The Japan Times Membership Service:
Terms of the Service

Section 1 (The Japan Times Membership Service)

1. The Japan Times Membership Service (hereinafter called the "Service") is an information service for members operated by The Japan Times Ltd. (hereinafter called the "Company").
2. Members will be able to access information provided by the Company through a members-only section of the Japan Times website (such section hereinafter called the "Site") and/or e-mail updates sent by the Company.

Section 2 (Terms of Service)

1. These Terms of Service will apply to the Service and each use by the Member thereof.
2. Any terms that are the subject of a separate policy of the Company providing for terms of use, as well as any additional terms that may be notified by the Company to Members as appropriate from time to time (hereinafter called the "Additional Terms") constitute an agreement between the Member and the Company. If there is any discrepancy between the provision of these Terms of Service and the Additional Terms, the Additional Terms shall prevail.

Section 3 (Members)

1. A "Member" is a person who has applied to access the Service in accordance with the Company's procedures and has agreed to these Terms of Service, and whose application has been accepted by the Company.
2. These Terms of Service shall not apply to a corporation or other entity. Such entities may only use the Service in accordance with terms and conditions that may separately be agreed with the Company.
3. Children under the age of thirteen (13) cannot be Members.
4. Access to the Service by a Member shall be from the date of acceptance of the Member's application by the Company pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Section until March 31st of each year, and shall be extended automatically for successive periods of one (1) year each unless the Member follows the cancellation procedures provided in Section 11.

Section 4 (Equipment to Access the Service)

The Company is unable to assure access to the Service other than through a network environment and technical specifications separately provided. It is the responsibility of Members to install and maintain all equipment, software and any other tools required to access the Service, including an Internet connection, at their own cost.

Section 5 (Registration Procedures)

1. Any person who wishes to register as a Member shall provide such information to the Company as may be requested pursuant to procedures determined by the Company, and shall acknowledge these Terms of Service. By completing the registration procedures, each Member shall be deemed to have understood and agreed to these Terms of Service.
2. If an applicant provides any information that is untrue, or the Company determines that the applicant is not appropriate for membership, the Company may refuse such application.

Section 6 (Notifications to Members)

1. All notices and other communications to Members shall be sent by e-mail, displayed on the Site or distributed by any other means that the Company considers appropriate.
2. A notice by e-mail shall be effective when the Company has sent it to the e-mail address registered by the Member with the Company. A notice on the Site shall be effective at the time the Company has posted it on the Site.

Section 7 (Content)

1. The Service shall consist of text, photographs, pictures, images, streaming movies, sounds and other content.
2. Provision of the Service in whole or in part shall be subject to certain conditions set by the Company from time to time, including possibly payment of a fee and subscription to The Japan Times newspaper. Any new or revised terms and conditions shall be notified to Members in a manner that the Company determines appropriate.
3. In the event that any terms and conditions of a certain service are revised, any Member who does not satisfy such revised terms and conditions may be disqualified from using the Service beginning on the date of effectiveness of such revision.
4. Following a change in the terms and conditions pursuant to paragraph 3 above, Members may continue to use the service so long as they satisfy such changed terms and conditions after the registration procedures have been completed.

Section 8 (Fee, etc.)

1. At the current time, registration for the Service is provided free of charge.
2. In the event that payment of a fee or any other condition for access to the Service is added in the future, such condition shall be expressly indicated on the Site.

Section 9 (Communications to Members)

The Company may from time to time send to Members advertisements, promotional materials and questionnaires regarding the products or services of the Company, its content providers or advertisers. Such advertisements, materials and questionnaires may be sent by e-mail or other means. Each Member acknowledges and agrees that the Company may send such communications to him/her. The Company confirms that any such communications will be sent by the Company, and not by any content provider or advertiser. The Company will not provide any personal information of Members to any such third parties with respect to such communications.

