General Terms and Conditions (GTC)
for using the online platform www.KITE-AND-WINDSURFING-GUIDE.com
1. Scope and amendment of General Terms and Conditions
1.1 The General Terms and Conditions (GTC) below apply to the use of the platform www.kite-and-windsurfing-guide.com (also: “KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE“ or “platform”). This is a service of stoked publications Verlagsgesellschaft Udo Hölker.
1.2 “Users” within the sense of these General Terms and Conditions are natural and legal persons who have registered and whose registration has been confirmed by KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE.
1.3 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE offers the usage of its platform, in particular the use of the database, solely on the basis of these General Terms and Conditions.
1.4 By registering for or using our services, users consent to the validity of these General Terms and Conditions.
1.5 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE reserves the right to amend its General Terms and Conditions effective for the future if an adjustment is necessitated by economic or legal grounds. The amendments will not become part of the agreement until the user consents to such amendments. It is sufficient for this purpose that KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE sends the new version of the General Terms and Conditions to the e-mail address that the user provided for information purposes. If the user does not contradict the amendments to the General Terms and Conditions within one week, consent will be considered to have been granted.
1.6 Conflicting terms and conditions of the user have no effect, even if KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE does not contradict them.
2. Performance by KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE, performance by users and providers
2.1 Alongside the online spot guide the platform contains an online directory where users (also: “provider”) can present accomodation, shops, schools, gear rental centers, restaurants, bars and other services to other users.
2.2 On www.kite-and-windsurfing-guide.com, KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE provides an online directory in which users can inform themselves about available offerings and services. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE itself does not offer any services displayed in the online directory, nor does it act as an intermediary for the conclusion of agreements between users.
2.3 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE does not examine the legality, accuracy or completeness of offerings published on the platform or user content, and these do not represent the views of KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is not responsible for third-party offerings or content.
2.4 Providers can apply their own terms and conditions which do not affect the General Terms and Conditions of KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE.
2.5 Providers and tenants are responsible for their adherence to the provisions governed by public law, including municipal codes regarding property rental.
3. Registration, realisation of the user agreement, contractual declarations
3.1 User registration is required to contribute to the KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE’s offering. Registration is free of charge and requires that users accept KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE’s General Terms and Conditions. The user agreement between KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE and the user arises on receipt of the registration confirmation e-mail at the e-mail address provided by the user. There is no claim to the conclusion of such a user agreement.
3.2 Registration is available only to natural persons, legal persons and partnerships that are fully legally competent. The registration of a legal person or partnership may be performed only by a natural person with power of representation who must be named. When registering, only individual persons may be given as the owner of the user account (i.e. no married couples or families).
3.3 When registering, the user undertakes to provide accurate, up-to-date and complete information as required by the registration form, in particular first and last name, current address (not a PO box), a valid e-mail address and, where appropriate, the name of the company and an authorized representative. The data must be up-to-date and correct at all times. Multiple registrations under different member names are prohibited. The operator reserves the right to refuse user names which consist of domain names or contain URL components (such as Top Level Domains, eg .co.uk, .nl, .fr, .com, .shop, .travel) in individual cases or through general technical measures.
3.4 The user can receive contractual declarations at his stated e-mail address.
4. User obligations, user account, system integrity
4.1 The user is solely responsible for all content that he places on the platform. In his relationship to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE, he commits not to place illegal content on the platform and to refrain from actions that violate laws or the Code of Conduct described in these terms.
4.2 The user undertakes to use his user account himself only and to keep his password secret.
4.3 The user is liable to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE for all actions performed using his user account, unless the user is not responsible for the misuse of his user account.
4.4 Once the user is aware that third parties have access to his user data or have otherwise gained access to his user account, he must notify KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE of this immediately. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is entitled to then block the user account until the situation has been clarified.
4.5 Each user must independently verify the identity of his possible future contract partner. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE accepts no liability for the accuracy of the user contact information entered on the platform.
4.6 The user undertakes to set up his systems and programmes in connection with the use of KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE in a way that ensures that the security, integrity and availability of systems set up by KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE to provide its services are not affected. Users must not block, rewrite, or modify content generated by KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE or interfere with the KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE offering in any other way that contravenes the purpose of the user agreement. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is entitled to set up the required measures in accordance with section 9 as are necessary to ensure the system integrity of KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE or third-party systems.
