AcaWiki:Terms of use

Please read these Terms of Use (the "Terms of Use" or "Terms") carefully because they apply to your use of the AcaWiki website and any services offered at http://acawiki.org (together, the "Website").

AcaWiki Inc. ("AcaWiki"), a California corporation with a business office in Fremont CA 94539, United States, makes the Website available to you to use on the following terms and conditions.

YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE IN ANY WAY SIGNIFIES THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE. By accessing or using the Website you also represent that you have the legal authority to accept these Terms of Use on behalf of yourself and any party you represent in connection with your use of the Website. If you do not agree to these terms, you are not authorized to use the Website.

International Users

The Website is offered on behalf of AcaWiki from servers located in the United States of America. AcaWiki makes no representations that the Website is appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you are accessing or using the Website from other jurisdictions, you do so at your own risk and you are responsible for compliance with local law. Also, by using the site, you hereby give permission to transfer to the United States any personal information that is collected by the AcaWiki servers.

Minors

Only persons who are over the age of majority in their jurisdiction and fully competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties set forth in these Terms and to abide by and comply with these Terms may post content to the Website. Any registration by, use of or access to the Website by anyone (1) under the age of 13 or (2) under the age of majority in their jurisdiction but without parental or guardian permission, is unauthorized, unlicensed and a violation of these Terms of Use. By establishing an account on the Website, you represent and warrant that you (1) are the age of majority in your jurisdiction or, (2) are over the age of 13 and have the express permission of your parent or legal guardian to use the Website, and you further agree to abide by all of the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use.

What is AcaWiki's Purpose?

AcaWiki is an online open-content website that hosts summaries of peer-reviewed research. Contributions are made by the public on a voluntary basis for the purpose of enriching greater public understanding and use of academic research. The website operates on WikiMedia software which permits any user to alter content on the website. The material that users contribute to the AcaWiki Website becomes a public record. All contributions made to the Website, and all publicly available information about those contributions, are irrevocably licensed and may be freely copied, quoted, reused and adapted by third parties with few restrictions.

No Formal Peer Review

AcaWiki personnel do not have the expertise to review the content contributed by users and cannot ensure that the information users provide is complete, accurate or reliable. Because of the nature of a wiki, it is possible that content may be changed, vandalized or altered by those acting in bad faith or without accurate knowledge on the topic. AcaWiki is not responsible should someone change, edit, modify or remove any information that you may post on our site.

Contributing to the AcaWiki Website

You may post summaries or long abstracts ("Summaries") of research under the terms of the Posting Guidelines. You may contribute comment as well. In order to add any content to the site, you must establish a User Account. A User Account will generate a User Profile where you may identify yourself further and provide other personal information if you wish. By establishing a User Account, you agree to abide by the terms of the Posting Guidelines which are incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use. You agree (a) that any Summaries or other information relating to academic research that you post to the Website will be accurate and shall not misrepresent the research being abstracted, (b) to maintain the security of your password and identification, (c) maintain and promptly update your contact information to allow us to contact you if necessary, and (d) to be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account. You may not set up an account or a profile on behalf of another individual or entity unless you are authorized to do so.

As used in these Terms of Services, "Content" includes but is not limited to Summaries, photos, public profile information (including name, location, image and likeness), text, information, lists of favorite works, bios, discussion commentary and any other material that is posted, uploaded or displayed ("post" or "posted") by you to the AcaWiki Website.

You may only post Content that you have the right to post. For example, this means that you can only post Content that you yourself create, that is in the public domain or that you have been expressly granted the right to use and post. Materials used without express permission of the copyright owner may not be posted. You may not post a copyrighted Abstract of any research without the author's permission.

You represent, warrant and agree that no Content of any kind submitted or posted to the Website (including without limitation your User Account Profile and photograph/image) will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other person or proprietary rights, or contain libelous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful material.

You may post and thereafter edit Summaries, your personal profile information and contribute to discussion forums on the Website for public viewing. To the extent such Content is copyrightable, as a condition to posting you must license the information to the world under the terms of the Creative Commons license specified in the footer of the Website (currently Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License). By submitting Content for public viewing, you represent and warrant to AcaWiki that you have all necessary rights and authority to upload such Content to the Website and to license it to the world under the terms of the Creative Commons license.

You are solely responsible for ensuring that you do not infringe someone else's rights. AcaWiki may, but is not obligated to, review postings and may delete or remove (without notice) any Content in its sole discretion that AcaWiki determines violates these Terms of Use or that may be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm or threaten the safety of others. AcakWiki does not endorse or support any Content posted on the Website.

You alone are responsible for creating backup copies and replacing any Content you post on the Website, and you authorize AcakWiki and its service providers to make copies of your Content as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting of your Content to the Website. You may remove your Content from the Website at any time. If you choose to remove your profile information and/or photograph/image, the Creative Commons license granted above will remain in full force and effect in accordance with its terms. AcaWiki does not assert any ownership over your Content. As between AcaWiki and you, you retain full ownership of all of your Content.