Section 10 (Authentication Information of Members)

1. The Company shall provide each Member with a user name and password to log on to the Site (the "Authentication Information").
2. Members shall not disclose, transfer or allow any other person to use the Authentication Information. Each Member is responsible for carefully managing his/her Authentication Information.
3. If Authentication Information is disclosed to a third party as a result of negligence or any action of a Member and the Authentication Information is used without permission, such use will be deemed to be use by the Member concerned. Any fee or other payment for such use without permission shall be the responsibility of the Member.
4. Members shall notify the Company immediately if they believe that their Authentication Information may have been improperly used, including by disclosure to a third party.

Section 11 (Cancellation)

Members may cancel their subscription to the Service at any time by notifying the Company according to procedures set by the Company.

Section 12 (Prohibition)

In addition to the other prohibitions set forth in these Terms of Service and in the Additional Terms, Members shall be prohibited from:

1. infringing the property, privacy or other rights or interests of the Company, other Members or any third parties, or committing any act that might constitute such infringement;
2. interfering with or disrupting the business of the Company significantly;
3. using the Service for a commercial purpose, or transferring, or allowing any third party to use such Member's Authentication Information and similar actions;
4. using improperly the Authentication Information of any other Member;
5. committing any breach of these Terms of Service, the Additional Terms or applicable law;
6. committing any act contrary to public policy and good morals, committing any crime, or committing act that might constitute any of the foregoing;
7. encouraging any other person to do any of the preceding, or engaging in conduct that may lead to such acts; and
8. engaging in any other conduct that the Company considers inappropriate to a Member.

Section 13 (Cancellation of Memberships by the Company)

1. In the event that any of the items below apply to a Member, the Company may cease providing the Service to such Member or take steps to cancel such Member's membership.
   1. If the Member is late in payment of any fee or performance of any other applicable obligation;
   2. If the Member has provided any fraudulent or inaccurate information;
   3. If the Company cannot communicate with the Member by e-mail, etc.;
   4. If the Member has died;
   5. If it appears that such Member's Authentication Information has been used by any third party without permission, taking into consideration the situation of such use or other circumstances;
   6. If it is determined that such Member's membership in the Service had been previously cancelled as a result of breach of these Terms of Service;
   7. If the Member breaches these Terms of Service, the Additional Terms or applicable law, or acts in a manner that is contrary to the understandings set forth in these Terms of Service; and
   8. In any other case where the Company reasonably determines that the Member is inappropriate for membership as a result of any other facts or circumstances.
2. The Company shall not be liable for any losses to the Member incurred as a result of termination of the Service or the cancellation measures set forth in the preceding paragraph.

Section 14 (Effect of Cancellation)

1. The Member shall lose all rights to use the Service at the time of cancellation or commencement of cancellation measures.
2. In the event of any cancellation or commencement of cancellation measures, any obligations of a Member to the Company shall be accelerated, and the Member shall immediately perform all such obligations to the Company.

Section 15 (Suspension of Service)

1. The Company may suspend the Service in whole or in part for certain periods without notice on the occurrence of any of the following events:
   1. Regular or emergency maintenance of the Company's computer systems; and
   2. Natural disaster, accident, power outage, connection troubles or any other events not attributable to the Company.
2. The Company shall not be liable for any losses incurred as a result of the suspension of the Service in whole or in part in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Section 16 (Termination of Service)

1. The Company may terminate the Service in whole or in part upon advance notification to the Members.
2. Each Member acknowledges and agrees that the Company shall have no liability resulting from the termination of the Service in whole or in part so long as the Company has notified the Member in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Section 17 (Management of Members' Personal Information)

We will control and handle personal data of the members in a fair and appropriate manner in accordance with The Japan Times Online Private Policy. In certain cases, we may have to outsource part of our operations to a third party. In such a case, The Japan Times will require the third party to ensure a *strict* control and handling of the personal data.

Section 18 (Former Members)

As required by law, we will continue to retain portions of the information of members who have ceased to subscribe to our services, *such as the billing records of subscription fees.* At such time when we are relieved of this legal obligation, we will remove this information from our databases.

