Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 9

She looked at me in a business-like manner, which didn't make sense because a) we were in a library and b) her eyes looked at me softly, despite the way she was trying to look all tough. I had read about this somewhere, before my Facebook addiction days.

So she says "Excuse me, do you know where I can find the English literature section?" That's when I knew it was obviously a ruse, as there's a big sign saying 'ENGLISH LITERATURE' at the entrance to the library. I played it cool. I may have been a Facebook addict, but I wasn't a fool.

I say "Sure, I know where the English literature section is, let me show you where it is'. But of course, at that moment my memory had just happened to fail, and I told her we would have to walk around a little bit whilst we looked for it. She let slip a momentary smile, I got a glimpse of perfect teeth. This was important. But beyond that, she had a radiant skin, which I knew was soft and moisturised, just as her nails were so perfectly manicured. She had to be smart too, to hang out in the library - in this university's library, anyhow - and want to check out literature. I hadn't been on Facebook for several hours now, and I could not have known that it was the beginning of the end of my Facebook addiction.

I took her right round the library, asking simple questions about how she what she was studying, how she was finding the course. She had come from the north of England to study law, and was curious about a book that a friend had recommended. She loved the university and the town, was finding it great. She asked me where I'd come from, and how I was finding my course. I of course replied with my default answers and immediately came back with a question of my own. I was the Facebook addict, and this was a chance to get live status updates from a beautiful woman. If there was a like button, I'd have jammed it by now, that's how much I was enjoying these moments.

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 8

Freedom. That’s what college represented. The opportunity to get away from nagging teachers, parents, set my own timetable, follow my own priorities. I was to be my own man, to control my own destiny. Until my independence fell victim to Facebook addiction.

Facebook addiction seems a striking victimhood for a young man, with high hopes of achieving everything he wanted, and the determination to go with it. But it’s much easier to become addicted than you might think. Consider this. What does Facebook show you the moment you log in? Is it not a report of almost everything in the virtual lives of those you know and care about, or are just curious about?

When you view the content that Facebook has, it looks designed to just keep you there forever. The wall, the photos, the comments, the notes, the shrine to self expression and, some would say, narcissism that is the profile page. Ah yes, for someone who was short of avenues and full of things to share, Facebook was the ultimate place to let it all go. But one of the problems with Facebook addiction is that, the more time you spend on the site, the less there is that’s new. The less fascination you have when you log onto the site. The less interesting other peoples’ virtual lives become.

My Facebook addiction was already waning when I met the reason for it to end. I had taken some time off that day, and by that I mean I had taken time off Facebook. I went to the library to study. I never really go to the library, it bores me and I always fall asleep. But on this particular day, the library just seemed a good place to get away from it all. I sat down in one of the quiet alcoves with my books, a pen and a notepad. As I scribbled away at some nonsense I knew I would never read again, I heard a chair move as someone sat opposite me. I didn’t think to look up, so I continued. After a few more seconds, was the shuffling of books and papers. It suddenly occurred to me that I was no longer alone in this alcove.

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 7

So last time I was in the middle of telling you how I, a reformed Facebook addict, spent my days on campus. I’d told you, I think, of the rush of blood to the head that came from playing Farmville, especially when beating my 12 hour record, despite the tiredness. Oh wait, I hadn’t yet told you that.

The aim of Farmville, for those who don’t know, is basically to oversee the growth of a community of virtual citizens in your own virtual town, of which you are the mayor. You compete against your Facebook friends for points and for sheer size and power. This game has tonnes of features that really cater to the Facebook addict. It’s compelling, it’s viral, and it keeps you logged onto your Facebook account without having to say a word. In other words, it’s social without really being social, which is what makes it so effective.

So I started playing a trial game, with mayorship of my town of Chivandra, which I thought sounded rather mystical and cool at the same time. I was incompetent at first, but as I continued playing, I got better and better, and more addicted. I once went a whole 14 hours without doing anything other than playing Farmville on Facebook, and that was after a whole week of playing for 12 hours a day. I was a Facebook addict and a Farmville addict all rolled in one.

