Terms of use, DMCA and trademark policy
These terms govern your use of this website. By browsing it, you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
1. What this site is — and what it is not
InstallShelf is an informational directory. We publish descriptions of software and links to the websites of the publishers who make it.
We are not the publisher of any software listed here. We do not develop, own, host, mirror, repackage or distribute any program on this page, and we are not a party to any transaction or licence agreement between you and a publisher. We have no ability to modify any file you download, which is the entire point.
2. Downloads and third-party software
When you follow a link, you leave this site and arrive at a publisher’s website. From that moment:
- the publisher’s own terms of use and privacy policy apply;
- the software is licensed to you by the publisher, not by us;
- any question about the software, its behaviour, its licence, its price, or its handling of your data is a matter between you and the publisher.
We make reasonable efforts to keep links accurate and pointed at official sources, and we remove links that are reported as broken, hijacked or redirected somewhere unofficial. We cannot, however, guarantee that a publisher’s website will not change its behaviour after we last reviewed it.
3. No warranty
This site and its content are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
Our notes describe our own opinion of software at the time of writing. They are not professional advice, not a security audit, and not a guarantee that a program will behave as described on your hardware, in your country, or under your licence terms. Always check a publisher’s own documentation before relying on software for anything important, and keep verified backups.
4. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, revenue or goodwill, arising out of or connected with your use of this site or of any software you found through it.
This includes, without limitation, damage caused by third-party software, by downloads from a publisher’s website, or by a publisher changing or redirecting a download page after our review. Where liability cannot be excluded, our total liability is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us to use this site, which is zero, or the minimum amount required by applicable law.
Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- scrape, mirror or systematically copy this site’s content for a competing service without written permission;
- use automated means to place excessive load on the site, other than a standard search
engine crawler respecting our
robots.txt; - frame this site, or misrepresent a relationship with us;
- use the site for any unlawful purpose, or to distribute malware by misrepresenting a link.
6. Copyright, trademarks and takedown requests
Our content
The text, layout, selection and arrangement of this site are our copyright. You may quote short extracts with attribution and a link. Republishing the directory wholesale does not qualify as fair quotation.
Trademarks
Product names, logos, icons and brands shown on this site are the property of their respective owners. We display them solely to identify the software being described, in the manner commonly understood as fair, nominative use. Their presence here does not imply any affiliation with, sponsorship by, or endorsement from the trademark owner, and we do not present ourselves as connected to any vendor listed.
If you own a mark and would prefer it not be displayed here, contact us and we will remove the icon and, if you prefer, the entry, without argument.
Filing a complaint
If you believe content on this site infringes your copyright, send a notice to hello@installshelf.com that includes all of the following:
- identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed;
- the exact URL of the material you want removed, with enough detail for us to locate it;
- your name, postal address, telephone number and email address;
- a statement that you have a good-faith belief the disputed use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
- a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorised to act on their behalf;
- your physical or electronic signature.
We respond to complete notices promptly, and we will remove or amend the material concerned while we investigate. Incomplete notices slow the process down, because we cannot act on a claim we cannot verify. If material you submitted was removed in error, you may send a counter-notice with the same level of detail.
7. Affiliate and sponsorship disclosure
We are a commercial site, and we say so plainly rather than hiding it:
| Type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Affiliate links | Some links contain a referral identifier. If you buy from that publisher afterwards, they may pay us a commission. Your price is unchanged, and the publisher does not tell us who you are or what you bought. |
| Sponsored placements | Entries labelled Sponsored are paid placements, and their links carry
rel="sponsored" in the markup. A sponsorship buys placement. It does not
buy our recommendation, an Editor’s pick badge, or inclusion in a scenario
list. |
| Advertising | Display units served by third parties after consent. Advertisers have no influence over which tools we list or what we write about them. |
Where a rule requires clearer marking than a page-level disclosure, we mark the individual link. If you ever find a paid placement that is not disclosed, treat it as a bug and tell us.
8. External links
We have no control over the content of websites we link to, and we are not responsible for their content, availability, security practices or privacy policies. Following a link is at your own discretion.
9. Changes to the site and these terms
We may add, edit, reorder or remove entries at any time, and we may change these terms. Material changes will be reflected in the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance.
10. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms, and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them or this site, are governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China, and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the People’s Republic of China.
Two clarifications, because a jurisdiction clause is often read as a way of removing rights. It is not intended that way here:
- Your local consumer rights still apply. Nothing in this section removes any protection you are entitled to under the mandatory provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence. Where those provisions give you a right that these terms do not, that right prevails.
- Data protection is separate. How we handle personal data, and which supervisory authority you can complain to, is set out in our privacy policy — not here.
If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, it will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions continue in full force.