Use of Content Posted to the AcaWiki Website

You may use the material that you find on the Website in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons License identified in the footer of the Website. You acknowledge that under the applicable Creative Commons license, all rights not expressly granted under the terms of the license are reserved to the creator. For the avoidance of doubt, you must attribute all Summaries and other Content in the manner required by the author or licensor and in accordance with the terms of such license and you must not remove or alter any copyright, trademark, name or other notice or legend that appears in connection with an Abstract or other item of Content. You represent and warrant to AcaWiki that you will use any and all Content made available on the Website in accordance with such license. You should be sure to review the terms of that license before you use it so that you know what you can and cannot do with them.

By using AcaWiki, you agree that you are solely responsible for your use of any and all Content made available thereon. Further, you represent that you understand that all information and Content made available at or submitted to the Website is the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This includes assertions that persons may make, expressly or impliedly, about the provenance and ownership of Content that they upload or list and/or link to on their profile page. You also acknowledge that AcaWiki does not make any representations or warranties about the Content, including without limitation, about the accuracy, integrity or quality of the Content and information made available at the instigation of users of the Website. You understand that by using the Website, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances is AcaWiki liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to: any infringing Content, any errors or omissions in Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, transmitted to, linked to or otherwise accessible or made available via the Website.

You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the provenance, ownership, accuracy, completeness, or reliability of such Content. In this regard, you acknowledge that you may not rely on any Content not created by us or submitted to us. You agree that, while Creative Commons may make efforts to ensure that the Content made available on the Website is legal, non infringing and that the use of it in accordance with these Terms of Use and, where applicable, a Creative Commons license will not infringe the rights of any third party, AcaWiki cannot guarantee that Content made available on the Website does not infringe the rights of any third party.

You further agree that all content posted by AcaWiki (as opposed to other users) on the Website is made available under the terms of the CC license specified on the Website, and that all rights not expressly granted under the terms of such license are reserved to AcaWiki and its licensors.

User Conduct

As a User of the AcaWiki Website, you agree not to use the Website to:

•post, use or transmit material or Content that you do not have the right to post or use, for example, under intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy or other applicable laws; •post, use or transmit unsolicited or unauthorized materials or Content, including advertising or promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of unsolicited or unwelcome solicitation or advertising or use the personal information of other users to direct such activity to them individually; •post, use or transmit material or Content that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or otherwise interfere with or disrupt the Website or servers or networks connected to the Website, or that disobeys any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Website; •post or transmit material or Content that is harmful, offensive, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, defamatory, hateful or otherwise discriminatory, false and misleading, incites an illegal act, or is otherwise objectionable, or is otherwise in breach of your obligations to any person or contrary to any applicable laws and regulations; •intimidate or harass another; •use or attempt to use another's account or personal information; •remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with any security-related features that enforce limitations on the use of the Website; •attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Website, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Website, through hacking password mining or any other means or interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website or any activities conducted through the Website; •use any means to bypass or ignore robot.txt, or other measures we might use to restrict access or use of our Website; or •impersonate another person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.

In addition, you may not (and may not authorize another party to): (i) frame or otherwise co-brand the Website (for example, by displaying a name, logo, trademark or other means of attribution of a third party that is reasonably likely to give the user the impression that that third party has the right to display, publish or distribute this Website; or, (ii) use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, impair or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Website.

Termination

Your rights to use the AcaWiki website and maintain a User Account and User Profile thereon will terminate automatically upon your breach of any of these Terms of Use. In addition, AcaWiki may, at any time: (a) modify, interrupt suspend or terminate the operation of or access to the Website or its services, or any portion thereof, for any reason and any applicable Terms of Use and policies governing the use of the Website for any reason, all as AcaWiki deems appropriate in its discretion. Your access to your account and use of the Website may be terminated by you or by AcaWiki at any time and for any reason whatsoever.

You agree and understand that if your right to use the Website or to maintain an account is terminated by AcaWiki, we may take certain actions relating to your access to the Website including but not limited to the following:

•the Website page displaying your profile data may be deleted and discarded from the Website; •your User Account access and privileges will terminate.

The disclaimer of warranties, the limitation of liability and the jurisdiction and applicable law provisions shall survive any termination. The license grants mentioned herein shall continue in effect subject to the terms of the applicable Creative Commons license. Your warranties and indemnification obligations shall survive any termination for one year.

Disclaimers

AcaWiki provides this content on this website on an ‘as-is’ basis. We make no warranties regarding the accuracy of information provided on this website, and disclaim liability for damages resulting from its use. We assert no copyright ownership in the work posted to our Website by users.

