Between the Bars Terms of Use

PLEASE REVIEW BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE – IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE.

General

Welcome to Between the Bars (“BtB”). BtB is a blog platform for prisoners who have no or limited access to broadcast media. Its mission is to facilitate communication between prisoners and the public through our website available at http://betweenthebars.org (“the Site”).

In order for BtB to operate this service effectively and responsibly, we have created ground rules for using the Site, which are set out in this document (the “Terms”). By accessing, using, or contributing to the Site in any way, you agree to abide by the Terms. The Terms constitute a legally binding Agreement between you and BtB.

BtB may modify the Terms from time to time, at BtB’s discretion, and such modifications shall be effective upon posting by BtB on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after BtB posts revised Terms signifies your acceptance of the revised Terms. It is therefore important that you review the Terms regularly to ensure you are updated as to any changes.

We appreciate your understanding and are happy to answer any questions you have about these Terms.

The following Terms apply to the Site and its services:

Disclaimer and Waiver of Certain Damages

THE SITE AND CONTENT AND SERVICES OFFERED AT, THROUGH, OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR OTHERWISE. WITHOUT LIMITATION, WE DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES OFFERED. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THE BTB SITE, THE CONTENT ON THE SITE, AND THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY OR ERROR-FREE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

TO THE EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL BTB BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE CLAIM OR THE FORM OF ACTION, ARISING FROM THE CONTENT ON THE SITE, THE SERVICES, OR THE SITE, WHETHER OR NOT WE SHALL HAVE HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE, ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE, THAT SUCH DAMAGES MIGHT BE INCURRED.

Eligibility

You must be 18 years of age or older to use this Site. By using the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years of age or older.

Account, Password and Security

You may create an account with BtB by providing a username and password. Creating an account will allow you to create a user profile and make contributions to the Site, including but not limited to posting comments and participating in the transcription process. Through the transcription process, accountholders may transcribe posted letters from the prisoners, and/or edit existing transcriptions to correct errors.

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your password(s) and accounts(s). You are entirely responsible for all activities that occur on or through your account(s).

Users are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Site, including, without limitation, (a) accessing data not intended for such user or logging into a server or account which the user is not authorized to access, (b) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization, (c) attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, "flooding," "spamming," "mailbombing" or "crashing," (d) sending unsolicited e-mail, including promotions and/or advertising of products or services, or (e) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. You agree that it is your responsibility to install anti-virus software and related protections against viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or engines that are intended to damage, destroy, disrupt or otherwise impair a computer’s functionality or operation.

Creating Profiles and Posting Comments

Accountholders can create user profiles by adding descriptions and/or uploading photos. They can also post comments to the prisoners’ letters. You alone are responsible for all content you add to the Site, including but not limited to the information and photos in your profile and the content in your posts. You agree not to post content that includes any defamatory, abusive, obscene, threatening or illegal material, or any other material that infringes on the ability of others to enjoy the Site or that infringes on the rights of others.

BtB cannot and does not review every profile or posting made on the Site. You should expect the Site to include information and opinions from a variety of individuals and organizations other than BtB. BtB does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting, regardless of whether the posting comes from a prisoner, a web site user, a guest, or a member of our staff.

Although BtB cannot monitor all profiles and postings, BtB reserves the right (though not the obligation) to delete, move, or edit any profile content or postings for any reason whatsoever.

Transcription

An accountholder can prepare transcriptions of the prisoners’ posted letters. An accountholder can also edit an existing transcription in order to correct errors. You agree not to make changes to a transcription that is already accurate.

By transcribing a prisoner’s letter, you represent and warrant that you are accurately transcribing the content of the prisoner’s letter. By making edits to a transcription, you represent and warrant that the edits are accurate. BtB does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any transcription.

BtB reserves the right to lock transcription forms to prevent any further edits to a prisoner’s letter. BtB also reserves the right (though not the obligation) to delete, move, or edit any transcriptions that BtB considers unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons.

