, or have others make the same available on the InternsInBeijing Websites. Nor shall the user or send other users messages with contents that violate laws and statutes in any manner (“Illegal Contents”), such as, but not limited to:
    1. Contents breaching third-party rights – e.g., copyright, performance, and commercial property rights such as brands, patents, registered designs, design rights, and also other rights, for example name and personality rights;
    2. contents which are insulting or defamatory, regardless of whether said contents are directed at InterNations personnel, other companies, or another user;
    3. contents and actions violating criminal law, promoting anti-constitutional organizations or displaying the insignia of such organizations; contents glorifying violence; racist, pornographic, sexist contents; contents harmful to young persons; contents trafficking in narcotics, inciting or downplaying the consumption of narcotics, inciting criminal offenses, gambling, insult or slander, defamation, etc.;
    4. contents promoting any commercial practices considered unfair competition, including progressive customer acquisition practices (such as chain distribution systems, multilevel selling, or pyramid sales) or content annoying, pestering, or harassing any other user (cf. Section 7 of the German Unfair Competition Act; e.g., spam, chain letters, multi-level marketing, or multi-level network marketing);
    5. contents which include information for which the user has no right to disclose or make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as proprietary and confidential information, insider information, etc.);
    6. contents that contain company logos. This excludes employees of InternsInBeijing, who may use the InternsInBeijing logo;
    7. contents intended to disrupt, destroy, limit, or impair services on the InternsInBeijing Websites or the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, in particular through robots, spiders, spamming, DOS attacks, chain mail, junk mail, scripts, etc.
  19. When using such services, the user shall adhere to all Forum, Event, and Activity Guidelines that InternsInBeijing has in place from time to time.
  20. The user shall not send identical messages to more than one (1) user on the InternsInBeijing Websites.
  21. The user shall not (i) disguise the origin of any communication via the services or disguise the user’s own identity while using the services in any way; (ii) disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations set up for the use of the services on InternsInBeijing Websites by InternsInBeijing; (iii) interfere with or disrupt the InternsInBeijing Websites, its servers, or General Terms and Conditions of InternsInBeijing networks connected to InternsInBeijing. Nor InternsInBeijing in acts that impair the operability of InternsInBeijing’ infrastructure, particularly those which may overload the said infrastructure; (iv) block, overwrite, modify, or copy any contents on InternsInBeijing Websites, unless the said actions are necessary for the proper use of the services. The use of any search engine technology is not necessary for the proper use of the services and is therefore prohibited.
  22. The user shall not tag other users or send email invitations to non-users without their prior consent.
  23. The user grants InternsInBeijing all rights necessary with respect to contents to fulfill the purpose of this agreement
  24. Prices and Payment
  25. User’s Obligations
  26. Granting Rights to Use

In particular, the user grants InternsInBeijing the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non- exclusive, universally transferable, and fully sublicensable right to:

