Vlink Terms & Conditions of Use

ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) hereby sets forth the following terms and conditions of use (these “Terms & Conditions”) to be observed by users of Vlink (the “Service”), with regard to the use of the Service.

The Company and users of the Service shall comply with these Terms & Conditions, and all terms, rules, guidelines, and equivalents incidental to these Terms & Conditions. The English language version of these Terms & Conditions is only a translated version. In the event of any inconsistency with the original Japanese version, the original Japanese version shall prevail.

Article 1 (Definitions)

“User” means a corporate entity or individual who uses the Service.
“Posted information” means text, images, or videos, etc., posted by a User, either on the Service or on a third-party service.
“External link” means a URL or other link that directs to an external site, arbitrarily set by a User on the service.
“Third-party service” means a social networking or social media service operated by a third party. Examples include services such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Article 2 (User Registration)

When a User who wishes to use the Service applies for registration for use using the online form prescribed by the Company (“application” or “applying”), the User is deemed to have agreed to these Terms & Conditions.
The Company shall determine, in accordance with the Company’s standards, whether or not a User who has made an application pursuant to the preceding paragraph can register for use of the Service. If the Company approves the registration, the Company shall notify the User to that effect. User registration is deemed to be completed when the Company notifies the User.
Upon completion of registration pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the Company and the User thereby enter into an agreement based on these Terms & Conditions (the “Agreement”), and the User may then use the Service in accordance with the Agreement.
When a User falls under any of the following items, the Company may refuse to allow registration or re-registration, or terminate the Agreement after registration without the need to give any notice. The Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any damages incurred by the User as a result of the Company’s refusal to allow registration or re-registration, or the cancellation of the Agreement after registration.
1. When the Company determines that the applicant may breach the Terms of Use
2. When all or part of the information provided by the User to the Company at the time of application (“registration information”) is false, erroneous, or omitted
3. When the User is a person whose registration to use the Service has been canceled in the past
4. When the User is an individual who is a minor, adult ward, or person under curatorship or assistance, and the consent of their legal representative, guardian, curator, or assistant has not been obtained
5. When it runs contrary to public order and morals
6. When illegal activities are carried out, or solicitation for illegal activities is made
7. When the User is engaged in illegal business such as pyramid schemes or illegal multilevel marketing schemes, or similar activities
8. When the User damages the reputation of others or defames a specific individual or group (including damaging or defaming the reputation of the Company)
9. When intellectual property rights such as copyright, personal rights such as portrait rights, other legal rights or rights deserving protection are infringed, or related laws and regulations are violated
10. When the affiliate operator has listed representations which violate laws such as the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices or the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations
11. When the Company judges that there is a violation or risk of violation of laws and regulations
12. When the Company judges that the User is (part of) an anti-social force, etc. (meaning organized crime groups, members of organized crime groups, right-wing groups, anti-social forces, and other equivalent persons, and/or persons who have a close relationship with them), or is engaged in some kind of interaction or involvement with anti-social forces, etc., such as cooperating or being involved in the maintenance, operation, or management of anti-social forces, etc., through the provision of funds or other means
13. The Company judges that the applicant is otherwise unsuitable
When the Company makes a judgement based on the preceding paragraph, the Company is not obligated whatsoever to disclose the reason for the judgement, and the User shall not raise any objection to such judgement.

Article 3 (Change of Registered Information)

When applying to use the Service, the User shall submit factual information regarding the matters necessary for registration to the Company.
If there is a change in the registration information submitted to the Company at the time of application, the User shall change it to information that is factually correct on the Service management screen, at their own responsibility.
The Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any disadvantage incurred by the User as a result of the inaccuracy or falseness of registration information submitted to the Company by the User, and the User shall bear full liability.

Article 4 (Management of ID and Password)

Users shall appropriately manage and store the ID and password granted by the Company for the use of the Service at their own responsibility, and shall not allow any third party to use it; and shall not lend, transfer, change name of ownership, or sell such information to any third party.
The Company deems any and all actions on the Service carried out using a User’s ID and password to be actions carried out by that User.
Users shall be responsible for any and all damages caused by inadequate management of their ID and password, errors in use, or expenses of a third party, etc., and the Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any such damages. When learning of any unauthorized use of their login ID and password, Users shall promptly notify the Company of the incident.