Section 19 (Change of Registered Information)

1. In the event of any change of a Member's information registered with the Company, including contact information, the Member shall immediately follow the procedures set by the Company to notify the Company regarding such changes.
2. The Company shall not be liable for any damage that may be suffered by a Member as a result of the incompleteness of such Member's registered information or failure to follow the required procedures to change such information.

Section 20 (Copyright Attribution)

1. The copyright to content available on the Site is generally owned by the Company. Copyright to content not owned by the Company belongs to the original author or creator thereof. The word "content" shall mean all information generated or collected by the Company as provided in Section 7 above, including photographs, illustrations, images, streaming movies, sound, etc., and is not limited to articles or other writing.
2. Notwithstanding copyright ownership of particular items of content, the copyright of the layout, design and structure, and the database containing the content of the Site shall belong to the Company.

Section 21 (Prohibition of reproduction, publication, etc.)

1. Members shall not reproduce, translate, adapt, broadcast, publish, distribute or lend, or the like (hereinafter collectively called "Reproduce") the content of the Site, or the screen displaying the content in whole or in part (hereinafter collectively called the "Site Content"), beyond the scope of private use or quotation permitted by the Copyright Act of Japan. Reproduction of the Site Content or a summary thereof without permission from the Company may be a violation of the Copyright Law of Japan.
2. In addition to copyright infringement, reproduction of any article title, summary or explanation of the contents of the Site, or words or phrases from advertisements on the Site may constitute a violation of the rights of the Company.
3. Members may browse or listen to the contents of the Site to the extent such activities constitute "reproduction for private use" permitted by the Copyright Law of Japan. However, only Members may browse or listen to such content regardless of whether the purpose is commercial or non-commercial.

Section 22 (Limitation of Liability)

1. The Company disclaims all warranties, including, but not limited to completeness, accuracy, or usefulness of the Service.
2. When a Member enters into a transaction directly with a content provider, advertiser or any other third party, the Member shall be responsible for resolving any disputes result from such transaction. The Company shall not be liable for any transaction between the Company and any third party, regardless of what kind of information the Company has provided in the Service.
3. Third-party websites linked from the Site are not controlled by the Company. The Company cannot take any responsibility for the completeness, accuracy or usefulness of the contents of any website linked to the Site or the use of any personal information provided by Members to such third-party sites.

Section 23 (Responsibility of Members)

1. Members shall use the Service at their own risk, and shall be responsible for any loss or other damage resulting from the use of the Service.
2. Members shall be liable to third parties for any loss incurred by Members' use of the Service.
3. In the event of any dispute of a Member with a third party resulting from a breach of these Terms of Service or the Additional Terms, the Member will be responsible for resolution of such dispute.

Section 24 (Amendment to the Terms of Service and the Additional Terms)

1. The Company may modify these Terms of Service and the Additional Terms without any consent from the Members. The amended version of the Terms of Service and the Additional Terms shall become effective as of the date that the Company post such changes on the Site, except in the event of special circumstances.
2. Any Member who is unable to agree with any amendment referenced in the preceding paragraph may cancel his/her membership to the Service by following procedures set by the Company. Any Member that does not follow such cancellation procedure within one (1) week from the effective date of the amendment shall be deemed to have agreed to the amendment.

Section 25 (Damages)

Any Member who has breached these Terms of Service and caused damage to the Company may be liable to the Company for such damage.

Section 26 (Governing Law and Jurisdiction)

1. These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan.
2. Each Member and the Company consent to the exclusive jurisdiction as of the first instance of the Tokyo Summary Court or the Tokyo District Court of Japan with respect to any matter arising between the Member and the Company relating to the Service.

Section 27 (Japanese Version to Govern)

The original version of these Terms of Service has been prepared in Japanese. In the event of any discrepancy between the English and Japanese versions, the Japanese version will govern.