Updated 23 March 2016
THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS GOVERN YOUR USE OF THIS WEB SITE. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING THIS WEB SITE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU ARE NOT GRANTED PERMISSION BY THE AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION (“AGU”) TO ACCESS OR OTHERWISE USE THIS WEB SITE. BY PROCEEDING TO ACCESS THIS WEB SITE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THESE TERMS.
The Eos.org Web Site User Agreement
Welcome to Eos.org (also referred to as the “Site”), an Earth and space science news site published by the American Geophysical Union (“AGU”). This Agreement contains the terms, covenants, conditions, and provisions (the “Terms and Conditions”) upon which you (the “user,” “you” or “your”) may access and use this Site.
Last Updated: 8 December 2014
Terms and Conditions
By accessing, viewing, or using this Site, you indicate that you understand and intend these Terms and Conditions to be the legal equivalent of a signed, written contract and equally binding, and that you accept such Terms and Conditions and agree to be legally bound by them. Please note that AGU reserves the right to change the Terms and Conditions under which this Site and its offerings are extended to you. Your continued use of this Site following such modifications will be conclusively deemed acceptance by you of any changes to these Terms and Conditions.
I. License Grant
This Agreement provides you with a personal, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to use this Site conditioned on your continued compliance with the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement. You may print, download, and use the content on this Site for non-commercial purposes subject to a Creative Commons License. Unless otherwise noted, material published between 24 December 2014 and 22 March 2016 is covered by the CC BY-NC 3.0 license, summarized here. Starting 23 March 2016, unless otherwise noted, material is covered by the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license, summarized here. These terms are incorporated into this Agreement by reference. You must provide full attribution to AGU in all uses of the content on this Site. As a further condition of use of this Site, you warrant to AGU that you will not use this Site for any purpose that is unlawful or otherwise prohibited by these Terms and Conditions.
II. Content Disclaimer
While AGU endeavors to keep the materials on the Site accurate and up-to-date, AGU cannot and does not assume responsibility for any errors or omissions in these materials. AGU further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials and disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted or circulated on the Site. Some content on the Site is supplied by third party authors and is not necessarily the opinion of AGU.
III. User Comments and Postings
This Site allows users to post comments on the articles appearing on the Site. User comments are the opinions of the respective users and are not necessarily the opinion of AGU. Neither AGU, nor its directors, officers, staff, members, and/or volunteers accept any responsibility for the content of the user comments on this Site. The content of all user comments is solely the responsibility of the users. AGU reserves the right to delete, move, or edit any user comments at any time, for any reason or in its discretion, but has no obligation to review or remove any such user comments. In the event that any inappropriate or illegal user comment is brought to AGU’s attention, AGU may exercise appropriate action.
IV. Confidentiality of Site
While AGU has endeavored to create a secure and reliable Site, please be advised that the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from this Site over the Internet cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, AGU is not responsible for the security of any information transmitted via the Internet. You assume the sole and complete risk for using this Site.
V. Intellectual Property Rights
All material contained on this Site, unless otherwise indicated, is protected by law including, but not limited to, United States copyright and trademark law, as well as other state, national, and international laws and regulations. Except as expressly provided herein, AGU does not grant any express or implied right to you. The contents of this Site are Copyright © 2014 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Eos, AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, AGU, and all other names, logos, and icons identifying American Geophysical Union and its goods and services are proprietary marks of the American Geophysical Union. All other product names, company names and other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions grants you any right to use any trademark, service mark, logo, and/or trade name of the American Geophysical Union.
VI. Disclaimer of Warranty and Limitation of Liability
Use of this Site is entirely at your own risk and is subject to all applicable state, national and international laws and regulations. ALL MATERIALS ON THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE 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.
AGU, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS, AGENTS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, WHETHER UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHER THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH: (A) YOUR ACCESS TO, THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR ANY OF THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SITE; (B) ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, ACTIVITIES, AND/OR MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SITE; (C) ANY BREACHES OF SECURITY INVOLVING THE SITE OR YOUR ACCOUNT, OR ANY LACK OF AVAILABILITY OR OPERATIONAL PROBLEM OF, THE SITE; OR (D) ANY VIRUSES OR OTHER CODE THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT OR OTHER PROPERTY AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE SITE. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.
VII. Third Party Web Sites
AGU may provide links, in its sole discretion, to other sites on the World Wide Web for your convenience in locating related information, goods, and/or services. These sites have not necessarily been reviewed by AGU and are maintained by third parties over which AGU exercises no control.
AGU MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND IN CONNECTION WITH ANY THIRD‑PARTY SITE OR ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH ANY THIRD‑PARTY SITE.
AGU does not endorse, and shall not be liable in connection with, the content, the accuracy of the information, and/or quality of products or services provided by or advertised on these third-party web sites. Use of third‑party sites is at your own risk.
VIII. Advertisers
AGU, in its sole discretion, may post the advertisements of third parties on the Eos.org Site. Your correspondence or any other dealings with advertisers found on this Site are solely between you and such advertiser. You agree that AGU shall not be responsible for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as a result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Eos.org. Moreover, AGU shall not be responsible or liable for the statements or conduct of the advertisers. You shall not knowingly or intentionally interfere with the display of such advertisements.