Article 5 (Representations and Commitments)

Users shall represent, and warrant, to the Company as set out below.
1. That the User, its officers, employees, agents, and other employees do not, and will not, fall under the category of an organized crime group or member of an organized crime group (or a person for whom five years have not passed since ceasing to be such), a quasi-member (associate) of an organized crime group, an company affiliated with an organized crime group, a corporate racketeer, a group engaging in criminal activities under the pretext of conducting social campaigns, a crime group specializing in intellectual crimes, or equivalent of any of the above (collectively “anti-social forces”)
2. That the User does not have, and will not have, any relationship described below with anti-social forces or a person who is closely related to anti-social forces (“anti-social forces, etc.”)
  1. Control of management by anti-social forces, etc.
  2. Substantial involvement in management by anti-social forces, etc.
  3. Providing anti-social forces, etc., with funds, etc., or convenience
  4. Using the anti-social forces, etc., with an aim to earn illegal profits or cause losses to a third party
  5. Other relations with anti-social forces, etc., which could be socially criticized
Users promise to definitively not carry out any of the following acts by themselves or using a third party.
1. Requesting a violent act
2. Illegal act of a request beyond legal responsibility and liability
3. Act of using threatening words and deeds or violence relating to a transaction
4. Act of damaging the credibility of the Company and its partner EC Sites, and interfering with the Company’s business by spreading rumors, using fraudulent means, or force
5. Act of having the antisocial forces, etc., use the name of Party A or Party B
6. Other acts similar to one of the preceding items
When the Company reasonably judges that a User has violated one of the preceding two paragraphs, the Company may immediately terminate all or part of the Agreement without notice or formal demand to the User, or performing its obligations.
If the Company incurs damages due to the preceding paragraph, the User shall compensate the Company for such damages.

Article 6 (Use of the Service)

Users shall be able to use the function of creating a unique page (the “Page”) on which they can aggregate and post posted information and external links, for the purpose of introducing the User’s own recommended products and/or services, etc., using the Service.
Users shall be able to post posted information and external links on the Page using the Service.
User shall be able to link posted information posted on the Page with posted information posted on third party services using the Service. When linking posted information on the Service with posted information posted on third party services, Users shall do so in compliance with the terms of use set forth by the relevant third-party services, and at their own responsibility.
When posting information and external links on the Page, Users shall do so at their own responsibility, and in compliance with the Act Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations and other applicable laws and regulations. If the Company presents separate guidelines, etc., Users shall also comply with those guidelines, etc.
Users agree that the Company may delete posted information and external links posted by Users at its sole discretion, and shall not raise any objection to deletions by the Company.

Article 7 (Use of Affiliate Program Services)

Users shall be able to use affiliate program services (“affiliate programs”) provided by the Company and/or third parties on the Page.
When using affiliate programs provided by the Company pursuant to the preceding paragraph, Users shall agree to and register with the Value Commerce Affiliate Program Affiliate Site Operator Terms & Conditions of Use established separately by the Company, and use the Company’s affiliate programs in accordance with those terms and conditions and other guidelines established by the Company. When using affiliate programs provided by a third party, Users shall comply with the terms and conditions of the third party providing the affiliate program.
When using affiliate programs on the Page, Users shall do so at their own responsibility, and in compliance with the Act Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations and other applicable laws and regulations.
When using affiliate programs provided by the Company or third parties, Users shall do so at their own responsibility, and the Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any damages incurred by Users as a result of using affiliate programs.
The Company does not guarantee economic benefits or usefulness for Users when using affiliate program services on the Page.

Article 8 (Ownership of Rights and Use of Copyrights, etc.)

