Website Policies & Terms of Use

BRIDGE THE GULF
SUMMARY OF WEBSITE POLICIES & TERMS OF USE

BRIDGE THE GULF provides an open forum where contributors can present their personal experiences and perspectives.

By using Bridge the Gulf’s website, you accept the policies available below, which form a binding agreement between you and Bridge the Gulf. Please read them carefully. By posting content to this website, you promise to follow these policies and grant the licenses set forth below. We provide this summary of the policies solely for your convenience.

  • Bridge the Gulf does not verify, endorse, or otherwise vouch for the contents of any posting.
  • You promise to post only content relevant to Bridge the Gulf’s mission, content that you own, and/or that content that you own the intellectual property rights to. You also promise not post any offensive content, any content that violates any rights of others, or any content protected by copyright or other proprietary rights.
  • You grant to Bridge the Gulf a license to use any content you post, but you continue to own your content and use it in any way you choose.

If you have questions, or believe that any content violates our policies or your legal rights, please contact us at bridgethegulfproject@gmail.com.

BRIDGE THE GULF
WEBSITE POLICIES & TERMS OF USE

These website policies and terms of use are a legal agreement (the “Agreement”) between you and Bridge the Gulf Project (“Bridge the Gulf” or “we” or “us”). Please read them carefully. By using Bridge the Gulf’s website, you accept these policies, which form a binding agreement between you and Bridge the Gulf. By posting content to this website, you promise to follow these policies and grant the licenses set forth below. If you do not wish to be bound by Bridge the Gulf’s website policies, do not use this website.

Note on content posted on beta website: We have migrated content posted on the website while in beta version to our latest website pursuant to the beta website’s policies, available solely for reference purposes here. If you have posted content on the beta website, please read the updated policies below, as they now apply to anyone that has previously posted or will post content on Bridge the Gulf.

By clicking on the “Accept Terms & Conditions of Use” box below, you indicate that you are free to accept this Agreement, and to abide by this website’s terms.

Last Updated: March 18, 2014

I. ABOUT
BRIDGE THE GULF offers the website at http://www.bridgethegulfproject.org where contributors can present their personal experiences and perspectives in an open forum. We ask all contributors to help us make Bridge the Gulf a welcoming space for thoughtful discussion. We ask all contributors to post content that is accurate, thorough, fair, transparent, and independent. For a description of Principles of Citizen Journalism, visit http://www.kcnn.org/principles/ and please direct any questions to bridgethegulfproject@gmail.com.

II. AGE REQUIREMENTS
To comply with the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, if you are under 13 years old, you may not use this website. By using this website, you promise that you are 13 years of age or older. If you are under the age of 18, you promise that you are either an emancipated minor, or have obtained your parent’s or legal guardian’s consent to use this website.

Notice to parents or legal guardians: By granting your child permission to use this website, you agree to the terms of this Agreement on your child’s behalf. You are responsible for supervising your child’s use of this website.  If your child is using this website and is either under 13 years old or does not have your permission, contact us at bridgethegulfproject@gmail.com to disable your child’s access to the website.

III. CONTENT POLICIES

       A. Generally

Users may post text, images, photos, videos, sounds, musical works, or any other materials (collectively, “Content”) to Bridge the Gulf. If you post any Content or use this website in any other way, you promise to:

  • Contextualize and tag your Content accurately and responsibly;
  • Post only respectful Content that is relevant to Bridge the Gulf’s mission;
  • Not post any Content that violates or infringes on any rights of others, including any statements which may violate the privacy of others, and/or defame, abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others;
  • Not post any Content that is offensive to our community, including expressions of bigotry, hatred, abusiveness, deception, vulgarity, or profanity;
  • Not post any Content protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity, or other proprietary rights of others without the express permission of the owner of such rights; and
  • Not post any unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” or any other form of solicitation.
  • We may remove any posts or content that we believe violates these guidelines or otherwise does not advance Bridge the Gulf’s mission.

      B. Posting Content

By posting your Content on Bridge the Gulf, you grant to Bridge the Gulf and its affiliates a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and sublicensable license to use, copy, edit, archive, display, publish, perform, distribute, adapt, modify, and promote your Content. You also grant to other users of the Bridge the Gulf website a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, and non-sublicensable license to use, copy, display, publish, perform, distribute, and promote your Content for non-commercial purposes only, as permitted by this Agreement. After posting your Content, you will continue to own your Content, and you may use your Content in any way you choose.