4.7 Users must not use addresses, contact data, or e-mail addresses that they obtain by using the website for any purpose other than for personal communication with this user or provider. In particular, these data must not be forwarded to unauthorised persons or used to send advertising, unless the user in question has expressly granted his consent in advance.
4.8 The user absolutely must not send mass messages with the same content via the platform. Any spamming or similarly harassing action towards other users or third parties is prohibited.
4.9 Each user is himself responsible for archiving any information that can be viewed on the website and saved by KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE that is required for the purposes of preservation of evidence, accounting, etc. on a storage medium independent of KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE.
4.10 In the event of a violation of these General Terms and Conditions by a user, KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is entitled to exercise its virtual householder rights. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE can exclude the user in question from using its services, delete the content he uses, or take other measures within the meaning of section 9. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE will take legal action to exercise its legitimate rights to forbearance and compensation.
5. Handling of content and rights
5.1 Within the framework of the platform’s functionality, users can present themselves as riders, photographers or providers or their offerings to other users and visitors of the website using a variety of media. Certain rules must be complied with to ensure that the various media are utilised legally so that neither the user nor KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE can be made liable. These rules derive, for example, from laws protecting copyrights and brands in addition to these General Terms and Conditions.
5.2 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE saves for the user the multimedia content uploaded by him (images, text, etc.) or merely arranges the necessary memory space and access to it. Users themselves are therefore solely responsible for the multimedia content they upload to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE and indemnify KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE against all third-party claims resulting from this. In particular, this indemnification also includes the costs of appropriate prosecution and legal defence.
5.3 Users will therefore ensure that the uploaded content does not violate applicable law or legal provisions, common decency, or in particular third-party rights (naming rights, personality rights, copyright, data protection rights, etc.). In particular, users undertake not to upload content that violates the terms of the Strafgesetzbuch (SGB – German Penal Code) or the Jugendmedienschutz -Staatsvertrag (JMStV – German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media). The user also undertakes not to utilize content that is pornographic, glorifies violence, or is race baiting. This also applies to the sending of e-mails and other electronic communication media of the platform. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE reserves the right to refuse spot photos that contain graphic logos or watermarks.
5.4 By uploading multimedia content, users transfer to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE a free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, unlimited, non-local right of use that can be sublicensed to the multimedia content uploaded to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE by the user. In particular, the right of use comprises the right to process the multimedia content for the purposes of the platform and to make it available to the public offline, in printed or electronic form, by wired or wireless connection, in such a way that it is accessible to members of the public at places and times of their choosing, including playback on their chosen receiver terminal that allows online access, in particular stationary and portable computer and mobile handheld devices such as smartphones, tablets and similar equipment. The usage rights also include the right to integrate multimedia content, including advertising media, on websites from KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE’s contractual partners. The right of use exists and remains independently of the duration of the usage contract pursuant to §8.
5.5 The content offered via KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is protected by copyright. The platform is generally accessed and utilised individually by a natural person using a web browser. The use of technologies such as web spiders, crawlers, or similar programmes, the purpose of which is not just the indexing of content but also the mass accessing and saving of the platform’s content is prohibited. This also applies in particular to technologies that enable so-called screen scraping and other third-party services.
5.6 There is no claim to the publication of transmitted picture or text material. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is, at any time, entitled, not only to refuse content, but also to delete content and to delete pages and related references, not only in case of a breach of these prohibitions or guidelines of these General Terms and Conditions. The user has no claim at all to resetting his multimedial content on the platform or a release of his deleted user profile.
6. Availability and amendment of the website
6.1 The user has no legal claim to permanent use of the platform. In particular, KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is not required to ensure that the platform is available or can be reached at all times. However, KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE endeavours to maintain operation of the platform with as few disruptions as possible and to continue to develop it in line with user requirements.
6.2 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE can temporarily restrict use if this is necessary in terms of security, integrity, capacity limits, or the performance of technical measures (maintenance work).
7. Liability for third-party sites
7.1 The platform’s pages also include links to websites on the Internet maintained by third parties, the content of which is not known to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE merely provides access to the websites and accepts no responsibility for the content. The links to third-party Internet sites merely serve to facilitate navigation. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE does not espouse the views expressed on the sites to which it links, and rather hereby expressly distances itself from all content on all websites that it links to on its platform.