Users confirm that all ownership rights and all other rights to the copyrights to the Company’s website and the Service (including the rights provided for under Articles 27 and 28 of the Copyright Act, and the same applies hereinafter), trademark rights, design rights, and other rights (“intellectual property rights”) belong to the Company.
Users confirm that during the period of use of the Service, the right to use the Service is granted only within the scope of the purpose of using the Service.
Users shall not, without the prior consent of the Company, establish a sublicense of the right to use the Service under the Agreement, assign it to a third party, provide it as collateral, or assign, sublease, offer as collateral, or transfer possession of all or part of a reproduction of the Service to any third party; and shall not dispose of the right to use or any reproduction of the Service in any other way.
Unless otherwise agreed, the rights (intellectual property rights: copyrights, design rights, patent rights, utility model rights, trademark rights, and know-how, etc.) to posted information on the Service shall belong to the User who created the posted information.
Users represent and guarantee to the Company that they have the legal right to post or otherwise transmit posted information, and that the posted information does not infringe upon the rights of any third party.
By posting posted information (for which the User holds the rights described under the preceding paragraph) using the Service, the User is deemed to have licensed the Company and any third parties designated by the Company, free of charge, indefinitely, and on a nonexclusive basis, without limitation to any region, the rights to use, reproduce, edit, revise, publish, reprint, publicly transmit, distribute, sell, provide, transfer, lend, translate and/or adapt, etc., the posted information, and the rights of the original copyright holder for use of derivative works (the rights provided for under Articles 21 through 28 of the Copyright Act, including commercial use). Users shall not exercise the moral rights of the author against the Company or any third party designated by the Company.
The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs shall remain in effect even after a User suspends or withdraws from the use of the Service.
When the Company deems that a User has violated or is likely to violate laws and regulations or these Terms & Conditions with regard to posted Information, etc., or if there is any other business-related need to do so, the Company may delete posted information without notifying the User in advance. In such cases, the User shall not raise any objection to the judgment of the Company.

Article 9 (Prohibition of Unauthorized Use of Information)

Except in cases approved by the Company (including the approval of a third party, when there is a third party who has rights to the relevant information), Users may not reproduce, reprint, sell, transfer, or otherwise use any information provided in the Service without permission. In addition, Users may not use a third party to perform those acts.

Article 10 (Prohibitions)

When using the Service, Users must not engage in the following acts.

1. Acts that are offensive to public order and morals;
2. Acts promoting or suggesting the committing of criminal acts;
3. Acts that infringe upon the intellectual property rights (trademark rights, copyrights, design rights, patent rights, etc.) of the Company or a third party;
4. Acts that infringe upon the property assets, credibility, good name, or privacy of the Company or a third party;
5. Acts that cause, or may cause, disadvantage, distrust, or damage to the Company or a third party;
6. Acts that defame a third party, or a third party’s products, etc., and damage social credibility;
7. Acts of posting personal information (names, addresses, places of employment, telephone numbers, etc., that could be used to identify an individual);
8. Acts that are judged to constitute obscene or violent expressions, or promote discrimination based on attributes such as race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or age, etc.;
9. Acts that interfere with the operation of the Service, damage the Company’s credibility, or interfere with the Company’s business;
10. Acts that violate laws and regulations, equivalent guidelines, or rules, etc.;
11. Acts that violate the Terms & Conditions;
12. Registering or providing false information;
13. Using the Service while impersonating a third party by using the ID and password of another User, or by other methods;
14. Sending or writing programs;
15. Spamming, such as posting the same or similar text multiple times, or sending messages to an unspecified number of users, etc.;
16. Wrongfully increasing the number of legitimate evaluations of posts on the Service for the User themselves, or for a third party (including, but not limited to, the number of “likes” and the number of “saves” for a given post);
17. Copying, modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, disassembling, decompiling, or (re)creating the Service, or any derivative works of content contained in the Service; Attempting to decipher source code by any other method;
18. Incorporating or embedding the Service, or any portion thereof, into another program or product;
19. Using automated scripts to collect information from the Service, or to interact with the Service in any way;
20. Other acts that the Company deems inappropriate
When the Company separately notifies Users of precautions and matters for compliance, Users must not engage in any act prohibited or likely to be prohibited by such notices.
If a User violates this article, or the Company judges that the User has violated this article, the Company may take measures such as suspending the User’s use of the Service, deleting posted content, or terminating the Agreement without notice.

Article 11 (User Liability for Damages)

If a User violates this Agreement or causes damages to the Company in connection with their use of the Service, the User shall compensate the Company for damages incurred (including special damages, lost profits, and lawyers’ fees).