      C. Copyright Guidelines of Posted Content

You promise that you have the full power and authority to enter into this Agreement, that you own your Content, and/or that you own the intellectual property rights to your Content, and that neither the Content nor the exercise of the rights granted by your license infringe upon or violate the rights of others, including their rights in intellectual property, privacy, and publicity, and that the Content does not defame others or constitute libel or slander. You promise that you will not post on this website any material protected by copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights of others and that the burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright or other proprietary rights rests with you. You are solely liable for anything contained in your Content, and any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from posting your Content. Bridge the Gulf does not verify, endorse, or otherwise vouch for the contents of any posting.

      D. Sharing Content

Bridge the Gulf permits users of the website to use, copy, display, publish, perform, distribute, and promote Content posted on this website to others for non-commercial purposes only.

All Content is licensed to Bridge the Gulf users under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (the “Creative Commons License”). With respect to any Content posted on Bridge the Gulf that you use, copy, display, publish, perform, distribute, or promote, you promise that you will comply with the terms of the Creative Commons License. Bridge the Gulf does not verify, endorse, or otherwise vouch for any Content posted on the Bridge the Gulf website, and users that use, copy, display, publish, perform, distribute, or promote such Content do so at their own risk.

IV. Indemnification
You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Bridge the Gulf and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, funders, contractors, sublicensees, assignees, and agents, for all damages, losses, and costs (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs) related to all third-party claims, charges, and investigations that: (i) arise from your activities on this website; (ii) assert a violation by you of any term of this Agreement, including any representations and warranties; (iii) arise from your failure to comply with this Agreement or any representations or warranties herein; or (iv) assert that any Content you posted violates any law or infringes any third-party right, including any intellectual property or privacy right. This defense and indemnification obligation will survive the termination of this Agreement, regardless of when you cease using this website or remove Content from this website.

V. Termination
This Agreement begins when you first use this website, and continues unless otherwise terminated. Bridge the Gulf may at any time, without prior notice and in its sole discretion, remove any Content and/or terminate a user’s account for any and no reason, and it reserves the right to decide whether any Content violates this Agreement. This Agreement will be valid until Bridge the Gulf terminates a user’s account and/or removes any Content, or until you terminate this Agreement. You may terminate this Agreement at any time, for any or no reason, upon submitting a written notice to Bridge the Gulf at bridgethegulfproject@gmail.com. Terminating your account may result in Bridge the Gulf disabling your access to this website.

Upon termination, all sections of this Agreement that indicate that they are perpetual, that indicate they survive termination, or that indicate that they are irrevocable, all representations and warranties, and all indemnification provisions herein will survive termination.  In the event of account deletion or termination, Content that you submitted may no longer be available. Bridge the Gulf is not responsible for the loss of such Content.

VI. Restrictions
Except as otherwise expressly permitted by Bridge the Gulf, you promise that you will not reproduce, retransmit, disseminate, publish, broadcast, circulate, redistribute, sell, commercially exploit, create derivate works from, decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble this website or any content posted to it, other than your own Content and other Content properly used, copied, displayed, published, performed, distributed, or promoted consistent with this Agreement, nor use any content posted on this website for any unlawful purpose. Nor will you take any measures to interfere with or damage this website.  Bridge the Gulf reserves all rights not expressly granted to you in this Agreement.

VII. Links to Third-Party Websites
Any links from this website to any other website is provided for your information and convenience only. Bridge the Gulf does not assume any responsibility or liability with respect to any website linked, or any website linking to this website, including its content and operation. We do not monitor or review such links. In addition, a link from this website to another website, or a link from another website to this website, does not constitute a referral, endorsement, approval, advertising, offer, or solicitation with respect to such website, its contents, or any products or services advertised or distributed through that website. We are not responsible for the content, operation, privacy policies, or terms of service used by any linked website.

VIII. DMCA POLICIES

      A. Compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998

Bridget the Gulf is committed to full compliance with U.S. copyright law, and expects its users to do the same. In addition to the obligations set forth above in this Agreement, each user is responsible for ensuring the materials they post to the website do not infringe any third-party rights. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) provides recourse for owners of copyrighted material who believe that their rights under U.S. copyright laws have been infringed online. A copy of DMCA is located at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf. You should be aware that U.S. copyright law provides substantial penalties for false claims of copyright infringement.

      B. Procedure for Making or Responding to Claims of Copyright Infringement

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, provide Bridge the Gulf with a written notice containing the following: i) the electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized to act on the owner's behalf; ii) identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; iii) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit Bridge the Gulf to locate the material (e.g., by providing a URL to the material); iv) the person’s name, address, telephone number, and email address; v) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and vi) a statement that the information in your notification is accurate and a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.  

