Published on November 27, 2006
Revised on December 26, 2008
Revised on January 15, 2010
Revised on September 7, 2010
Revised on March 24, 2011
Revised on April 5, 2012
Revised on April 23, 2014
Revised on August 1, 2014
Revised on October 23, 2014
Revised on December 15, 2014
Revised on April 1, 2016
Revised on March 15, 2017
GUIDE FOR MODEL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR INTERNET SERVICES
Article 1(Prohibited Matters)
The Contracted User shall not take any of the following actions by using the Service:(1) any action that infringes or is likely to infringe any copyright, trademark right, or otherintellectual property right of the Company or others;● Specific actions covered by the above include uploading of an image or music file
without the copyright holder’s permission and advertising for sale of counterfeit
brand-name products by posting photographs of such counterfeit brand-nameproducts.
(2)

any action that infringes or is likely to infringe any property, privacy or portrait right ofothers;● Specific actions covered by the above include posting of a private person’s name,address, and other personal information and photographs, etc., on a web page,etc., without such person’s permission. (For details as to what constitutes
privacy violation, see “Provider Liability Limitation Act – Guidelines Relating to
Defamation and Privacy”.)<http://www.telesa.or.jp/consortium/provider>(3)

any action which unjustly discriminates, disparages, or insults others, encourages
unjust discrimination of others, or impairs the reputation or credibility of others;1

● Specific actions covered by the above include posting on a web page, etc., of text,
etc., that disparages or insults a specific individual, or encouraging unjust
discrimination of others on the basis of their nationality, birth place, etc.
● For details as to what constitutes defamation, see “Provider Liability Limitation
Act – Guidelines Relating to Defamation and Privacy”.
<http://www.telesa.or.jp/consortium/provider>● Actions of encouraging unjust discrimination of others include the following:− so-called hate speech, including “unjust discriminatory speech and behavior
against persons originating from outside Japan” (*);− dissemination on the Internet of information referring to a certain district asa so-called “Dowa” district for the purpose of encouraging and inducing unjust
discriminatory treatment.
*(4)

Such action is defined in the “Act on the Promotion of Efforts to Eliminate Unfair
Discriminatory Speech and Behavior against Persons Originating from Outside
Japan”, and the basic principle of such Act is to realize a society without suchdiscriminatory speech and behavior.

any action that leads to or is likely to lead to a crime such as fraud, child prostitution,or illegal sale/purchase of savings accounts and mobile phones;● Specific actions covered by the above include creating a web page with close
resemblance to a web page of a bank, etc., for phishing scams; inducing children
to engage in sexual conduct; and posting on a web page an advertisement for saleof bank accounts or sale of mobile phones by indicating “no identification needed”
among other things.

(5)

any action of transmitting or displaying any image, video, audio, document, etc., that
represents obscenity, child pornography or child abuse; any action of selling media
containing any recording of the foregoing; or any action of displaying or transmitting
advertisements that suggests the transmission, display or sale of such media;● Specific actions covered by the above include posting on a web page any image
showing genitals, any image depicting a sexual intercourse or any conduct similar
to sexual conduct of a person who can be easily recognized as a child under age
18 by appearance, or texts of a diary, etc., describing acts of real-life child abuse.

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(6)

any action that leads to or is likely to lead to any drug-related crime or abuse ofcontrolled substances, designated substances, items for which advertisement isbanned by public notice (i.e., items for which advertisement, etc., is banned broadly
pursuant to public notice identifying such items as suspected designated substances,etc.), or other so-called dangerous drugs; any action of advertising unapproved or
expired pharmaceuticals, etc.; or any action of selling or otherwise distributing
pharmaceuticals that are not allowed to be sold or otherwise distributed on theInternet;● Specific actions covered by the above include posting on a web page prices andtransactional methods in respect of stimulants and other controlled substances,
designated substances, and items for which advertisement is banned by public
notice, or how to use, manufacture or grow controlled substances, designatedsubstances, and items for which advertisement is banned by public notice, or
prices and transactional methods in respect of unapproved pharmaceuticals suchas the Chinese herbal version of Viagra.
Additionally, the above will also cover actions of posting on a web page of prices,transactional methods, and information relating to use and manufacturing evenin respect of any item that is not classified as a designated substance or items forwhich advertisement is banned by public notice where such item is considered as
likely to have psychotoxicity at the level equivalent to such substance or items forwhich advertisement is banned by public notice in light of other information (suchas the type of a certain product or method of distribution) posted on electronicbulletin boards, websites, etc., containing the relevant information.
Furthermore, the above will also cover actions of advertising expired
pharmaceuticals, etc., and selling or otherwise distributing prescription
pharmaceuticals and other pharmaceuticals which are not allowed to be sold orotherwise distributed on the Internet.
● Unapproved pharmaceuticals related to dangerous drugs include those specified
in the “Guidelines Relating to Measures Against Illegal Contents on the Internet”
as well as any product in which any designated substance has been detected in
the past and any substance which is newly designated as a designated substanceby a ministerial ordinance, and any substance which bears the same or similarname or package as a certain product during a period from the promulgation of
the ministerial ordinance until such ordinance comes into force and which isrecognized as likely to be an unapproved pharmaceutical in light of otherinformation posted on electronic bulletin boards, websites, etc., containing the3