Addiction can be a cruel and powerful thing. I had my exams amidst a bout of Facebook addiction. Needless to say, they didn’t go well. It’s difficult to concentrate, let alone write an essay, when your vocabulary is full of jumbled up acronyms like ‘lolz’, ‘lmao’ and other gems that professors love to read. I was an inhabitant of the virtual world being forced to adapt and write real world student essays, and that just didn’t seem realistic or fair. I remember stepping out of the exam room feeling really angry, angry that I had been subjected to the nonsensical trivialities of learning the history and politics of places I didn’t know or care about, angry that I had to write something to satisfy the mindless automatons that occupied academia. But somewhere I could not bring myself to recognise, I was angry also at the fact that I had let myself down, let go of the self control that I had exhibited in my university entry exams, and found myself with an uncertain student career.

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 6

College is supposed to be full of drinks and mayhem. And it was. It’s just that I didn’t really take part. It was as though there was a different slipstream with people getting wasted, vomiting. I glided past the footpath next to the pubs where, some time at night, or even during the day in fact, a student would burst out as if rushing to some forgotten appointment, only to let forth a stream of regurgitated lunch or dinner. It wasn’t pleasant, and it seemed like madness compared to what I knew, by now, to be a mild Facebook addiction.

I saw myself as being above the craziness, the hedonism of the mainstream students. My family was back home, rooting for me to succeed. And I was going to get there, if I didn’t get off the beaten track. You see, for me, the Facebook addiction was a way of staying safe. I couldn’t do the crazy stuff that the other kids were doing – it just didn’t seem sane or rational or whatever you want to call it. But when logged onto Facebook, playing Farmville or instant messaging, it just seemed like a fun vibe.

You don’t want to know why I was afraid of the real world. It’s not really relevant. But suffice it to say, there was real pain and hurt out there, and I was safe in here, looking at my screen and finding solace in the digital ink that would gloriously bring news, chat, opinions, banality. The Facebook status update was really the bane of my social existence, the chat feature an enabler, and Farmville, well, let’s just say that my Farmville addiction was a way of passing the time.

With each day, I’d get up and check my Facebook status update. I’d then head to the lectures in the morning, passing through Giovanni’s coffee van on the way. Giovanni was cool, always had a friendly word to say about the weather or whatever. I’d often meet up with people from my class and we’d walk together talking about stuff that had happened around college. I always found stuff to talk about, without mentioning my Facebook addiction, let alone my Farmville addiction. It just wasn’t sufficiently cool to talk about. I knew what a dweeb was, and I wasn’t gonna be one. Uh uh. Facebook addict or not, no-one was going to know about it.

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 5

I later discover that there had been a few important events at the party after I left earlier in the evening – someone had got drunk and embarrassed themselves by confessing some troublesome secrets to everyone there. It was quite funny for some, but not so for those who were mentioned. In any case, the photos were pasted all over Facebook. I was glad I’d left to get home early.

By now you’re probably wondering if there’s a point to all this, was there some greater meaning found by the Facebook addiction? Well, I cannot spoil the story and ruin your concentration by telling you too quickly, can I? But suffice it to say, there is a surprising twist in this story.

The moment of epiphany came one weekend when there seemed particularly nothing special to do. The weather was awful. I didn’t want to leave the house. My on/off girlfriend was off. It was really rather bleak. But I’d surpassed the 1,000 Facebook friends milestone and was feeling rather pleased with myself, at least in that regard. And let’s face it, with a Facebook addiction, it was like having the guaranteed buzz for months. I found lots of people who like me, were hooked onto Farmville. We’d play for hours and hours. Like this particular weekend, in fact.

I had started on the Friday evening. My time in class was always a chore, what with thinking about the Farmville games I would play later on. My college had some policy to do with distraction and non-essential use of computers around the lecture halls, which meant that there was no Facebook available there.

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 4

I hadn’t been to a real world party for ages. It seemed to take too long to travel across the city. Sitting in a steel cage with a bunch of strangers who were busy trying very hard not to acknowledge each other was just a bore. Not only that, but sometimes you’d have the tube train driver trying to compensate by being chirpy, as if excitedly announcing that the train ahead was 30 seconds late was somehow going to brighten your day or something. It was ridiculous. But I’d been invited, via Facebook (call it a perk of Facebook addiction), and this time I took the chance to go. I wouldn’t be away from my computer for too long, or so I thought.

The party was in north London, at the kind of place people who did proper jobs lived in. I mean, it was the kind of Georgian mansion block only a banker and related financial cronies could like. I thought it was a dump. And I took my cigarettes in, walking with a swagger that announced the arrival of a man with an enormous chip on his shoulder. There were smartly dressed people already talking to each other about some transaction, some bank going bust, some bonus going on a holiday flat somewhere. Interesting, I thought, and got to drinking. I figured I’d get wasted, get out of there, and back to my computer for my Facebook fix.

