We (the folks at Weathergram, Inc.) run a community platform called Switchboard and would love for you to use it. If you are using Switchboard it is because you are either crowdfunding the platform yourself (yay!), or your home institution is the patron of your community. In agreeing to these terms of service you vouch that you are affiliated with the community based on the category you selected on signup or that you indeed have some true connection to the community. Our service is designed to give you as much control and ownership over what goes on your Switchboard as possible and encourage you to post asks, offers, and successes. However, be responsible in what you publish. In particular, make sure that none of the prohibited items listed below appear anywhere in the content you post, share, or link to (things like spam, viruses, or hate content).
If you find a Switchboard or Switchboard post that you believe violates our terms of service, please flag it and a moderator will review the content.
Terms of Service:
The following terms and conditions govern all use of the Switchboard website (the “Website”) and all content, services and products available at or through the website. The Website is owned and operated by Weathergram, Inc. (“Weathergram”). 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 (including, without limitation, Weathergram’s Privacy Policy) and procedures that may be published from time to time on this Website by Weathergram (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 Weathergram, acceptance is expressly limited to these terms. The Website is available only to individuals who are at least 13 years old.
Accounts and Website Content
Your Switchboard Account and Content. If you create an account on the Website, you are solely responsible for maintaining the security of your account and Content, and for all activities that occur under the account, and any other actions taken in connection with the account or Content posted using the account. If you create Content (posts, comments, responses, successes, your personal profile, etc.) on the Website, you are solely responsible for that Content. You must not describe or assign keywords to your Content in a misleading or unlawful manner, including in a manner intended to trade on the name or reputation of others, and Weathergram may change or remove any description or keyword that it considers inappropriate or unlawful, or is otherwise likely to cause Weathergram liability. You must immediately notify Weathergram of any unauthorized uses of your Switchboard, your account or any other breaches of security. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, you remain solely responsible for actions taken and Content posted via your account, even if your account information was compromised. Weathergram will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you, including any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions.
Responsibility of Contributors and Creators. If you create a Switchboard, create posts, comment on posts, create a profile, post material to the Website, post links on the Website, or otherwise make (or allow any third party to make) text, graphics, an audio file, computer software, or other material available by means of the Website (any such material is referred to in this Agreement as “Content”), you are entirely responsible for the representations, offers, information, and anything else related to that Content. You are solely responsible for any harm that is caused as a result of your decision to post Content. 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 pornographic, does not contain threats or incite violence, 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 Switchboards and web sites, and similar unsolicited promotional methods; and
- your Content is not named in a manner that misleads your readers into thinking that you are another person, company, or organization. For example, your Switchboard URL or name is not the name of a person other than yourself or the name of a company or organization other than one that are affiliated with.
By submitting Content to Weathergram for inclusion on the Website, you grant Weathergram a world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting your Switchboard. If you delete Content, Weathergram will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Website, but you acknowledge that caching or references to the Content may not be made immediately unavailable.
Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, Weathergram has the right (though not the obligation) to, in Weathergram’s sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any content that, in Weathergram’s reasonable opinion, violates any Weathergram policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, in Weathergram’s sole discretion. Weathergram will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.
Termination. Weathergram 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 or your Switchboard.com account (if you have one), 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.
Copyright Infringement and DMCA Policy. As Weathergram 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 www.switchboardhq.com violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify Weathergram in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy. Weathergram will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. Weathergram will terminate a visitor’s access to and use of the Website if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of Weathergram or others.
Payment and Renewal
General Terms. Optional paid services such as extra storage, or domain purchases are available on the Website (any such services, an “Upgrade”). By selecting an Upgrade you agree to pay Weathergram the monthly or annual subscription fees indicated for that service. Payments will be charged to the credit card that you provide.
Automatic Renewal. Unless you notify Weathergram before the end of the applicable subscription period that you want to cancel an Upgrade, your Upgrade subscription will automatically renew and you authorize us to collect the then-applicable annual or monthly subscription fee for such Upgrade (as well as any taxes) using any credit card or other payment mechanism we have on record for you. Upgrades can be canceled at any time in the Upgrades section of your site’s dashboard.