7.2 The owners of the Internet sites to which the KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE platform hyperlinks are solely responsible for both their content and the goods or services offered for sale there.
8. Duration, termination
8.1 The user agreement is concluded for an indefinite period.
8.2 The user can terminate it at any time without notice by deleting his user account. A declaration of termination to KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE in written form (e.g. letter, e-mail) is sufficient.
8.3 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is at any time authorized to block, remove or edit the user accounts and/or contents which in the opinion of KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE do not fit into the overall intention or appearance of the platform.
8.4 The right to revocation, as well as the right to terminate the contract for important reasons as well as the individually agreed upon rights of termination of the user remain unaffected. An important reason for KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is in particular when:
8.4.1 The user does not comply with a not merely insignificant payment obligation in full or in part, despite having been sent a reminder with an appropriate deadline;
8.4.2 The user violates his obligations under these General Terms and Conditions and does not take remedial action despite having been sent a reminder with a timely deadline. A reminder is not needed if this is not expected to be successful or if the breach is sufficiently severe that it would be unreasonable for KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE to maintain the agreement. Furthermore, the severity of the offence can also result from the fact that the user has already been warned several times for similar violations;
8.4.3 Requirements of law, a court, or an official authority mean that the use of the platform can no longer be offered in this form;
8.4.4 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE discontinues its platform or business activities;
8.4.5 Insolvency proceedings are initiated for the user’s assets owing to a lack of funds.
9. Measures in the event of illegal conduct and/or conduct in breach of contract by the user
9.1 If there are specific indications that a user is culpably violating legal provisions, thirdparty rights, or the General Terms and Conditions or if KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE otherwise has a legitimate interest, particularly with regard to protecting its users against fraudulent activities, KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE can take one or more of the following actions subject to termination without notice:
9.1.1 Issue the user with a warning;
9.1.2 Delete the user's offers or other content;
9.1.3 Restrict the user's use of the website;
9.1.4 Temporarily or permanently exclude (block) the user from the website;
9.1.5 Contest and cancel existing leases in the name of the provider without taking into account the otherwise applicable cancellation policies, and reject the user’s offers for the conclusion of a lease in the name of the provider.
9.1.6 a user account is transferred to another party;
9.1.7 the user significantly harms other users;
9.1.8 there is just cause due to similar risks or responsibility of the user.
9.2 After a user has been permanently blocked by KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE, he is not entitled to have the blocked user account or the reviews profile restored. The user will also no longer be permitted to use the website with other user accounts or to re-register.
10. KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE’s liability
10.1 As KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE does not participate in the contractual relationship between the user and provider, KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE accepts no responsibility nor liability for contracts between users and providers.
10.2 As KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE merely receives a non-exclusive right of use to uploaded multimedia content, it accepts no liability for any loss of multimedia content or data.
10.3 Under no circumstances will KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE be liable for any of the following losses or damage (whether such losses where foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise): a) loss of business, b) loss of revenue or anticipated profits; c) loss of opportunity; d) loss of goodwill or injury to reputation; e) losses suffered by third parties or f) any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of this site regardless of the form of action.
11. Closing provisions
11.1 KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is authorised to transfer its rights and obligations under this agreement in full or in part to third parties.
11.2 This agreement is subject solely to the substantive laws of the Federal Republic of Germany with the exception of the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods and German international private law.
11.3 If the user is a consumer within the meaning of section 13 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB – German Civil Code), this does not affect the mandatory consumer protection regulations in which the consumer is ordinarily resident.
11.4 If individual provisions of these General Terms and Conditions are or become wholly or partially invalid, the other General Terms and Conditions are still valid. In the event of such a provision being invalid, it shall be replaced by a legal provision.
11.5 All declarations to be sent in connection with the user agreement to be concluded with KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE must be issued in writing or by email. The postal address and email address of a user are those that are stated as the current contact data in the user’s user account.
Terms & Conditions for Providers
KITE AND WINDSURFING GUIDE is a brand of:
stoked publications Verlagsgesellschaft Udo Hölker
Holzapfelweg 5
47802 Krefeld
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.kite-and-windsurfing-guide.com
VAT identification number: DE194109147