As soon as I arrive back home, I log back on to my Facebook account. My neighbour seems to be having a party, I can hear the voices in the background. They’re laughing and talking loudly, with Led Zeppelin playing not too loudly, but loud enough that I can hear it and make out that the song’s “Battle of Evermore”. But all this is subconscious – the only thing my mind is processing right now is the latest status updates, and the screen for Farmville that’s just starting up. Forget parties, Facebook addiction is just the cure for a dull Saturday night, or is it?

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 3

Facebook opened itself up to 3rd party applications like games. Suddenly I found myself hooked. You might ask yourself at this point, what I was doing for a living, that I managed to play games for so long. Well, that’s the nature of Facebook addiction, my friend. There is no rationale. I was in the office, and we don’t have one of these fancy blocking systems like I hear they have in big companies. Nope. Out here in the mid-west, we don’t spend too much on stuff like that. It’s just the wind in your hair and Facebook friends on your back when you take too long to respond.

Ok so I took it too far. We’d be sending each other messages about really trivial things. Some of the status updates were just ridiculous. What else can you call a ‘broadcast’ about the jam having fallen from a donut and onto your shoe. I mean, if you don’t want jam falling on you then don’t eat a jam donut! But of course, such a negative status update would never do on Facebook. When you’re a Facebook addict, your Facebook friends are your dealer. You don’t want to upset your dealer. So I’d write something like ‘must’ve been tasty, that donut’, all the while choking at the thought of a donut-jam-shoe mixup, especially when I knew that she didn’t wash her shoes very often...

By now you’ve figured that this must be some surreal kind of fiction piece right? Well it could be. But you’ll just have to read on to find out. So this other time, another person sends me a message saying ‘hey, party on tomorrow night, my address is.... hope to see you there!’
Well I hadn’t spoken to this person for the longest time, and when a Facebook tool suggested I add them, I was too busy to bother saying no. Since then, there had been a relentless bombardment of invitations to things I had no interest in. But it was good to feel loved, so I kept them on. They produced the content that I needed to feed my Facebook addiction, and by this point it felt like nothing else mattered.

Facebook addiction: A Survivor’s Tale Part 2

I started using Facebook when I moved home, and missed the family and friends. I thought Facebook was a pretty easy way of keeping in touch, as everyone else was talking about it and already seemed to be on the site. With Facebook’s features, it was so easy to find people. I could think of a name, type it in, and there would suddenly be a familiar looking face – easy! It was beautiful. Trawling memories, finding that people who lived on only in the mind, were still real, somewhere. And they would find me too. Every time I logged on, it seemed that someone had thought of me from way back, and looked for me on the site. Little did I know that these moments of bliss were adding up to a Facebook addiction.

Catching up with someone you haven’t spoken to in a very long time can be the most time-consuming experience. A typical conversation with a new Facebook friend would go something like:
Friend: How have you been? It’s been such a very long time since we last spoke. Have you kept in touch with people from school?
Me: Yeah it’s been a long time! So nice to hear from you. What’s been happening with you?
Friend: Things are going great, I’ve moved to (a certain country) and am working for a (a certain company), still (doing the same thing as always).

And so on. Over time the conversation would evolve, with the basic facts established, we would share quick chats about people we know in common, events in our lives and so on. The most addictive thing about Facebook is just how simple it is to use. You can use Facebook anywhere in the world, which just doesn’t help when you’re trying to get work done. But unfortunately, my tryst with Facebook was just beginning and I was going to discover just how much of an impact it would have in my life.

The Facebook friendships kept pouring in. I knew I should be selective about whom I added to my profile, but I was like, what the heck, maybe it would be an interesting way to meet new people. So I’d accept friendship requests. It was weird. As soon as I accepted these friendship requests, they probably looked at my profile. But they never said anything, these strangers. It was for the best though, because something else was fuelling my Facebook addiction at this point.

College Students Lose Sleep & Grades Due To Distraction By Online Games

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Coming soon after recent studies found evidence of Facebook addiction in college students, a doctoral study by a graduate student in the US has found that students are missing classes and losing sleep on an alarming scale, due to addiction to the distraction of online games.