Enterprise Hosting & Support Services, VIP Support Services. Enterprise Hosting and Support, as well as VIP Support services are provided by Weathergram under the terms and conditions for each such service, which are located at www.switchboardhq.com. Enterprise and VIP subscribers must review and execute a separate subscription agreement. By signing up for Enterprise Hosting or Support, or VIP Support services, you agree to abide by the terms and conditions as posted on the Website and as described in the subscription agreement. To learn more about Enterprise services, contact us at info@switchboardhq.com.
Sponsorship Opportunities. Switchboard communities may offer sponsored placement for posts, sponsor acknowledgment areas, or other sponsored content opportunities (“Sponsorship Opportunities”). If you wish to participate in a Sponsorship Opportunity, the terms and conditions of each opportunity will be outlined in more detail within the listings for such opportunities. Communities may set limits on the type, number, and price of Sponsorship Opportunities they offer, or may not offer any at all. Payment for any Sponsorship Opportunity will be collected upon your completion of the configuration and checkout process for a given Sponsorship Opportunity. Such payments are non-refundable. [Users with administrative rights to a particular Switchboard may learn more about Sponsorship Opportunities by logging in to the administration area.]
Website Users and Visitors
Responsibility of Website Visitors. Weathergram has not reviewed, and cannot review, all of the material, including computer software, posted to the Website, and cannot therefore be responsible for that material’s content, use or effects. By operating the Website, Weathergram does not represent or imply that it endorses the material there posted, or that it believes such material to be accurate, useful or non-harmful. 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. The Website may contain content that is offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable, as well as content containing technical inaccuracies, typographical mistakes, and other errors. The Website may also contain material that violates the privacy or publicity rights, or infringes the intellectual property and other proprietary rights, of third parties, or the downloading, copying or use of which is subject to additional terms and conditions, stated or unstated. Weathergram disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use by visitors of the Website, or from any downloading by those visitors of content there posted.
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 Switchboard links, and that link to Switchboard. Weathergram does not have any control over those non-Switchboard websites and webpages, and is not responsible for their contents or their use. By linking to a non-Switchboard website or webpage, Weathergram 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. Weathergram disclaims any responsibility for any harm resulting from your use of non-Switchboard websites and webpages.
Warranties, Indemnification, and Limitation of Liability
Disclaimer of Warranties.The Website is provided “as is.” Weathergram 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 Weathergram 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. Neither the named institution nor any of its agents, employees, and sub-contractors, including Weathergram, shall be liable for claims, losses, demands or damages (whether such claims, loss, demands or damages were foreseeable, known, or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with the use of the Website or information, content, or materials included on the Website.
Limitation of Liability. In no event will Weathergram, 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 for 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 Weathergram under this agreement during the twelve (12) month period prior to the cause of action. Weathergram 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 ap
User Representations and Warranty. You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the Website will be in strict accordance with the Weathergram 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.
Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Weathergram, 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 your violation of this Agreement.
Other Terms
Intellectual Property. This Agreement does not transfer from Weathergram to you any Weathergram or third party intellectual property, and all right, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with Weathergram. Weathergram, Switchboard, Switchboardhq.com, the Switchboardhq.com logo, and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with Switchboardhq.com, or the Website are trademarks or registered trademarks of Weathergram or Weathergram’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 Weathergram or third-party trademarks.
Advertisements. Weathergram reserves the right to display advertisements on your Switchboard unless you have purchased an Ad-free Upgrade or an Enterprise Services account.
Attribution. Weathergram reserves the right to display attribution links such as ‘Switchboard at Switchboardhq.com,’ theme author, and font attribution in your Switchboard footer or toolbar. Footer credits and the Switchboard.com toolbar may not be altered or removed regardless of upgrades purchased.
Domain Names. If you are registering a domain name, using or transferring a previously registered domain name, you acknowledge and agree that use of the domain name is also subject to the policies of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”), including their Rights and Responsibilities.
Changes. Weathergram 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. Weathergram 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.
Miscellaneous. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between Weathergram and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and they may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of Weathergram, or by the posting by Weathergram 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 California, 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 San Francisco County, California. 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 Portland, Oregon, 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; Weathergram 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.
Last amended July, 2014 Weathergram, Inc
Built by team Switchboard in Portland, OR