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Terms and Conditions

                                                                              Terms and Conditions

This agreement sets out the terms and conditions ('Terms and Conditions') applicable to members of the service operated by TopLancers. Applicants (referred to as 'members') must agree to the following Terms and Conditions. In the event a member breaches or otherwise fails to comply with any provision of these Terms and Conditions then in addition to any other remedy available to TopLancers, TopLancers may terminate the participation of such member in the service and/or may withhold any payments relating to participation in the service due to such member from TopLancers.

Do NOT post contact information anywhere.
Do not advertise any product or service, wether it's yours or not.

Eligibility Requirements

TopLancers.com shall have absolute discretion as to whether or not it accepts a particular applicant or site for participation in the service.

Payments

TopLancers will typically make payments/withdrawals if the member requests it AND their account balance is equal to or greater than $30. All amounts are stated in and all payments will be made in US funds. We verify all deposits and might ask you to verify yours; If you refuse to send verification information via E-mail, Fax or Phone, we reserve the right to refund the deposit and terminate your account. ScriptLance reserves the right to suspend a withdrawal if the source of the funds is suspected to be fraudulent. Any funds received from an account having made a fraudulent deposit (e.g. stolen credit card) will be reversed immediately. If in a fraudulent payment situation a withdrawal has already been processed, you will be expected to return the funds to your TopLancers account or face account termination. TopLancers cannot be held liable for deposits reversed without its authorization due to reasons, including, but not limited to, fraud, chargebacks or complaints. As previously stated, any member site that TopLancers removes from the service due to violation of the Terms and Conditions will receive no credit or payment.

Escrow

TopLancers provides escrow as a free, bonus, and automated service only as a tool to help members transact more securely. We do not act as an arbitrator between parties, should a dispute arise, except in limited situations. Financial disputes should be resolved between members, or via another third party, and without TopLancers whenever possible. We do, however, reserve the right to cancel an escrow payment, at any time, if we believe we are left with no other option. We also reserve the right to complete an escrow payment if no response is received from the payer, after repeated attempts at contact, for 30 continuous days.

Disputes

Members may not file a complaint with one of our payment processors, including PayPal, regarding the funds deposited into their account. TopLancers staff will do its best to resolve any problem a member may have. Refunds will be processed, if deemed necessary, at a time of TopLancers staff's choosing. Due to the incompatible communication systems between our payment processors and Toplancers staff members, payment disputes logged directly with those processors cannot be properly managed and will cause further delays. Due to this, members who make a complaint to our payment processor will face account termination without notice. TopLancers makes available a project dispute system that may be used by members to request mediation by staff. TopLancers reserves the right to use its own discretion to make decisions in favor of a party and considers its decision final. A fee may be charged to reopen closed dispute cases.

Copyrights

No copyright material can be posted on TopLancers. Only posting sections of articles or scripts, as examples, will be permitted. A "section" being no more than 10% of the contents. This is meant to protect the author's rights. We also do not tolerate projects that are clearly requesting unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted or patented material.

Ownership

Members agree that all information contained on a website operated by TopLancers, and all information compiled by TopLancers through operation of the affiliate program, is the proprietary information of TopLancers. Personal information provided by members to TopLancers will be kept confidential and will not be distributed to any third party.

E-Mail Addresses

Members agree not to post their e-mail address on the site, except in the "e-mail" field of the signup form, or when asked by TopLancers at any other time. There should be no need to give anyone your e-mail address. It is automatically provided if you choose a programmer (or you are the programmer chosen for) a project, and before that time you can use the message board to communicate. This does not only apply to e-mail addresses, but to all methods of communication, including phone, ICQ, AIM, MSN Messenger, etc... See "Avoiding Commissions" below for the reason.

Providing Contact Informations

You are prohibited from making direct contact with another member, unless it's for a project you (a programmer) have been picked for, or you (a buyer) have picked a programmer for. This includes giving out your e-mail address, instant messenger, phone number, or any other method of contact outside of this site. Website addresses which display or directly link to a members contact info are also not permitted. TopLancers provides you with message boards, which should be sufficient for pre-project planning.