Sabrina Neu examined the relationship between demographic factors, social anxiety, proneness to distraction, grade point average and Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game playing. She found that 42% of student respondents had reported that the distraction of online gaming was interfering with their studies.

Virtual gaming, where participants take on an identity, has exploded in the past 10 years, particularly among 18 to 30 year olds who play it as a distraction from the real world. Online game subscriber numbers are in the millions and profits for game developers are in the billions of dollars," Neu said.

Neu suggested that unlimited internet access, unstructured time led to students being prone to distraction. She said that players ended up neglecting friends and family for the sake of online games. Applications such as iFreeFace can also be used to limit time spent on games, whilst also combating the effects of Facebook addiction.

Facebook Addiction: Top UK Students Increasingly Distracted

A survey has found that a large proportion of Britain’s top students are struggling to balance the distraction of social networking with their studies, and that some could even be battling Facebook addiction. This comes after a US university recently banned social networking from its campus in the first experiment of its kind.

42% of 200 university students surveyed at Cambridge, Oxford, Reading, LSE, UCL and Imperial reported that using the internet was often getting in the way of their studies. The survey was carried out by iFreeFace.com, which produces distraction-blocking software for students.

A lecturer in the Media and Communications Department at the LSE, Dr Ellen Helsper said “Studies on excessive use and social uses of the internet show that these young people constantly have to weigh the benefits against the disadvantages of being ‘wired’...it is likely that a healthy integration of technologies into everyday life will become more and more important for our social and mental health.”

Meanwhile, Harrisburg University in the US state of Pennsylvania has gone to the extent of banning Facebook from its campus for a trial week in what it calls an experiment on multi-tasking. The idea of the university’s provost, Eric Darr, was to undertake an experiment to find out what distracting impact social media and multitasking were having on college life.

Giovanni Acosta, 21, a student at Harrisburg, found the experiment surprisingly beneficial. "I had to log on to Facebook even though I knew it was blocked, and I did that every 10 minutes or so, again and again," he said. "But now the itch has gone. I've learnt how much I was being distracted."

The impact of social networking on students has led iFreeFace.com to develop a novel solution. The iFreeFace application enables students to set time limits on any computer-based distraction, including websites and games. iFreeFace is designed to help those who might otherwise suffer from Facebook addiction. This leads to improved concentration and focus when performing tasks such as online research and essay writing.

About iFreeFace

iFreeFace is a PC software that helps to overcome Facebook addiction and enables students to set daily time limits on social networking sites and games. iFreeFace is a trading name of Exceltasks Ltd, a British startup.

Survey Methodology

Survey was conducted via online questionnaires. Students at the specific universities were reached via Facebook advertisements. Those who clicked through from the advertisement to the survey were counted as respondents. Each respondent was asked three questions 1) Are you a full-time student? 2) At which university do you study? 3) Do you find that the internet gets in the way of your studies? (Answer options: a) No b) Yes, often c) Yes, occasionally

The proportion of students who find the internet distracting was calculated from the number of full-time students who answered b) or c) to question 3, divided by the total number of impressions of the survey.

Facebook Addiction: A Survivor's Tale

What I'm going to tell you about Facebook addiction

Facebook addiction had a big effect on my life, until I learned how to overcome it. I'm about to tell you how I battled Facebook addiction and managed to cure myself. If you are thinking about how to overcome Facebook addiction right now, then maybe this could help you as well.

Facebook addiction Took Me By Surprise

I joined Facebook quite late, when many people were already on the site. I quickly grew my account to hundreds of people from the past. With people requesting my friendship after seeing me online, I just felt I couldn't say no. And it was fun! I spent so much time catching up with people I hadn't been in contact with for years. It's unclear when this became a Facebook addiction.

When does using Facebook become an addiction?

Addiction is defined as a psychological dependency that continues despite having negative side-effects. I didn't think I had Facebook addiction at the time. I used to spend a few hours of free time easily on the site, using chat, playing games, and catching up with friends. But on the days that I didn't have time to use Facebook because of work, I found myself anxious; waiting to check what was going on. I felt so disconnected from everything. It was like life was happening elsewhere and if I wasn't on Facebook, then I was missing out. I guess it was at that point that you could say I had a Facebook addiction.

Part 2 now available. Check menu on the right.

