WEB SITE TERMS OF USE
Wow! You actually came to this page. Our lawyers made us include it and made
us use a precious button on our home page to get you here. At first, we
thought the lawyers were a real pain. But then we read the page. What a
Netwakening! It's really important stuff. We took the legalese the lawyers
wrote and translated it into readable English. So be a smart nethead and
read the stuff on this page. It could prevent you from hearing from our
lawyers, or worse yet, from really nasty people, like prosecutors.
Here's the deal:
We run this site so that people like you (and people you like) can use it
for personal entertainment, information, education, communication, and
cyber-gratification. So go ahead and browse around all you like. You can
even download stuff from the site but only for non-commercial, personal use.
If you do, though, don't fool around with the copyright and other notices
all over the stuff. They're there for a really good reason. And don't even
think about distributing, modifying, transmitting, reusing, re-posting, or
anything else uncool with any of the stuff, including the text, images,
audio, and video, for public or commercial purposes unless we give you
written permission. And it's not likely we will.
If you visit our site, you're also legally obligated to [read: you're stuck
with] the terms and conditions listed below and any other law or regulation
that applies to the site, the Internet, the World Wide Web, or London,
England. You shouldn't access or browse the site if you have any problem
with that, because once you start, there's no turning back -- you are bound
by [read: you're stuck with] the terms and conditions.
So here's the scoop on our Top Ten Rules for Cybersurfers who hang out on
any of our sites in our network:
1. For everyone's sake, just assume that everything on the site is
copyrighted unless we say it's not. So you can't use the stuff except how we
say you can on this page or anywhere else on the site without our written
permission. And like we said before, it's not likely we'll give you
permission anyway. In fact, even if we wanted to, the lawyers are likely to
veto any deal anyway. So it's better you don't even ask.
2. While we try to include accurate stuff on the site, we're not promising
you it's accurate. In fact, we're not promising you anything except fun and
entertainment. So if you use stuff on the site, you're using it at your own
risk. Don't call us if there's a problem because we assume no liability or
responsibility for errors or omissions on the site.
3. We and anybody else who helped us create, produce, or deliver the site
are not liable for any damages you suffer when you use it. In particular,
the lawyers want you to know that:
"Our disclaimer includes direct, incidental, consequential, indirect,
or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or use of, the site.
Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the site is provided to you
'AS IS' WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON INFRINGEMENT.
Please note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied
warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you. Check
your local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding the
exclusion of implied warranties."
Ugh! What a mouthful from the mouthpieces. We put all of that in quotes
because we couldn't figure out any other way to say it that the lawyers
would accept. But here's the bottom line -- we're not responsible if you're
browsing around and the site damages you or your computer or infects it with
any nasty viruses. We sure hope that doesn't happen, but if it does, don't
call us.
4. If you don't want the world to know something, don't post in on the site
in any bulletin board or anyplace else. That's because anything you disclose
to us is ours. That's right -- ours. So we can do anything we want with the
stuff you post. We can reproduce it, disclose it, transmit it, publish it,
broadcast it, and post it someplace else. We can even send it to your mother
(as soon as we find her address). Not only that, we can even use any ideas,
concepts, know-how, or techniques you post any way we want to, including,
developing, manufacturing and marketing products or other stuff using the
information you post.
5. Pictures of people or places shown on the site are either our property or
someone else's property we're using with their permission. No matter what,
it's definitely not your property. You or any of your net-friends can't use
it unless we said you could on this page or somewhere else on the site. And
guess what -- we won't say yes. So be careful, because unauthorized use may
violate all sorts of nasty laws. Be smart, keep the stuff you download to
yourself.
6. There's also a lot of trademarks, logos, and service marks on the site
that either we own or we're using with someone else's permission. So don't
think you have any kind of license or right to use them, because you don't
and we're not about to give you one. If you don't leave them alone and mess
with our trademarks, logos and service marks on our site, we'll probably go
ballistic, so will the companies that own the other trademarks, logos and
service marks. That means that we're likely to sue you or to ask a
prosecutor to come after you for messing around with our property or the
property of others.
7. You'll probably notice we've linked our site to lots of others. While
that's cool, it doesn't mean we've looked at all those sites, much less
checked them out periodically to see what's going on. So don't blame us if
some external link you click on is bad or has stuff on it that offends you
or your pets. Go ahead and click, but remember, you're doing it at your
risk.
8. That brings us to what you do on our own site. While we occasionally
listen in on chat groups, or look at the posting in our discussion groups or
on our bulletin boards, we take no responsibility and assume no liability
for the content of those locations or for any mistakes, defamation, libel,
slander, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography, or profanity you
might encounter when you visit such places on our site. And don't be stupid
by posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory,
obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, nasty, mean, or profane
material or any material that law enforcement types may consider a criminal
offense, get someone in court on a civil lawsuit, or for that matter violate
any law -- anywhere, anytime. While we certainly respect your privacy, we
have no choice but to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities
or court which might ask us who might have posted nasty stuff on our site.
9. Software that we use on this Site is protected by all sorts of U.S. and
international laws. Because of that, you can't download or send the software
to anyone in the vacation travel spots of Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea,
Iran, Syria, or any other country where United States has embargoed goods;
or (get this) to anyone on the United States Treasury Department's list of
Specially Designated Nationals, the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny
Orders, or the FBI's Most Wanted Internet Creeps List (just kidding on the
last one). As if that were not tough enough, if you live in or are a
national of any of those lovely places, you're not even supposed to be
reading this page, so beat it!
10. We're also allowed to change this page and anything else on the site any
time we want to. That's because it's ours and we have the programmers who
can do it. If we do change the page, then you're bound by [read: you're
stuck with] those changes, too, whenever you visit our site.
If either of us wants to make something of it and wants to "sue" (a dirty
word) then we have to follow these rules of engagement. (sort of according
to the Geneva Convention):
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the United Kingdom, without regard
to principles of conflict of laws.
To the extent you have in any manner violated or threatened to violate
FreedomTechnology.org and/or its affiliates' intellectual property rights,
FreedomTechnology.org and/or its affiliates may seek injunctive or other
appropriate relief in any court in the United Kingdom, and you consent to
exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts.
Any other disputes will be resolved as follows:
If a dispute arises under this agreement, we agree to first try to resolve
it with the help of a mutually agreed-upon mediator in the following
location: United Kingdom. Any costs and fees other than attorney fees
associated with the mediation will be shared equally by each of us.
If it proves impossible to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution
through mediation, we agree to submit the dispute to binding arbitration at
the following location: United Kingdom, under the rules of the British
Arbitration Association. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitration
may be entered in any court with jurisdiction to do so.
If this all sounds kind of mean and undiplomatic, you should have seen what
the lawyers gave to us in the first place. We had to remind them that human
torture and sacrifice was outlawed in the United Kingdom. Boy, did they look
disappointed!
August 7th, 2006
FreedomTechnology.org
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