Avoiding Commissions

You are strictly prohibited from attempting to negotiate the fee for a project with another member directly (outside of TopLancers). This also applies to any project that was closed without a programmer being chosen, and then contacting them about the project anyway. Both parties are responsible for notifying TopLancers if the payment amount increases (above the bid amount) after the project is closed. Receiving a larger amount than the original project bid, without notifying us, will be considered an attempt to avoid the commissions. When a programmer requests a withdrawal, we always review all payments received for each project to verify that they match the bid. If at the time of a withdrawal request the programmer has failed to notify TopLancers staff of a payment received above the amount of his bid (a total payment above US$100), TopLancers reserves the right to deduct double the fee for the amount that should have been reported. We believe our commissions are very fair and justified for the service we provide, therefore we will absolutely not tolerate any of this activity on TopLancers. Penalty fees will be charged to repeat offenders of the site terms, including for the posting of contact info, for which double the fees that potentially would have been charged for a completed project will be charged to the offendor. The potential project fee will be determined by TopLancers at its discretion, and will typically incorporate the buyer's fee and the programmer's fee based on the bid. If no bid has been placed the fee may be determined based on the project budget. Penalty fees charged to an offending member may be refunded if the offendor eventually participates in that project on TopLancers on which the violation was made, and pays the regular project fees.

Bidding

Programmers can only place bids that equal the total amount of money they are requesting for the project. You cannot post an hourly bid or any other abnormal type of bid. This applies to buyers too. Buyers cannot create projects that directly or indirectly require programmers to place hourly or other abnormal bids.

Posting Projects

New users are limited to the posting of only 3 projects before being asked to make a deposit. This is meant to protect other users and prevent fraudulent activity. A user is required to deposit any amount of funds before they gain the right to post unlimited projects.

Advertising

You are prohibited from advertising your website on TopLancers. Any URL posted in a bid, project description, or the message board, must relate to a project on TopLancers. An example of a permissible URL: your portfolio or resume page.

Accounts

An individual may not possess more than one Buyer account and one Programmer account, unless they have contacted and received authorization from TopLancers staff. Users found with unauthorized multiple accounts, or found to be using multiple accounts to avoid bad reviews, fees, suspensions or other limitations, will face suspension of all their accounts. It is prohibited under all circumstances to transfer ownership of an account, without authorization from TopLancers staff. Accounts that are inactive (have no login activity) for more than 12 months will be deactivated and have their remaining funds deducted by TopLancers.

The role of TopLancers

TopLancers functions as a venue to connect buyers and programmers in a virtual marketplace. As a neutral facilitator, TopLancers is not directly involved in the actual transactions between users of the Site. As a result, TopLancers has no control over the truth, accuracy, quality, legality, or safety of postings made by users. Because verifying the identity of a user on the Internet is difficult, TopLancers cannot and does not confirm the identity of users. TopLancers also does not confirm nor verify the qualifications, background, or abilities of users. Therefore, We recommend that You be careful and exercise common sense and good judgment when dealing with any member on the Site. If you are unsatisifed with another member, the most TopLancers can do is refund the project commission you have been charged by us. We cannot refund the money you have sent to someone, we are not responsible for your transactions. TopLancers is not responsible for fraudulent payments made by users and cannot be held liable for financial loss incurred from fraudulent transactions. It is the receiver's responsibility to verify the identity and background of the sender.

Legal Issues

Members are responsible for legal issues related to the work product or process and any postings on TopLancers.

Modifications

TopLancers reserves the right to change the member Terms and Conditions at any time. It is the member's responsibility to check these Terms and Conditions from time to time for such changes. In the event TopLancers offers any additional or replacement services then this agreement shall apply to such services in the absence of any new agreement specific to such services which is entered into between the parties.

Thank you for choosing our service.