relevant information.
(7)

any action of advertising, for the purpose of sale or distribution, individual organisms,
etc., of endangered species of wild fauna and flora that are subject to regulation on
advertisements;● Specific actions covered by the above include posting on the Internet any content
regarding an individual organism (whether dead or alive) and its parts andprocessed goods (hereinafter referred to as “Individual Organisms, etc.”) ofnationally endangered species of wild fauna and flora, internationally endangered
species of wild fauna and flora, and temporarily designated endangered species
as prescribed in the “Act on Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora”.
● As exceptions, advertisements for the purpose of sale or distribution will bepermitted in the following cases:− Individual Organisms, etc., of internationally endangered species of wild faunaand flora with registration cards; provided that the fact of registration and theregistration codes and numbers must be clearly shown;− Advertisement of specified nationally endangered species of wild fauna andflora as specified in the Cabinet Order;− Advertisement of specified parts, etc., as specified in the Cabinet Order;
provided that, in order to sell, as a business, tusks of the Elephantidae family
and processed products thereof (mainly, raw materials of ivory products andivory products) or shells of the Cheloniidae family (mainly, raw materials of
tortoiseshell products), among such specified parts, notification of a businessdealing with internationally endangered species must be made in advance;− Individual Organisms, etc., lawfully captured or any individual organism bred
therefrom.
For any inquiry or detail concerning restriction on advertisement, please contact thefollowing or see “Regulation and Procedures for Transfer, etc.” on the HP of the Ministryof the Environment below.
Contact: Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation Bureau, Wildlife Division(Telephone: 03-5521-8283)
Ministry of the Environment HP:
http://www.env.go.jp/nature/kisho/kisei/yuzuri/index.html

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(8)

any action of advertising monetary loans without being registered to conduct a money
lending business;● Specific actions covered by the above include indicating the operation of a money
lending business or intermediation of monetary loans under the Money Lending
Business Act, indicating loan terms (such as interest rate, limit amount andrepayment method), or otherwise using any expression which suggests
solicitation for the execution of a loan agreement, without any display of aregistration number or by displaying any false registration number.

(9)

any action of setting up a pyramid scheme (nezumi-ko) or soliciting therefor;● Specific actions covered by the above include opening of a web page for operatingon the Internet an organization which does not sell goods and whose sole purpose
is for senior members to receive money and goods disbursed by junior members
or for soliciting junior members.