Ten Ways To Overcome Facebook Addiction

A study by the University of Maryland has found that students cut off from the Internet for just 24 hours had symptoms similar to Facebook addiction. It seems we students cannot function without distraction, but could there be a more productive way?

Some students in the University Maryland experiment said that without the distracting effects of quasi Facebook addiction, text messages and videos, they spent more time on course work.

So here are ten tips to overcome Facebook addiction, get work done in the library and achieve your potential in your exams.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 1. Leave the phone at home.

Even this isn't enough. Some students in the University of Maryland study broke the media restrictions because they wanted to make sure 'nothing bad had happened' to their family and friends over the 24 hour period. So let your friends and family know that you'll be unavailable because you're in the library - perhaps by recording a voicemail message, or updating your Facebook status accordingly.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 2. Diversify your information diet. Slowly.

The shock of suddenly being cut off from the Internet and Facebook was too much for many students. “Although I started the day feeling good, I noticed my mood started to change around noon. I started to feel isolated and lonely." By slowly cutting your time spent online, you can make the process less traumatic. A tool like iFreeFace can help with this.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 3. Fill your ipod with lyric-free music that you don't like so much.

A key issue for many students was dealing with the silence that came from being without their media. “The hardest part of the 24 hours was not listening to music” said one student at Maryland. This could actually drive Facebook addiction - why? Because if you find yourself distracted when there's no music, then you're much more likely to log onto Facebook.

Some students need background music to study, but for others, it reduces productivity despite being addictive. You may find your mind wandering when listening to certain songs.

Try filling your iPod with lyric-free music such as classical. A great source for free classical music is the Isabella Gardner Museum Concert Podcasts. There are over 100 orchestral performances available to download free at http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/podcast/archives.asp

The key is to find a piece of music that will not distract you but create whatever background 'noise' you need to concentrate.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 4. Update your Facebook to say you're studying.

This point has already been alluded to earlier, but dealing with Facebook addiction requires constant reinforcement. A student from Maryland commented “I knew that the hardest aspect of ridding myself of media though, would be not checking Facebook or my emails, so I went ahead and deactivated my Facebook account in advance. It’s pathetic to think that I knew I had to delete my Facebook in order to prevent myself from checking it for one day.”

If you find yourself in a similar position, then try reinforcing your resolve by updating your Facebook status to say that you're studying. This aligns your social networking profile with what you're trying to achieve, and makes you more willing to work consistently with your plan to study.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 5. Arrange to meet up with friends before hand, or study with friends at some point.

Students who went without media for 24 hours complained that they felt lonely and disconnected from the world around them. Setting up regular meeting times with friends, or having regular meeting places where you get together without caring so much about a set schedule, could help with going cold-turkey and overcoming Facebook addiction.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 6. Plan what you're going to do during the times you usually spend on Facebook or listening to music

Since social media is a part of our daily routines, students have times when they instinctively check the internet or email, or switch on the TV. This is a key part of Facebook addiction. If you're to go cold turkey successfully then you need to manage that time in advance. Find out what clubs and societies, or what other activities you can do during those times, and sign up.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 7. Leave just enough time to make essential calls, do research, and contact people.

It will take a while without media to reduce dependency on it. Meanwhile, there are family and friends to keep in contact with, and a social life to manage, so how can you do it?

If you've let family and friends know about your studying times as above, then they should be able to leave you to it as not many issues will require your intervention within say, a 12 to 24 hour period.

But to make sure to spend an efficient amount of time contacting people when you get to it, identify the times when you are least likely to be distracted and schedule your Internet, messaging and calling times for then. This could be half an hour before you go to lectures. Just make sure you have to be somewhere at the end of your allocated time.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 8. Write down your goals and carry them around with you

“I felt like a complete addict on withdrawal mode, once I gave in, I went all out and felt connected to the world again” - a student at the University of Maryland

It can seem almost like a sacrifice to cut out your media distractions even for only 24 hours, like the Maryland students in the study. To sustain your information diet, you need to remind yourself why you're doing it. Write down what you will gain from getting an extra few hours a day. And write down what you have not yet done, but might have done, if you had spent less time using media in the past. Then carry this in your pocket, and review every time you're tempted to use the computer or your mobile.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 9. Get some help.

No, not a psychiatrist. Just some useful online tools for managing time online. Applications like iFreeFace can be used to set daily time limits on any website, email, and games. iFreeFace is controlled by the user and doesn't send out data. It can also be set to give reminders only.