IX. Code of Conduct
You agree to conduct yourself in accordance with the AGU Comment Disclaimer, which is incorporated into these Terms and Conditions by reference.
In addition, you agree not to do the following:
(1) Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Site. This includes, without limitation, (a) using, or attempting to use, any account associated with this Site without the owner’s permission, (b) obtaining or soliciting another person’s password or other personal information under false pretenses, or (c) impersonating another user or otherwise misrepresenting yourself to AGU, the Site’s systems, or other entities.
(2) Interfere (or attempt to interfere) with the operation of the Site. This includes, without limitation, (a) interfering with, defeating, or circumventing any security function of the Site, or attempting to do so, or (b) accessing, or attempting to access, any portion of the Site that you are not authorized to access. Unauthorized access (or attempts) may subject you to civil and/or criminal penalties.
(3) Use the Site to post, store, or transmit any information or software that contains a virus, worm, spyware, malware, Trojan horse, or other harmful or disruptive component.
(4) Use the Site for any unlawful purposes.
(5) Modify, adapt, sublicense, translate, resell, retransmit, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of the Site.
X. Law Enforcement
Actual or attempted unauthorized use of the Site may result in criminal and/or civil prosecution. For your protection, AGU reserves the right to view, monitor, and record activity on the Site without notice or permission from you. Any information obtained by monitoring, reviewing, or recording is subject to review by law enforcement organizations in connection with the investigation or prosecution of possible criminal activity on the Site. AGU will also comply with all court orders involving requests for such information.
XI. Term and Termination
This Agreement will take effect at the time you begin using this Site (thereby indicating acceptance of these Terms and Conditions). AGU reserves the right at any time and for any reason to deny you access to the Site or any portion thereof, and to terminate this Agreement. Termination will be effective without notice.
XII. Privacy Policy
Please see the Eos.org Privacy Policy for a summary of AGU’s practices regarding collection and use of non-public personal information. By using this Site, you consent to AGU’s collection and use of personal data as outlined therein.
XIII. Submissions
Any ideas, suggestions, information, know-how, material, or other content (collectively, “content”) posted or received through this Site will be deemed to include a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide, nonexclusive right and license for AGU to adopt, publish, reproduce, disseminate, transmit, distribute, copy, use, create derivative works, display, (in whole or part), or act on such content without additional approval or consideration, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content.
XIV. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. AGU reserves the right to remove any material on the Site that allegedly infringes another person’s copyright. Notices to AGU regarding any alleged copyright infringement on the Site should be directed to: Barbara Richman, Editor In Chief, Eos – [email protected]. Such notices must (1) be in writing; (2) be signed (e-signature is acceptable); (3) specify the content that you believe to be infringing upon your intellectual property rights; (4) include accurate contact information; (5) state that your complaint is being made in “good faith”; (6) state that “under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the notification is accurate”; and (7) state that you have legal right to take such, and further, action as the copyright owner or agent of the same.
XV. Password Policy
Your use of certain portions of this Site may require a password. Anyone with knowledge of your password can gain access to the restricted portions of this Site and the information available to you. Accordingly, you must keep your password secret. By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, you agree to be solely responsible for the confidentiality and use of your respective password, as well as for any communications entered through the Site using your password. You must also immediately notify AGU if you become aware of any loss or theft of your password or any unauthorized use of your password. AGU reserves the right to delete or change a password at any time and for any reason.
XVI. Limitation of Service
AGU reserves the right to limit, in its sole discretion, the availability of the Site and/or the provision and quantity of any product, service, and/or information to any person, geographic area, or jurisdiction it so desires.
XVII. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless AGU, its officers, directors, employees, members, volunteers, agents, and their respective successors and assigns from and against any and all claims, proceedings, damages, injuries, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses), relating to or arising from your use of the Site, the use of any content appearing on the Site, any breach by you of this Agreement, or any other matter for which you are responsible hereunder or under law.
XVII. Waiver
Failure to insist on strict performance of any of the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement will not operate as a waiver of any subsequent default or failure of performance. No waiver by AGU of any right under these Terms and Conditions will be deemed to be either a waiver of any other right or provision or a waiver of that same right or provision at any other time.
XIX. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
Any disputes arising in connection with these Terms and Conditions shall be resolved by binding arbitration in the District of Columbia by a single arbitrator under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The award shall be enforceable in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The validity, construction, and performance of these Terms and Conditions Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia.
This Site is controlled and operated by AGU from its offices within the United States. AGU makes no representation that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to them from territories where any of the contents of this Site are illegal is prohibited. If you choose to access this Site from other locations, you do so on your own volition and are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws.
XX. Costs & Attorneys’ Fees
In any action to enforce this Agreement, the prevailing party will be entitled to reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees.
XXI. Severability
If any part of these Terms and Conditions is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and the liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most clearly matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of these Terms and Conditions shall continue in effect.
XXII. No Agency
No joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and AGU as a result of this Agreement or Your utilization of this Site.
XXIII. Entire Agreement/Reservation of Rights
These Terms and Conditions and the Eos Privacy Policy, which are hereby incorporated as if set forth fully in these Terms and Conditions, represent the entire agreement between you and AGU with respect to your use of and material available on or through this Site, and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral, or written between you and AGU with respect to this Site. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.