(10) any action of wrongfully rewriting or deleting information accumulated in the
Company’s facilities;● Specific actions covered by the above include wrongfully rewriting or deleting any
content on a web page, etc., accumulated on a server, by stealing other users’ IDs
and passwords or taking advantage of a security hole of the server.
(11) any action of using the Service through impersonation;● Specific actions covered by the above include making postings in an electronicbulletin, opening a web page, or take such other actions under stolen IDs of otherusers.
(12) any action of transmitting or posting a virus or other harmful computer program;● Specific actions covered by the above include providing a virus, worm, or otherprogram which has an adverse effect on the operation of a computer, in a form
which enables downloading of the foregoing on the Internet.
(13) any action of sending others email of advertisement, promotion or solicitation without
their consent; or any action of sending others email which is or could be offensive
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under social norms;● Specific actions covered by the above include emailing, by using the service
provided by a service provider, advertisements, promotions, etc., to which
recipients have not consented.
(14) any action that interferes or is likely to interfere with the use or operation of others’
facilities or facilities for the Internet connection service;● Specific actions covered by the above include an action which causes a failure to
the functions of mail server by suppressing the bandwidth of other users throughsending and receiving of an extremely large volume of files for hours andobstructing the normal use of telecommunications services or by sending a hugeamount of email messages in a short span of time.
(15) any action of conducting unlawful betting or gambling or soliciting for participation in
unlawful betting or gambling;● Specific actions covered by the above include opening of a website for gamblingby making available online poker games, slot machines, etc., through simulationand soliciting for bookmaking for horse racing, etc.
(16) any action of agreeing to undertake, intermediating, or inducing (including
commissioning of another person) an illegal act (such as a transfer of guns, unlawful
production of firearms or explosives, provision of child pornography, forgery of public
documents, murder, or blackmailing);● Specific actions covered by the above include a transfer of guns and heavy artillery
by specifying a price, type, date or time of delivery, etc.; agreement to forge
official documents such as a driver’s license; solicitation, request, etc., for acollaborator to murder by specifying date and time, place, victims or other detailsof such murder; and undertaking, intermediation, and inducement of a broad
range of illegal acts such as delivery of counterfeit currency, organ trafficking,human trafficking, aiding suicide, or posting of information relating to theforegoing.
● Furthermore, if any content on a website strongly suggests the posting of design
drawings that enable the manufacturing of guns by a 3D printer, and if it isrecognized from any other content posted on such website (such as functions and6

purposes of use) that illicit manufacturing of guns is directly and explicitly
encouraged, then such posting is considered to be inducing illicit manufacturingof guns.
(17) any action of sending to an unspecified number of people any cruel content such as animage of murder scene, content such as an image of slaughter or abuse of animals, orcontent that is extremely offensive to others under social norms;● Specific actions covered by the above include posting on a web page of cruelimages such as a murder scene or dead body as a result of a crime; any video orother content depicting a person being killed brutally; any animal cruelty or other“grotesque” video and image; or other extremely offensive contents under social
norms.
(18) any action of inducing or encouraging suicide; or any action of introducing means ofsuicide that are likely to cause harm to third parties;● Specific actions covered by the above include solicitation for a person to joingroup suicide or offering of drugs for suicide, by specifying date and time, place,method, etc., of suicide.
Furthermore, as for any content that introduces a method, etc., of suicide that
could harm others, posting of a suicide method such as by generating hydrogensulfide gas falls under such category.
(19) any action of creating a hyperlink in any manner or for the purpose of encouraging anyof the actions in the foregoing items while knowing that such action falls under any of
the categories in the foregoing items;(20) any action of encouraging unspecified persons to post or otherwise display any content
that leads to or is likely to lead to a crime or illegal activity, or any content that unjustly
disparages or insults others or invades others’ privacy;● Specific actions covered by the above include setting up an electronic bulletin that
could encourage unnamed persons to post any content that is likely to lead to acrime or illegal act or any content that constitutes bullying of specific children or
students, such as a so-called “yami site” (underground website) or “ura site”(backdoor website).

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(21) any other action which the Company determines is contrary to public policy and morals
or infringes others’ rights.

Article 2(Use by the Contracted User’s Affiliates)
1. In the event that, pursuant to the procedures separately prescribed by the Company, theCompany executes a service agreement with a Contracted User in order for theContracted User to allow the use by such Contracted User’s family members or otherpersons (hereinafter referred to as the “Affiliates”), upon the Contracted User’s agreeing
to bear the service fees for the use of the Service by such Affiliates, then such Contracted
User shall be obligated to ensure that such Affiliates will also comply with these Terms
and Conditions.
2.

In the event of the preceding paragraph, if the Contracted User’s Affiliate takes any of theprohibited actions set forth in the respective items of Article 1 (Prohibited Matters) orcauses damage to the Company willfully or negligently, then the respective provisions ofthese Terms and Conditions shall apply as if such action of the Affiliate was that of theContracted User.
● This provision sets forth that, if the Contracted User’s family member, etc.,
breaches any of the prohibited matters, the Contracted User shall be deemed tohave breached such prohibited matter.