  1. to store all contents (in particular images, videos, texts, etc.) uploaded or posted during the use of the InternsInBeijing Websites in an electronic form,
  2. to make the same available to other users and third parties and to disseminate the same to other users and third parties upon demand by way of download, and also to permit other users and third parties to make virtual or physical copies of these contents for their private or other own use,
  3. to reproduce, disseminate, make generally available, and broadcast all uploaded contents on all websites or other platforms and services operated by InternsInBeijing (in particular TV, advertising, print media, radio, Internet, mobile Internet),
  4. to process the contents in a user-friendly form, make the same amenable for research and process the same such that other users and third parties can access the same at any time. This includes converting the contents into other data formats. InternsInBeijing is also granted the right to process the contents with respect to visual appearance, font, layout, scaling etc.. InternsInBeijing shall have the right to combine the contents or parts thereof with its own or third-party contents, in particular to add links to the contents or make the same available to third parties via links,
  5. to amend, shorten, block, or suspend access to, and delete any contents provided by the user.
  6. With respect to all contents described above, the user hereby waives the exercise of all moral rights as far as legally possible, in particular with respect to infringements through changes to the contents made by InternsInBeijing or third parties.
  7. The user hereby warrants that with respect to the entire contents furnished by the user, the user is the holder of the corresponding intellectual property rights or is entitled to use and transfer rights of use (in particular for publication, reproduction, and dissemination) to the extent necessary and required under these GTC and during the course of the contents being used on the InternsInBeijing Websites without the infringement of any third-party rights.
  8. The user hereby acknowledges the right of InternsInBeijing to publish any photographs or film footage taken at InternsInBeijing Events or Activities on the InternsInBeijing Websites and/or on any platform approved by InternsInBeijing. Should the user wish to refuse the same, the user must clearly express this wish to the photographer or cameraman at the Event or Activity. Should the user wish to have InternsInBeijing remove a photograph already published on the InternsInBeijing Website, the user must contact InternsInBeijing by email.
  9. No Responsibility for the User’s and Third-Party Contents
  10. InternsInBeijing shall not be liable for any contents provided by or made available by any User, including the user’s content. In particular, InternsInBeijing does not warrant that any such content is true or accurate, or that it fulfills or serves any particular purpose.
  11. If the user finds contents offensive or objectionable, or a breach of the user’s or any third- party rights, or illegal in any other way, the user shall contact InternsInBeijing through the contact form available on each InternsInBeijing Website under “Contact”, or by sending an email to InternsInBeijing. InternsInBeijing will investigate the complaints and violations of its policies and may take any appropriate action, including, but not limited to issuing warnings, removing or blocking the content, or terminating accounts and/or subscriptions.
  12. The user acknowledges that the InternsInBeijing Websites include and provide contents provided by third-party providers as well as links to websites of third parties (alltogether “Third-Party contents”). InternsInBeijing shall not be liable for any such third-party contents, but will comply with its obligations in accordance with the German Act for Telemedia services (“Telemediengesetz”).
  13. {This agreement shall remain valid and binding as long as the user uses the services. If the parties have agreed on a minimum service period for the Emperor Membership the term shall be automatically renewed for a further period of the same length as the mimimum service period originally agreed upon (as a maximum such renewal may extend to two [2] years) unless terminated according to Section 8.3. Both parties may terminate this agreement without cause according to Sections 8.2. and 8.3; both parties may terminate this agreement with cause in accordance with Section 8.5. }
  14. Both parties may terminate the Basic Membership at any time without cause.
  15. Both parties may terminate without cause the Emperor Membership to the end of the minimum service period as chosen by the user in the course of the registration process, or to the end of any renewal period, by giving notice seven (7) days before the lapse of the respective period. If the user has terminated the Emperor Membership, the user is entitled to retain a Basic Membership.
  16. Any termination according to Sections 8.2 and 8.3 requires that the user sends a notice of termination by sending a respective email to InternsInBeijing. The termination notice shall include the user’s registered name and an email address of the user registered on the InternsInBeijing Website.
  17. A party may by written notice to the other party terminate this agreement for good cause in accordance with Section 314 German Civil Code, taking into account all circumstances of the individual case and weighing the interests of either party against the other party, also considering any other adequate measures set forth in Section 8.6. On the part of InternsInBeijing, this is the case in particular if
    1. the user, when using the service, fails to comply with any applicable statutory legal requirements or substantial contractual obligations as set forth in these GTC;
    2. there is a cause in the person of the user or in the user’s activities in relation to the InternsInBeijing Websites which may substantially impair the reputation of the InternsInBeijing Websites or InternsInBeijing.
  18. In the event of a good cause in accordance with Section 8.5 and notwithstanding InternsInBeijing’ right to terminate the agreement, InternsInBeijing is entitled to:
  19. delete or block the contents posted by the user,
  20. send the user a notice detailing the cause and claiming remedy of the cause, or
  21. block the user’s access to the services.
  22. The user shall not be entitled to claim reimbursement of any advance payments made by the user if InternsInBeijing has terminated the agreement or blocked the user’s access for good cause pursuant to Section 8.5 and 8.6.
  23. Terms of Termination, Reimbursement of Advance Payments
  24. Privacy