If you believe that your material has been removed by mistake or misidentification, please provide Bridge the Gulf with a written notice containing the following: i) the electronic or physical signature of the person submitting the notice; ii) a description of the material that was removed and the location on the website (e.g., the URL) where it previously appeared; iii) the person’s name, address, telephone number, and email address; iv) a signed statement by the person under penalty of perjury that the person has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; and v) a statement that the person consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the person’s address is located, or if the person’s address is outside of the United States, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and that the person will accept service of process from the person or its lawful agent who filed the original DMCA notice.

You may submit the above notices via: Bridge The Gulf Project, c/o Zamler Productions, P.O. Box 2413 El Cerrito, CA 94530

If you have questions about the DMCA notice and/or notice of mistake/misidentification, please contact an attorney or see Section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512.

IX. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
You expressly agree that use of Bridge the Gulf is at your sole risk. Bridge the Gulf is 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 title or implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any other warranty that might arise under any law. This disclaimer applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence, or under any other cause of action to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Some jurisdictions may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability or consequential damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you.

X. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, bridge the gulf and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, funders, contractors, sublicensees, and agents shall not be liable for: any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of users or visitors of this website or any other third party; damages relating to your access to, use of, or inability to access or use this website; damages relating to inaccuracies, omissions, or other defects in, or untimeliness or inauthenticity of any Content; any indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages of any kind whatsoever; and damages in any manner relating to any Content. This limitation applies to all claims, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory. The risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with you, and you assume all risk for any damages, claims, or injuries.
 
XI. GENERAL PROVISIONS
This Agreement shall be government by the laws of the State of California, United States of America, without regard to principles of conflict of law.

Any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement or your use of this website shall be decided exclusively by a court of competent jurisdiction in Contra Costa County, California. This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy below, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and Bridge the Gulf.

No failure or delays by Bridge the Gulf in exercising any right hereunder will waive any further exercise of that right.

We reserve the right to modify, supplement, or replace the terms of the Agreement, effective upon posting at the website or notifying you otherwise.

PRIVACY POLICY

We are serious about protecting your privacy. When you use Bridge the Gulf, you are consenting to the collection, transfer, manipulation, storage, disclosure and other uses of your information as described below, so please read the following carefully. Any other users of this website, and/or Bridge the Gulf and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, funders, contractors, sublicensees, and agents, will be able to view any content you post. You should only provide content that you are comfortable sharing with others under this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into, and forms a part of, Bridge the Gulf’s Website Policies & Terms of Use between the parties (the “Agreement”).

I. What Information We Collect and Store
You agree that we may collect and store information about you when you post Content, participate on the website, or communicate with Bridge the Gulf. Such information may include your name, address, phone number, and email address. Our server logs automatically collect certain technical information (e.g., IP address, email address, browser type, and the date and time of your visit), which helps Bridge the Gulf differentiate between users and spam. Like most websites, Bridge the Gulf may assign your computer one or more cookies which may collect information to facilitate access to our website and to personalize your online experience. We retain and use your information as long as it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce Bridge the Gulf’s Policies. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

II. What Information We May Use and Share
You agree that we may use information to: customize content on this website; facilitate use of this website; analyze use of and improve this website; identify and protect against misuses; enforce Bridge the Gulf’s Policies; protect the rights of Bridge the Gulf and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, funders, contractors, sublicensees, and agents; and as otherwise required by law. You agree that we may share your information with third parties only as reasonably required for the above purposes.

We may transfer your information if this website migrates to another website under Bridge the Gulf’s ownership, or under the ownership of another non-profit entity that takes over the Bridge the Gulf website. We will not share your information for any commercial purposes.

III. Membership

      A. Registration

To fully use Bridge the Gulf, you may be required to register as a member by providing a user name, password, and valid email address. You may register through the “Get Involved” page in Bridge the Gulf’s website. You must provide complete and accurate registration information, and must notify Bridge the Gulf if your information changes. If you are a business, government, or non-profit entity, the person whose email address is associated with the account must have the authority to bind the entity to this Agreement.

      B. User Name

We encourage you to use your real name. If you are a business, government, or non-profit entity, you must use the actual name of your organization. When creating your account, you must provide accurate and complete information. You may not use someone else’s name, a name that violates any third-party right, or a name that is obscene or otherwise objectionable.

     C. Account Security

You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, including any activity by unauthorized users. You must not allow others to use your account. You must safeguard the confidentiality of your password. If you are using a computer that others have access to, you must log out of your Bridge the Gulf account after using it. If you become aware of any unauthorized access to your account, you must change your password and notify Bridge the Gulf immediately at bridgethegulfproject@gmail.com.