Article 3(Deletion, etc., of Content, etc.)
1. The Company may take any one or any combination of the following measures against
the Contracted User if any use of the Service by the Contracted User constitutes any of
the actions in the respective items of Article 1 (Prohibited Matters), or if any person
makes a complaint, claim, etc., against the Company in relation to such use and theCompany recognizes the necessity, or if the Company otherwise determines that theContracted User’s action is inappropriate for the operation of the Service:(1) The Company may request that the Contracted User cease the relevant action in therespective items in Article 1 (Prohibited Matters);(2) The Company may request that the Contracted User negotiate with such otherperson in order to resolve such complaint, etc.;(3) The Company may request that the Contracted User delete the displayed content;(4) The Company may, without prior notice, delete all or part of the content publishedor displayed by the Contracted User or make the same unavailable to others; and/or8

(5) If the hotline system provided in Article 6 is not implemented by the Contracted User,
the Company may demand such hotline system.
2.

The measures in the preceding paragraph are not intended to deny the principle of selfresponsibility on the part of the Contracted User, and the principle of self-responsibility
will be respected in interpreting and operating the provisions in the preceding paragraph.
● This provision sets forth the measures that may be taken by the administrator of
the electronic bulletin board when the Contracted User commits any of theprohibited matters in using the service.

Article 4(Blocking of Child Pornographic Images)
1. For the purpose of preventing the spread of infringement of the rights of child victims
through distribution of child pornography on the Internet, the Company may, without
prior notice, make unavailable for viewing any child pornographic image or video whichsignificantly breaches children’s rights as determined by the Company or the body that
prepares and manages address lists of websites containing child pornography, upon
identifying the Contracted User’s connected sites, etc.
2. To the extent necessary in connection with the measures under the preceding paragraph,
the Company may make unavailable for viewing any content that is not directly related tothe distribution of such image or video.
3. With regard to the measures under the preceding two paragraphs, the Company will
target solely child pornographic contents that significantly breach children’s rights andwill take such measure only where it is recognized that the privacy of communications is
not unreasonably violated and where the illegality is precluded.
● To “make unavailable for viewing” means compulsory blocking of an attempt toaccess child pornographic contents, etc., so that such contents, etc., cannot beviewed.
● Furthermore, as of March 24, 2011, the Internet Content Safety Association is
expected to act as the body that prepares and manages address lists of websites
containing child pornography.

Article 5(Treatment of Content which is Harmful to Young People)
1. Where the Contracted User uses the Service and thereby becomes a Specified Server
Administrator (hereinafter referred to as the “Specified Server Administrator”) under
9

2.

3.

4.

5.

Article 2, paragraph (11), of the Act on Establishment of Enhanced Environment for
Youth’s Safe and Secure Internet Use (Act No. 79 of 2008; hereinafter referred to as the“Youth Internet Use Environment Improvement Act”), then the Contracted User shall takesufficient care to heed the obligation to make efforts under Article 21 of said Act.
Where the Contracted User uses the Service and thereby becomes the Specified Server
Administrator, if the Contracted User becomes aware that any content harmful to young
people (except for any content specified in Article 1 of the contents which considerably
impede the sound growth of young people; the same shall apply hereinafter) is publishedby a third party by using the server administered by the Contracted User, or if theContracted User publishes such content, then the Contracted User shall make efforts totake measures to reduce opportunities for young people to view such content by taking
procedures illustrated below.
(1) The Contracted User shall conspicuously indicate that the content is intended for
those aged eighteen or over.
(2) The Contracted User shall implement a system in which only those aged eighteen or
over may view the content, by having viewers enter their age or taking anothermethod.
(3) The Contracted User shall delete contents harmful to young people.
(4) The Contracted User shall notify the filtering service provider of the URL associatedwith contents harmful to young people.
If the Company determines that any content harmful to young people has been publishedthrough the Service, then in accordance with the intent of Article 21 of the Youth Internet
Use Environment Improvement Act, the Company may request that the Contracted User
take measures to reduce opportunities for young people to view such content by taking
the procedures illustrated in the preceding paragraph.
If in response to the Company’s notification pursuant to the preceding paragraph, theContracted User informs the Company that such content does not constitute content
harmful to young people, then the Company shall respect such determination of theContracted User.
Even in the event of the preceding paragraph, the Company may take the procedure in(4) of Paragraph 2 above and take measures to reduce, by filtering, opportunities foryoung people to view such content.
● This provision is intended to raise awareness of and implement the duty to makeefforts under Article 21 of the Youth Internet Use Environment Improvement Act.
● Article 21 of the Youth Internet Use Environment Improvement Act:
Article 21 (Specified Server Administrator’s Duty to Make Efforts Where Content
10Harmful to Young People is Released)
When the Specified Server Administrator becomes aware that any content harmful toyoung people is published by any person by using the specified server managed bysuch Administrator, or the Specified Server Administrator itself intends to publish any
content harmful to young people, then the Specified Server Administrator must makeefforts to take measures so that such content harmful to young people cannot beviewed by young people through the Internet (such measures shall be referred tohereinafter as “Measures to Prevent Viewing by Young People”).
● The Specified Server Administrator refers to a person who provide a service tomake a certain content available for viewing by the general public upon a third
party’s request and allow such viewing by using a server used for viewing ofcontents by the general public through the Internet (Article 2, paragraph 11, of
said Act). More specifically, Internet service providers, hosting providers,content providers, and administrators of bulletin boards and web pages will beconsidered to be such Specified Server Administrators.