InternsInBeijing acknowledges that any personal data provided by the user to InternsInBeijing is extremely important to the user. InternsInBeijing shall comply with all applicable legal provisions regarding data protection (German Data Protection Laws, European Data Protection Directives, and any other applicable data protection legislation). In particular, InternsInBeijing shall not provide or otherwise disclose any personal data of the user to any third party without consent, unless InternsInBeijing is required by statutory applicable law to reveal the data to third parties, in particular government or regulatory bodies, or if the transfer of data is necessary for operation of debiting proecdures as described in Section 4.1 above. Details on InternsInBeijing’ handling and processing of the user’s personal data are set forth in the “Privacy Policy of InternsInBeijing for the use of the services under the top level domain www.InternsInBeijing.com” (“Privacy Policy”) accessible on each InternsInBeijing Website under “Privacy Policy“.

  1. Liability of InternsInBeijing
    1. Subject to the provisions set out in this section, InternsInBeijing shall only be liable for any damages, irrespective of the cause of action, including tort, which (i) are caused by negligent violation of an essential contractual obligation (“Kardinalpflichtverletzung”) which have to be duly fulfilled for the achievement of the contractual purpose and on which fulfillment the user can rely on under normal circumstances, or (ii) are caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct of InternsInBeijing.
    2. If InternsInBeijing is held liable under the preceding paragraph, InternsInBeijing’ liability shall be limited to those typical damages which InternsInBeijing could reasonably foresee at the time of execution of the agreement, based on circumstances known to InternsInBeijing at that time, provided, however, that this limitation shall not apply if any damages are caused by InternsInBeijing’ gross negligence or willful misconduct.
    3. InternsInBeijing shall not be liable for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages unless those damages are caused by InternsInBeijing’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.
    4. Nothing in this Section 10 shall limit InternsInBeijing’ liability for personal injury and property damage claims based on the German Product Liability Act (“Produkthaftungsgesetz”).
    5. InternsInBeijing provides only the infrastructure for InternsInBeijing members to organize Activities. Under no circumstance shall InternsInBeijing assume legal responsibility for damages related to InternsInBeijing Activities. Nor is InternsInBeijing legally responsible for the behavior or actions of InternsInBeijing members or any other attendees during InternsInBeijing Activities. Sections 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
    6. Under no circumstance shall InternsInBeijing assume legal responsibility for damages occuring at InternsInBeijing Events. Nor is InternsInBeijing legally responsible for the behavior or actions of InternsInBeijing members or any other attendees during InternsInBeijing Events. Sections 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
    7. The Brand Ambassadors do not represent InternsInBeijing as vicarious agents. InternsInBeijing does not accept any legal responsibility for damages resulting from the gross negligence or intention of Brand Ambassadors. Nor is InternsInBeijing under any circumstance legally responsible for the behavior and actions of Brand Ambassadors. Sections 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
    8. The Brand Ambassadors are not employees of InternsInBeijing. InternsInBeijing thus does not accept any legal responsibility for damages resulting from the gross negligence or intention of Brand Ambassadors. Nor is InternsInBeijing under any circumstance legally responsible for the behavior and actions of Brand Ambassadors. Sections 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
  2. Indemnity

The user shall indemnify and hold InternsInBeijing harmless and not accountable for claims for breach of third-party rights for which the user is responsible or any damage which is caused by a breach of any contractual obligations by the user. In particular, the user shall indemnify and hold InternsInBeijing guiltless and not accountable for claims by third parties resulting from any illegal acts by the user, in particular with respect to contents provided by the user infringing third-party rights or otherwise illegal content. In so far as such infringement of rights result in court proceedings, the user shall also bear the costs incurred by InternsInBeijing as a result, in particular court and attorney costs.