AcaWiki does not provide professional advice. If you need specific advice (for example, medical) please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE APPLICABLE LAW, ACAWIKI OFFERS THE WEBSITE AS-IS AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE WEBSITE OR ITS CONTENTS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTIBILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION NONINFRINGEMENT FOR WORKS SUMMARIZED OR POSTED TO THE WEBSITE). ACAWIKI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OR CONTENT CONTAINED ON THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SERVERS USED BY THE WEBSITE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. ACAWIKI DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION REGARDING USE OR THE RESULT OF USE OF THE CONTENT IN TERMS OF ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW AND THEN ONLY TO THAT EXTENT, IN NO EVENT WILL ACAWIKI, ITS EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES OR AGENTS ("THE ACAWIKI PARTIES") BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF REVENUE OR INCOME, LOST PROFITS, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS OR SIMILAR DAMAGES SUFFERED OR INCURRED BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY THAT ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE (OR THE TERMINATION THEREOF FOR ANY REASON), INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE USE OF ANY MATERIAL INCLUDED OR POSTED ON THE WEBSITE, EVEN IF THE ACAWIKI PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE ACAWIKI PARTIES SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE WHATSOEVER IN ANY MANNER FOR ANY CONTENT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE (INCLUDING CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT RELATING TO WORKS POSTED ON THE WEBSITE), FOR YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, OR FOR THE CONDUCT OF THIRD PARTIES WHETHER ON THE WEBSITE OR OTHERWISE.

Indemnification for Breach of Terms of Use.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the AcaWicki Parties (defined above) from and against any and all loss, expenses, damages and costs, including without limitation reasonable attorneys fees, resulting, whether directly or indirectly, from your violation of these Terms of Use. You also agree to indemnify and hold harmless the AcaWiki Parties from and against any and all claims brought by third parties arising out of your use of the Website, and the Content you make available via the Website.

Copyright Complaints; DMCA Compliance

You agree that, in the event that AcaWiki is served with an infringement notice under section 512(c)(1)(C) of the US Copyright Act, AcaWiki will have taken reasonable steps (as required by section 512(g)(2)) if it promptly notifies you using the latest contact details you provided via your User Profile.

AcaWiki respects the intellectual property rights of others, and we prohibit users from uploading, posting or otherwise transmitting any materials that violate another person's intellectual property rights.

AcaWiki complies with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In compliance with the DMCA, a Designated Agent has been established with proper documentation sent to the US Copyright Office. If you have reason to believe that any material or activity on a website controlled or operated by Acawiki is infringing of the right(s) owned by you or someone else, for whom you have authority to act, please follow our DMCA Notice & Takedown Procedure and contact our designated agent to report alleging copyright infringement. The designated agent is:

Neeru Paharia neeru@acawiki.org

Trademarks

The term "AcaWiki" and the logo image that appears in our website header are trademarks of AcaWiki Inc.

Any of the trademarks, service marks, collective marks, design rights or similar rights that are mentioned, used or cited in the Summaries or other discussion are the property of their respective owners. Their use here does not imply that you may use them for any other purpose other than for the same or a similar informational use. Unless otherwise stated the AcaWiki site is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the holders of any such rights and as such AcaWiki cannot grant any rights to use any otherwise protected materials. Your use of any such or similar incorporeal property is at your own risk.

Privacy Policy

AcaWiki is committed to handling responsibly the information and data we collect through our Website and agrees to use your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy and these Terms of Use. The Privacy Policy is hereby incorporated into these Terms.

Other Policies

You agree to abide by all other policies posted on the Website.

Third Party Websites and Third Party Content.

AcaWiki's Website may contain links to websites not controlled by AcaWiki ("Third Party Websites"), as well as articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video, information and other items belonging to or originating from persons or organizations other than AcaWiki ("Third Party Content"). You acknowledge that AcaWiki: (a) is not responsible or liable for any Third Party Websites, including without limitation, the Third Party Content, information or products made available at any Third Party Website; (b) has not reviewed any Third Party Websites or Third Party Content for accuracy, appropriateness or completeness; (c) has not sponsored or otherwise endorsed Third Party Websites or Third Party Content; and (d) makes no representations or warranties whatsoever about any Third Party Websites or Third Party Content (including without limitation, lists of works).

Other Terms of Use

These Terms of Use are governed by and construed by the laws of the State of California, USA, exclusive of its choice of law rules. The parties agree that any disputes or proceedings between AcaWiki and you concerning these Terms of Use or the Website shall be brought in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in California, US, and hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of such court. Either party's failure to insist on or enforce strict performance of any of these Terms of Use shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. If any term or part of these Terms of Use is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any law or regulation or final determination of a competent court or tribunal, that provision will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. The parties agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and AcaWiki as a result of these Terms of Use or your use of the Website. These terms constitute the entire agreement between you and AcaWiki relating to this subject matter and supersede all prior, contemporaneous and future communications (with the exception of future amendments to these Terms of Use as made available by AcaWiki from time to time) between you and AcaWiki. A printed version of these Terms of Use and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based on or relating to these Terms of Use to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generating and maintained in printed form.

Changes to the Terms of Use

From time to time, AcaWiki may change these Terms of Use, and reserves the right to do so in its sole discretion. In that case, we will post the updated Terms of Use to the Website and indicate the date of revision. Your continued use of AcaWiki's Website after the revised Terms of Use have been posted indicate that you have read, understood and agreed to the current version of these Terms of Use.

Questions

If you have any questions about AcaWiki's policies or Terms of Use, please contact us at [mailto:admin@acawiki.org|admin@acawiki.org].

These Terms of Use are effective as of 15 February 2009.