Article 12 (Warranty Disclaimers and Liability Limitations)

The Company does not guarantee that the Service will be suitable for the specific purposes of the User; or that the Service will be accurate, up-to-date, suitable for any specific purpose, available, or useful; or that the User’s use of the Service will comply with laws, regulations, and guidelines applicable to the User; or that it will not be interrupted, discontinued, or defective.
Any dispute arising between Users, or between a User and a third party as a result of using the Service shall be resolved between the relevant parties, and the Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any such dispute.
The Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any disadvantage or damages caused during the use of the Service, or due to any change, interruption, or termination of the Service; provided, however, this does not apply if the reason that directly caused the occurrence of the damages includes the Company’s willful misconduct or gross negligence.
The Company shall not be obligated to store posted information or any other information that Users post on the Page.
The Company shall conduct the task of monitoring whether Users are using the Service appropriately in accordance with these Terms & Conditions, and whether they are engaging any acts in violation of these Terms & Conditions. However, such monitoring shall be conducted at the sole discretion of the Company, and shall not be construed as constituting an obligation of the Company in any sense of the word.

Article 13 (Modification and Suspension of the Service)

The Company may change the contents of the Service without obtaining the prior consent of Users.
In any of the following cases, the Company may suspend or discontinue all or part of the use of the Service. In such cases, the Company shall make efforts to notify Users in advance as much as possible.
1. When performing inspection or maintenance work on the computer system relating to the Service;
2. When suspending the Service due to disasters, wars, acts of terrorism, labor disputes, power outages, system failures of the Service, or other unavoidable circumstances; or
3. When the Company reasonably deems it necessary to suspend or discontinue the Service;
The Company shall not be liable whatsoever for any disadvantage or damages incurred by Users due to additions or changes to the Service, or interruption or abolition of the Service pursuant to this article.
The Company may terminate the Service by notifying Users of the termination in advance or, in the case of an emergency, by notifying Users of the termination or announcing it after the fact, in the manner prescribed by the Company.

Article 14 (Withdrawal and Termination of Contract)

Users may withdraw from the Service by notifying the Company, in the manner prescribed by the Company.
The Company may terminate the Agreement without any prior notice or warning if a User falls under any of the following reasons.
1. When the User has violated these Terms & Conditions, or when the Company judges that there is a risk of such a violation;
2. When the User has violated laws and regulations, or when the Company judges that there is a risk of such a violation;
3. When the Company judges that the User’s registered information contains false information;
4. When a petition has been filed for the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, civil rehabilitation proceedings, or other similar proceedings (with regard to the User);
5. When the bill or check that was drawn or underwritten by the User is dishonored, or when a clearing house transaction is suspended, or other similar measures are taken (with regard to the User);
6. When the user has filed or been subject to filing of a motion for attachment, provisional attachment, provision disposition, compulsory execution or sale by auction;
7. When the User is subject to disposition for failure to pay taxes and dues;
8. When the User is subject to dissolution (except in the case of a merger), commencement of liquidation, or transfer of a significant part or all of the User’s business (including substantially all of the business) to a third party;
9. When the User is subject to disposition of suspension of business or cancellation of business license or business registration by a supervisory agency;
10. When there is a reasonable reason to find that the User’s assets or credit status have deteriorated, or that there is a risk of such a deterioration;
11. When the User has withdrawn from the Service in the past; or
12. When the Company judges it to be otherwise inappropriate for the User to use the Service, based on reasonable grounds.
In some cases, a User whose Agreement has been terminated pursuant to the preceding paragraph, may not be allowed to register for the Service again.
The Company may terminate the Agreement with a User at any time with thirty days’ notice.

Article 15 (User Information, etc.)

The Company may prepare statistical data such as the usage status of the Service, and disclose or publish it to third parties. Even in such cases, the personal information of Users themselves shall not be disclosed or published to third parties.
When a User withdraws from the Service, previously registered posted information, etc., will not be carried over, even if the User re-registers for use of the Service.
If posted information exceeds the prescribed period or amount specified by the Company in the Service, the Company may delete it without notifying the User in advance.
The Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any loss or falsification of User registration data by a third parties, including in the cases provided for under the preceding two paragraphs, or for any damages incurred by Users or third parties as a result of such loss or falsification.