  1. Miscellaneous
    1. Unless otherwise stated in these GTC, the user may submit all notices to InternsInBeijing by email. The contact details of InternsInBeijing can be found on each InternsInBeijing Website under “Contact us”. InternsInBeijing may send notices to the user by placing a notice in the user’s personal inbox on the InternsInBeijing Website, email, fax, or post to the addresses given in the user’s current contact data in the user’s account.
    2. If any provision of these GTC is, for any reason, invalid and/or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.
    3. The place of performance under these GTC shall be InternsInBeijing’ main place of business.
    4. Place of jurisdiction, insofar as legally admissible, shall be Zurich, Switzerland. This shall not impair any consumer jurisdiction forum competent for a dispute.
    5. These GTC and the contractual relationship shall be governed by Swiss Law, excluding the provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
  2. Consumer’s Right to Cancellation

If a user uses the services for a purpose that is not related to either his or her commercial or freelance activity (“Consumer” according to Section 13 German Civil Code), the following provisions shall apply:

  1. The user may cancel registration for the Basic or Emperor Membership within two (2) weeks without stating a reason. The two-weeks period starts when membership (Registration or Upgrade) is activated by InternsInBeijing, but not before the receipt of these instructions.

{Furthermore, the user is entitled to cancel registration for the Emperor Membership within two (2) weeks without stating a reason, after changing from Basic Membership to Emperor Membership. The two-weeks period starts when the Emperor Membership (Upgrade) is activated by InternsInBeijing, but not before the receipt of these instructions. }

In order to meet the cancellation deadline in each of the aforementioned cases, the date of dispatch of the cancellation notice is decisive. In each of the aforementioned cases, the cancellation notice should be sent by email to InternsInBeijing(at)gmail.com. The email address of InternsInBeijing is sent to the user upon registration and can be found on each InternsInBeijing Website under “Contact us”.

These provisions only apply to inital subscriptions and not to renewals of ongoing memberships (Renewal).

The user’s right of termination under Section 8 shall not be affected by the user’s cancellation right under this Section 13.

  1. According to Section 312d para. 3 of the German Civil Code, the user’s right of cancellation lapses before the end of the cancellation period referenced in Section 13.1, if:
    1. InternsInBeijing has begun performing the services for which the user is registered with the explicit consent of the user, or
    2. the user has initiated the services for which the user is registered (e.g., in which the User has accessed the Website in accordance with the type of Membership chosen by the user at registration).
  2. In the event of a valid cancellation, both parties shall be obliged to restore any benefits already received in accordance with legal provisions, and issue any gains (e.g., interest). If the user is unable or partially unable to restore the benefits, or only able to restore them in poor condition to InternsInBeijing, then the user must reimburse InternsInBeijing for the corresponding value. The user must fulfill obligations for reimbursement within thirty (30) days after dispatch of the cancellation notice.
  3. Content Disclaimer

To the best of our knowledge, all information in the InternsInBeijing Event letter and the Wechat Account is accurate and up-to-date at the time of publication. However, the InternsInBeijing Editorial Office makes no claim for the InternsInBeijing Event letter and the Wechat Account to be complete, nor do we make any warranty whatsoever on the accuracy of the content. While all our articles are reviewed regularly, some of the information might have changed since the time of publication or the last review.

The InternsInBeijing Event letter and Wechat Account are neither legal advice in any way, nor can they replace the knowledgeable opinion of lawyers or other professionals in the various fields discussed in the articles.

Please note that InternsInBeijing is not responsible for the accuracy of and opinions expressed in member-contributed articles.

The InternsInBeijing Event letter and the Wechat Acount aim to offer current and future members a first glimpse into what awaits them and intends to inform them about the different aspects of life in Beijing. However, we cannot be held responsible if your own experiences differ from what is presented in the articles.