Privacy

BtB respects the privacy of our users. BtB’s Privacy Policy is expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of the Terms. The Privacy Policy is located at http://betweenthebars.org/about/privacy/.

Termination of Account

You may terminate your account via the link on your profile page.

BtB reserves the right to terminate your account(s), to restrict your access to your account(s), and/or to delete any content posted through your account(s), with or without notice, for any or for no reason, and without any liability to you. The license granted to BtB by you in any and all content furnished by you to the Site is irrevocable and survives after termination of your account.

If you decide to terminate your account, you may opt to delete the comments you have posted to the Site. If you wish to delete your comments, you must do so at the time you terminate your account. Once your account is terminated, you will lose the ability to perform any authenticated functions on the Site, including the ability to delete your comments.

Prohibited Site Usage

The Site and/or any portion of the Site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without our express written consent, except for such reproduction as occurs in the normal course of reading or viewing the Site using a Web browser. We do not permit any resale or commercial use of the Site or its contents; any derivative use of the Site or its contents; or any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.

Parental Notice

Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. Section 230(d) as amended, BtB hereby notifies you that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software, or filter services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. Information identifying current providers of such protection is available on the Internet (e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content-control_software).

Intellectual Property

By furnishing content to the Site, you grant BtB a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and worldwide license to, among other things, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, reproduce, edit, transcribe, translate, and reformat the content you furnish, and/or to incorporate the content you furnish into a collective work. This license also allows BtB to, among other things, periodically print your comments and send the comments to prisoners. This license is perpetual and applies even after a user’s account has been terminated to content submitted by the user before termination of the account. Subject only to the rights granted to BtB under this license, you retain ownership of the copyrights and all other rights in the content furnished by you.

Representations and Warranties of Web Site User

By submitting content to the Site, you represent and warrant, with respect to all content furnished by you, that you submit to BtB, as follows:

1. You are the sole author of all content, and all content is original to you.
2. You have the right to submit the content to BtB and to grant BtB the rights set forth herein.
3. The content does not violate or constitute the infringement of any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of privacy, right of publicity, moral right, or other intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity.
4. The content, your submission of the content to BtB, and the posting of the content online do not violate the rights of any person or entity or any state or federal law or regulation.
5. The content does not contain any threatening, harassing, libelous, false, defamatory, offensive, obscene, or pornographic material, or other material that would violate any other applicable law or regulation.

By submitting content to BtB, you acknowledge and agree that such content may be posted on the BtB website and made publicly available to anyone who wishes to view the content. You acknowledge and agree that BtB shall have no responsibility, liability, or obligation to you with regard to the content submitted, its protection, its use or misuse in any way whatsoever by any entity, including but not limited to BtB itself. You acknowledge and agree that BtB will in no event be liable for the editing, removal or disabling of access to any content under the Terms.

Digital Millenium Copyright Act/Copyright Infringement and Notification Policy

We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your copyrighted materials have been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please follow the procedure set forth in our Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice Policy, which is located at http://betweenthebars.org/about/dmca/ and is expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of the Terms.

Termination of Service

BtB disclaims all responsibility and liability for the availability, timeliness, security or reliability of BtB’s services or Site, or any software provided through the Site. BtB reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the services or access to the Site without any notice at any time for any reason and without any liability to you.

No Waiver of Terms

Failure of BtB to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision in that or any other instance.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless BtB, its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers and directors, agents, employees and partners, and any parties with whom BtB may contract to provide its services, from any third party claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees for damages and/or costs due to or arising out of your breach of your obligations under this the Terms.

Severability

If any provision of the Terms shall be deemed unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms and conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Governing Law and Entire Agreement

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to the rules of conflict of law that may cause the laws of another jurisdiction to apply. You agree to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the federal or state courts serving Massachusetts in the event of any dispute of any kind arising from or relating to the Site or Services, or your use or review of it. The Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision or portion of these Terms to be unenforceable, the remainder of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.

Effective Date of the Agreement is 2010-11-15.