LAW JOURNAL -- June 22 -- Date.com executives thought that allowing users to purchase tokens that could be redeemed as "gifts" of virtual flowers, chocolates or other items would be a great way for users to catch each others' eye, but they were uncertain of the legal considerations. Would Date.com be obligated to refund the cost of unused tokens if users dropped off the site? Date.com has a policy that members who don't visit the site after 365 days are purged from its database. This is a new area of social networking, and it really isn't specifically addressed in the law. The site needed to make the terms and conditions for purchasing the virtual gifts as clear as possible for users. For instance, users should know that if they violate the Web site's terms and their membership to Date.com is terminated, they also lose unused credits toward virtual gifts. Also the site's policy is to repeatedly e-mail individuals to warn them of pending deletion from the site if they don't access their accounts within a year. FULL ARTICLE @ LAW JOURNAL
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