Overcoming Facebook Addiction Tip 10. Don't give up just because you fail a couple of times.

“I broke my streak by checking into ESPN.com. I couldn’t stand going an entire day without getting my sports fix.” - University of Maryland student

When we're constantly 'wired', it's going to be difficult to give up completely. There may be times when you just give in to distractions. But don't give up! Each day is a blank canvas, which you can start with the best intentions for your student career.

Students Show 'Signs Of Addiction' To Facebook

A recent study has found that students show signs of Facebook addiction and information addiction when cut off from the Internet, mobile telephones, newspapers and other distractions.

When 200 students at the University of Maryland went distraction-free for 24 hours, they were asked to blog about their experiences afterwards. They were not allowed to use the internet, mobile phones or other distracting media, but were allowed access to library books for the duration of the experiment. The findings were quite astounding.

The lack of distracting media had powerful effects. Some students reported symptoms similar to drug addicts in withdrawal. “I noticed physically, that I began to fidget", said one student. A number of students hallucinated that their mobile phones were in their pockets or were turned on, even when they weren’t.

One student stated “When sitting in the library reading my textbook, I actually did hear some vibrations in my head and would think my phone was vibrating next to me”. According to the researchers, the absence of information – the feeling of not being connected to the world – was among the things that caused the most anxiety in students. Could it be that students cannot function without distraction?

The apparent Facebook addiction was not without lofty explanations. "I find it [difficult] to fathom someone not being connected through media, because I know no other way,” one student wrote. “It’s funny,” wrote another, “but I realized we are a social species, and the use of media today helps us to establish a connection with one another.”

It seems that seeking distraction or even Facebook addiction could be an integral part of the student experience. A student admitted "I probably spend at least 1-2 hours on these sites alone BEFORE I even make it to attempting my homework and then continue checking these websites while doing my school work.”

Link to the ICMPA Study

http://withoutmedia.wordpress.com/

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5. Ownership

Licensee acknowledges and agrees that neither this Software License Agreement nor any License Supplement grants Licensee any title or rights of ownership in any Exceltasks Program or any right to use, copy, transfer or disclose all or any portion of any Exceltasks Program except as expressly provided in this Software License Agreement and the applicable License Supplement.

All right, title, and interest in any Exceltasks Program and in any ideas and know-how which are developed by Exceltasks in the course of providing any technical services, including any enhancements or modifications made to a Exceltasks Program, shall at all time remain the property of Exceltasks. Licensee acknowledges and agrees that the Exceltasks Program is licensed, not sold.
6. Duration

The license granted under this Software License Agreement shall commence for each Exceltasks Program on the date that the license key for that Exceltasks Program has been sent to the Licensee.

Unless earlier terminated as provided in Section 12 (Termination), the license as to any Exceltasks Program licensed on a periodic basis shall continue until the end of the initial license period specified in a License Supplement. If no license period is specified in a License Supplement, the license shall terminate (3) days from receipt of the License Key, at which time the Licensee must return or delete all copies of that Exceltasks Program.
7. Charges and Payment

Exceltasks will provide Licensee trial license free of all charges and fees for the period specified in a License Supplement.

Exceltasks reserves the right to change its prices, including license fees, without notice.
8. Maintenance, Enhancement and Support

Support for the duration of the trial license will be provided at Exceltasks’s sole discretion and may be conditioned upon payment of additional fees.
9. Non-Disclosure

For a period of ten (10) years from the last date that Exceltasks delivers to Licensee any Exceltasks Program or any update or improvement thereto, Licensee shall (i) keep confidential and utilize its best efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure or use of any Exceltasks Program, and (ii) treat all Exceltasks Programs with the same degree of care as it treats like information of its own which it does not want to be publicly disclosed or the subject of unauthorized access or use, and (iii) not make or permit to be made any more copies of any Exceltasks Program than are necessary for the Licensee’s internal use of that Exceltasks Program at the Designated Computer.