Article 6(Implementation of Hotline System)
1. Where the Contracted User uses the Service and thereby becomes the Specified Server
Administrator, the Contracted User shall implement a system for accepting contact fromthird parties in the manner illustrated below, for the purpose of preventing trouble
relating to publication of certain content:(1) Implementation of an inquiry form for third parties in relation to publication ofcertain content by way of the Service;(2) Publication of an email address for inquiry relating to publication of certain content
by way of the Service.
Additionally, where the system is implemented to accept contact in the manner
illustrated in (2) above, the Contracted User shall take sufficient note that such contact
information could be misused for other purposes.
2. In using the Service, the Contracted User shall notify the Company of the contact
information for the Company to contact the Contracted User in the event that trouble
occurs in relation to publication of certain content.
● This provision is intended to raise awareness of and implement the duty to makeefforts under Article 22 of the Youth Internet Use Environment Improvement Act.
● Article 22 of the Youth Internet Use Environment Improvement Act:
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Article 22 (Implementation of the Hotline System from People in Respect of Content
Harmful to Young People)
The Specified Server Administrator must make efforts to implement the system foraccepting contact from people in respect of any content that is harmful to young
people and that has been published through the Specified Server managed by such
Administrator.

Article 7(Suspension of Use)
1. If any of the events set forth in the following items occurs in respect of the Contracted
User, the Company may suspend the use of the Service by the Contracted User:(1) When the Contracted User fails to pay fees for the Service after the payment due
date;(2) When the Contracted User’s credit card for settlement of fees for the Service or thebank account designated by the Contracted User is no longer accepted due tocancellation or other reason;(3) When the use of the Service falls under any of the actions in the respective items
under Article 1 (Prohibited Matters), and upon receiving a request under Items (1)through (3) or (5) of Paragraph 1 in Article 3 (Deletion, etc., of Content, etc.), theContracted User fails to accommodate such request within a period designated by
the Company; or(4) Other than those in the respective preceding items, when the Contracted User
breaches these Terms and Conditions.
2. When the Company intends to suspend the use of the Service by the Contracted User
pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Company shall notify theContracted User of the grounds for such suspension in advance; provided that theforegoing shall not apply in the case of emergency.
● This provision is intended for a situation where the service provider takes
measures to suspend the provision of its service to the Contracted User.

Article 8(Termination by the Company)
1. Where the use of the Service by the Contracted User is suspended pursuant to theprovisions of Article 7 (Suspension of Use), if such Contracted User fails to resolve or curesuch suspension event within a period designated by the Company, then the Company
may terminate the relevant service agreement.
2. In the event that the Company intends to terminate the service agreement pursuant to12the preceding paragraph, the Company may do so without giving notice or making ademand to the Contracted User.
● This provision is intended for a situation where the service provider takes
measures to terminate the service agreement with the Contracted User.

Article 9(Compliance with Relevant Laws and Regulations)
In taking the measures set forth in these Terms and Conditions, the Company shall takeappropriate measures within the scope set forth in any relevant laws and regulations.
● This provision is intended to confirm that, when the service provider takes any
action set forth in the Terms and Conditions, the service provider shall takeappropriate measures within the scope of the duties imposed on
telecommunications carriers under any relevant laws and regulations, such as
prohibition of unfair and discriminatory treatment prescribed in Article 6 of theTelecommunications Business Act.

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