Article 16 (Ownership and Management, etc., of Information)

Users agree that all ownership rights to information acquired by the Company in the course of providing the Service (“acquired information”) belong to the Company.
The Company may use acquired information or information provided to the Company by Users (including, but not limited to, User behavior history information and information from social media linked to Vlink by Users; but excluding personal information) to provide the functions of the Service, to improve the quality of the Service, and when the Company reasonably judges it to be otherwise necessary to do so.
With regard to the protection and management of data under the preceding paragraphs, the Company shall comply with the User History Information Protection Policy established by the Company.

Article 17 (Handling of Personal Information)

The Company shall handle the personal information of Users acquired through the Service in accordance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and other laws and regulations relating to the protection of personal information, guidelines relating to the protection of personal information issued by relevant ministries and agencies, and the Personal Information Protection Policy (Privacy Policy) established by the Company.

Article 18 (Confidentiality)

Users must not divulge any technical information, business-related information, or other information that should be deemed confidential in connection with the Service to any third party without the prior written consent of the Company; provided, however, this does not apply to information that is judged to be public knowledge.
Users that are corporate entities shall take appropriate measures to ensure that their employees, officers, or persons of equivalent standing comply with their obligations to maintain the confidentiality of the Company’s confidential information.
The Company may use Users’ confidential information for the purpose of providing the Service.
The provisions of this article shall remain in effect even after a User withdraws from the Service.

Article 19 (Changes to Service Content and Termination of Service)

The Company may change or abolish all or part of the type and content of the Service (“changes, etc.”). In such cases, the Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any damages incurred by Users as a result of the changes, etc.
If the Company abolishes the Service pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Company shall notify Users in advance or, in the case of an emergency, after the fact.

Article 20 (Actions to be Taken after Termination)

Users confirm that, in the event of termination of the Agreement, they will become immediately unable to use the Service, regardless of the reason for the termination.
In the event of termination of the Agreement, the Company may delete all information relating to the relevant User, such as the User’s registered information, regardless of the reason for the termination.
The Company shall not be held liable whatsoever for any damages incurred by Users as a result of the deletion of information pursuant to the preceding paragraph, except in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence on the part of the Company.

Article 21 (Changes to the Terms of Use, Etc.)

These Terms & Conditions and all terms, rules, and equivalents incidental to these Terms & Conditions may be changed or revised as necessary, at the discretion of the Company; provided, however, that in such cases, the Company shall notify Users of the change or revision in advance, via the Company’s website, or via e-mail. The revised Terms & Conditions shall then apply to all relationships between the Company and Users.

Article 22 (Contact and Notifications)

Any communication or notification from Users to the Company or from the Company to Users shall be by e-mail, or other methods specified by the Company.
The Company shall deem that contact details in a User’s registered information at the time of contact or notification from the Company pursuant to the preceding paragraph is correct and valid, and will notify or contact the User using those contact details. Notification or communication shall take effect when transmitted by the Company.
The Company shall make efforts to respond to inquiries from Users regarding the Service, but shall not be obligated to do so, unless obligated to do so under laws and regulations, or under these Terms & Conditions.
The Company shall not be obligated to disclose its criteria for deciding whether or not to respond to inquiries from Users.

Article 23 (Prohibition of Assignment of Rights)

The Company and the User shall not transfer part or all of the rights and obligations arising from the Service or these Terms & Conditions to any third party, or provide them as collateral, without the prior written consent of the other party.

Article 24 (Separability)

If any provision of these Terms & Conditions or any part thereof is judged to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of these Terms & Conditions and the remaining parts of any provisions judged to be partly invalid or unenforceable shall remain in full effect, and the parties to these Terms & Conditions shall make efforts to ensure that the intent and legal and economic equivalence of such invalid or unenforceable provisions or parts thereof are in effect.

Article 25 (Governing Law and Court of Jurisdiction)

The establishment, effect, performance, and interpretation of these Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of Japan.
Any and all disputes between the Company and Users arising in connection with these Terms & Conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tokyo Summary Court or the Tokyo District Court as the court of first instance, depending on the amount in controversy.

Effective as of February 21, 2024