The obligations in this Section shall not extend to any part of any Exceltasks Program which is now or hereafter publicly known by virtue of disclosures not attributable to Licensee, its agents, employees, consultants, contractors, or any other person or entity under similar restriction not to make such disclosures.
10. Warranty
There is no express warranty provided for any license. The Licensee shall evaluate the Exceltasks Programs during the trial period and determine whether to register.
11. Limitation of Liability

Licensee expressly acknowledges that:

a. Exceltasks shall not be liable for loss of profit, loss of business, or other financial loss which may be caused, directly or indirectly, by the inadequacy of any Exceltasks Program for any purpose or use thereof or by any defect or deficiency therein.

b. Exceltasks shall not have any liability with respect to any loss or damage related to or arising from: (i) any failure of any Exceltasks Program to perform as specified herein except as and to the extent otherwise expressly provided herein; or (ii) any use or application of any Exceltasks Program or the results or decisions made or obtained by users of the Exceltasks program.

c. The total of Exceltasks’s liabilities to Licensee for damages, if any, shall not exceed the amounts paid by Licensee under this Software License Agreement during the twelve (12) months preceding the assertion of Licensee’s claim.

d. No action, regardless of form, arising out of any transaction under this Software License Agreement may be brought by Licensee more than one year after the Licensee has, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have had, knowledge of the occurrence which gives rise to such action.
12. Termination

Trial/Evaluation Licenses will terminate automatically on the expiration date if not renewed pursuant to the terms of the License as further defined in Section 6 (Duration) above.

a. Exceltasks shall have the right without further obligation or liability to Licensee to terminate this Software License Agreement and Licensee’s license hereunder as to any Exceltasks Program.

b. The following obligations shall survive termination of the Software License Agreement for any reason: (i) Licensee’s obligations under Sections 9 (Non-Disclosure); and (ii) Paragraph (c) of this Section. Termination of this Software License Agreement will not relieve either party of any obligations arising out of this Software License Agreement prior to or upon the date of such termination.

c. Upon the termination of this Software License Agreement as to any Exceltasks Program, the license and all other rights granted to Licensee as to that Exceltasks Program hereunder shall immediately cease, and Licensee shall immediately: (i) return that Exceltasks Program to Exceltasks including all documentation, manuals and copies in respect of that Exceltasks Program; (ii) purge all copies of that Exceltasks Program and any portions thereof from all CPU’s and storage media and devices on which Licensee has placed or allowed others to place that Exceltasks Program; and (iii) upon request provide Exceltasks with written certification that Licensee has complied with its obligations under this Paragraph 12(c).
13. General Provisions

a. Licensee shall not have the right to assign or otherwise transfer its rights or obligations under this Software License Agreement except with the written consent of the other party.

b. This Software License Agreement and any License Supplement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England & Wales and the parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts, and shall not be governed by the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods.

c. This Software License Agreement supersedes all proposals, oral or written, and all negotiations, conversations or discussions heretofore had between the parties related to this Software License Agreement. Licensee acknowledges that it has not been induced to enter into this Software License Agreement by any representations or statements, oral or written, not expressly contained herein. The terms and conditions of this Software License Agreement shall prevail, notwithstanding any variance with the terms and conditions of any order or other instrument submitted by Licensee.

d. This Software License Agreement supersedes any and all other Software License Agreements between the parties governing Exceltasks Programs.

e. This Software License Agreement shall not be deemed or construed to be modified, amended, rescinded, cancelled or waived, in whole or in part, except by written amendment signed by the parties hereto.

f. The obligations of Licensee under Sections 4 (Restrictions on Use) and 9 (Non-Disclosure) hereof are of a special and unique character which gives them a peculiar value to Exceltasks for which Exceltasks cannot be reasonably or adequately compensated in damages in the event Licensee breaches such obligations. Therefore Exceltasks shall, in addition to other remedies which may be available, be entitled to injunctive and other equitable relief in the event of the breach or threatened breach of such obligations.

LICENSE SUPPLEMENT
Registration consists of the Licensee accessing the Registration codes from Exceltasks.com upon payment of a registration fee as shown on http://www.Exceltasks.com/register
Registration is valid for 1 designated computer unless otherwise stipulated expressly by Exceltasks on the Exceltasks.com website.
Registration entitles the Licensee to usage of the Exceltasks Programs. Registration entitles the Licensee to the specific version of the Exceltasks Programs on the designated computer for as long as the Licensee wishes, and at all times subject to the terms of this Software License Agreement.
In some instances Exceltasks may offer Registration for free for Individual Users if they share a unique link with friends and family or obtain a discount voucher. Unique links may be obtained through registration on the Exceltasks.com website. The Licensee agrees not to use the links to spam or transmit to anyone other than friends and family who wish to receive such information.