Terms of Service
The Gist:
We (the folks at Variety Meat.) run
this site and would love for you to use it. This
site, blog, forum, and related services are designed to educate and
entertain, and we encourage you to express yourself freely. However,
be responsible in what you write, and please be respectful. Being
critical is fine, but rudeness and personal attacks are not. In
particular, make sure that none of the prohibited items listed below
appear in your writing or what you link to (things like spam,
viruses, or hate content).
That’s the gist of it. Thanks also to
the good folks at Timothy Ferriss Content, Inc. (responsible for
great creations like The BLOG of Tim Ferris) who have made their
comprehensive Terms of Service available under a Creative
Commons Sharealike license, which means that you can borrow some
or all of their wording for your own Terms of Service. That’s
exactly what we did.
Terms of Service:
The following terms and conditions
govern all use of the http://varietymeat.blogspot.com
website and all content, services and products available at or
through the website, including, but not limited to, associated blogs,
forums, and websites, taken together, the Website. The Website is
owned and operated by Richard T. Smith. The Website is offered
subject to your acceptance without modification of all of the terms
and conditions contained herein and all other operating rules,
policies and procedures that may be published from time to time on
this Site by Richard T. Smith (collectively, the “Agreement”).
Please read this Agreement carefully
before accessing or using the Website. By accessing or using any part
of the web site, you agree to become bound by the terms and
conditions of this agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms
and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the Website
or use any services. If these terms and conditions are considered an
offer by Richard T. Smith, acceptance is expressly limited to these
terms. The Website is available only to individuals who are at least
13 years old.
1. Responsibility of
Contributors. If you operate a blog, comment on a blog, post
material to the Website, post links on the Website, or otherwise make
(or allow any third party to make) material available by means of the
Website (any such material, “Content”), You are entirely
responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that
Content. That is the case regardless of whether the Content in
question constitutes text, graphics, an audio file, or computer
software. By making Content available, you represent and warrant
that:
- the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;
- if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, you have either (i) received permission from your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;
- you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;
- the Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive content;
- the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing);
- the Content is not libelous or defamatory (more info on what that means), does not contain threats or incite violence towards individuals or entities, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;
- your Content is not getting advertised via unwanted electronic messages such as spam links on newsgroups, email lists, other blogs and web sites, and similar unsolicited promotional methods;
- your Content is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person or company. For example, your blog or comment’s URL or name is not the name of a person other than yourself or company other than your own; and
- you have, in the case of Content that includes computer code, accurately categorized and/or described the type, nature, uses and effects of the materials, whether requested to do so by Richard T. Smith or otherwise.
2. Responsibility of Website
Visitors.
3. Content Posted on Other
Websites. We have not reviewed, and cannot review, all of
the material, including computer software, made available through the
websites and webpages to which varietymeat.blogspot.com links, and
that link to varietymeat.blogspot.com. Richard T. Smith does not have
any control over those non-varietymeat.blogspot.com websites and
webpages, and is not responsible for their contents or their use. By
linking to a non-varietymeat.blogspot.com website or webpage, Richard
T. Smith does not represent or imply that it endorses such website or
webpage. You are responsible for taking precautions as necessary to
protect yourself and your computer systems from viruses, worms,
Trojan horses, and other harmful or destructive content. Richard T.
Smith disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from your
use of non-varietymeat.blogspot.com websites and webpages.
4. Copyright Infringement and
DMCA Policy. As Richard T. Smith asks others to respect
its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual
property rights of others. If you believe that material located on or
linked to by varietymeat.blogspot.com violates your copyright, you
are encouraged to notify Richard T. Smith in accordance with standard
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) Policy. Richard T.
Smith will respond to all such notices, including as required or
appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all
links to the infringing material. In the case of a visitor who may
infringe or repeatedly infringes the copyrights or other intellectual
property rights of Richard T. Smith or others, Richard T. Smith may,
in its discretion, terminate or deny access to and use of the
Website. In the case of such termination, Richard T. Smith will have
no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid to
Richard T. Smith.
5. Intellectual Property. This
Agreement does not transfer from Richard T. Smith to you any Richard
T. Smith or third party intellectual property, and all right, title
and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the
parties) solely with Richard T. Smith. Richard T. Smith,
varietymeat.blogspot.com, the “Variety Meat” logo, and all other
trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with
varietymeat.blogspot.com, or the Website are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Richard T. Smith, or Richard T. Smith’s licensors.
Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in
connection with the Website may be the trademarks of other third
parties. Your use of the Website grants you no right or license to
reproduce or otherwise use any Richard T. Smith or third-party
trademarks. You hereby grant Richard T. Smith an irrevocable,
perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license
(with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream,
store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat,
modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative
works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any Content you post
on or in connection with the Website or Richard T. Smith services or
the promotion thereof and (b) to use your name, likeness and image
for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and
(b) on or in connection with Richard T. Smith or the promotion
thereof.
6. Changes. Richard T.
Smith reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or
replace any part of this Agreement. It is your responsibility to
check this Agreement periodically for changes. Your continued use of
or access to the Website following the posting of any changes to this
Agreement constitutes acceptance of those changes. Richard T. Smith
may also, in the future, offer new services and/or features through
the Website (including, the release of new tools and resources). Such
new features and/or services shall be subject to the terms and
conditions of this Agreement.
7. Termination. Richard
T. Smith may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website
at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective
immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement, you may simply
discontinue using the Website. All provisions of this Agreement which
by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination,
including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty
disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
8. Disclaimer of Warranties.
The Website is provided “as is”. Richard T. Smith and
its suppliers and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties of any
kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the
warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and
non-infringement. Neither Richard T. Smith nor its suppliers and
licensors, makes any warranty that the Website will be error free or
that access thereto will be continuous or uninterrupted. If you’re
actually reading this, here’s
a treat. You understand that you download from, or otherwise
obtain content or services through, the Website at your own
discretion and risk.
9. Limitation of Liability. In
no event will Richard T. Smith, or its suppliers or licensors, be
liable with respect to any subject matter of this agreement under any
contract, negligence, strict liability or other legal or equitable
theory for: (i) any special, incidental or consequential damages;
(ii) the cost of procurement or substitute products or services;
(iii) for interruption of use or loss or corruption of data; or (iv)
for any amounts that exceed the fees paid by you to Richard T. Smith
under this agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the
cause of action. Richard T. Smith shall have no liability for any
failure or delay due to matters beyond their reasonable control. The
foregoing shall not apply to the extent prohibited by applicable law.
10. General Representation and
Warranty. You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the
Website will be in strict accordance with the Richard T. Smith
Privacy Policy, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and
regulations (including without limitation any local laws or
regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area,
regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all
applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported
from the United States or the country in which you reside) and (ii)
your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the
intellectual property rights of any third party.
11. Indemnification. You
agree to indemnify and hold harmless Richard T. Smith, its
contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors,
officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims
and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of your use of
the Website, including but not limited to out of your violation this
Agreement.
12. Miscellaneous. This
Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Richard T. Smith
and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and they may only be
modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of
Richard T. Smith, or by the posting by Richard T. Smith of a revised
version. Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides
otherwise, this Agreement, any access to or use of the Website will
be governed by the laws of the state of Virginia, U.S.A., excluding
its conflict of law provisions, and the proper venue for any disputes
arising out of or relating to any of the same will be the state and
federal courts located in Fairfax County, Virginia, U.S.A.. Except
for claims for injunctive or equitable relief or claims regarding
intellectual property rights (which may be brought in any competent
court without the posting of a bond), any dispute arising under this
Agreement shall be finally settled in accordance with the
Comprehensive Arbitration Rules of the Judicial Arbitration and
Mediation Service, Inc. (“JAMS”) by three arbitrators appointed
in accordance with such Rules. The arbitration shall take place in
Fairfax County, Virginia, in the English language and the arbitral
decision may be enforced in any court. The prevailing party in any
action or proceeding to enforce this Agreement shall be entitled to
costs and attorneys’ fees. If any part of this Agreement is held
invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the
parties’ original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in
full force and effect. A waiver by either party of any term or
condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one
instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent
breach thereof. You may assign your rights under this Agreement to
any party that consents to, and agrees to be bound by, its terms and
conditions; Richard T. Smith may assign its rights under this
Agreement without condition. This Agreement will be binding upon and
will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and
permitted assigns.
