Search Ladder, LLC. (“GroundReport”, “we,” or “us”) is committed to ensuring the privacy of our users. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how personal information is collected from users of the GroundReport’s web site located at www.groundreport.com (“Site”), and how that information is used and disclosed. By using our Site, you consent to the terms of this Policy. This Policy was last updated on June 4, 2013.
Personal Information
Personal information is information that specifically identifies an individual, such as a user’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card or other account number, and information about that individual’s activities when directly linked to that person such as information about his or her purchases or use of services. Personal information also includes demographic information such as date of birth, gender, geographic area and preferences when such information is linked to other personal information that identifies you.
Personal Information We Collect
You provide personal information to us in a number of ways when you visit our Site or use the various services and activities available on our Site. For example, you provide us with personal information when you: (1) register an account on the Site; (2) post an article or comment to the Site and voluntarily include your name or other personal information (including, without limitation, any personally identifying photographs or images you submit/post); or (5)contact us by email for any reason (such as to request customer service or provide us with your comments/feedback). We collect your name and email address in this manner. If you request or apply for compensation from us for your articles, comments or other submissions to the Site, we will collect certain additional personal and demographic information from you (including, without limitation, your full legal name, address and PayPal address).
When you visit our Site, some information is also automatically collected, such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating system and browser type and the time and date of your visit. This information is collected through the use of “cookies.” Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by a Web site to give you a unique identification. We also use cookies on our Site to to record your user preferences and to keep you logged into the Site. We treat automatically collected information as personal information if we combine it with or link it to any of the personally identifying information mentioned above. Otherwise, it is used in the aggregate only.
We may use third parties, called third-party ad servers or network advertisers, to deliver ads to you on our behalf. These third-party ad servers may use cookies, Web beacons or other technology to collect non-personally identifiable information about your visits to our Site in order to use it to present advertisements that may be of interest to you.
How We Use the Information We Collect
In general, we use personal information to process your requests or transactions, provide you with services, and present you with relevant advertisements. For example, we use the information we collect to:
- contact you for administrative purposes or provide you with customer service;
- complete transactions requested by you or to verify that you have submitted an article or comment;
- respond to any questions, problems or complaints, or request feedback;
- organize the Site and its various services and activities to better serve you and customize or develop our products and services; and
- present you with relevant advertisements based on your anonymous information.
Disclosure of Information
We do not sell, rent or share personal information with third parties without your prior consent except in the limited circumstances described in this Policy. We share personal information with third-party vendors who assist us in performing internal functions necessary to operate our business. These functions may include, for example, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance and processing payment transactions. In all cases we limit the information shared with our third-party vendors to that which is necessary to carry out those functions. We are not responsible for any information you provide to these parties directly, and we encourage you to become familiar with their practices before disclosing information directly to them.
We also disclose personal information when we believe it is appropriate to comply with the law (e.g., a lawful subpoena, warrant or court order); to enforce or apply this Policy or our other policies or agreements; to initiate, render, bill and collect for amounts owed to us; to protect our or our users’ rights, property or safety; to protect our users from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of our Site; or if we reasonably believe that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of communications or justifies disclosure of records without delay.
In addition, information about our users, including personally identifiable information, may be disclosed as part of any debt financing or sale of company assets, as well as in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership in which personally identifiable information could be transferred to third parties as one of our business assets.
Links to Other Web Sites
Our Site contains links to other Web sites. Links from our Site to other sites or content are provided for your convenience only, and we do not have control over the content or privacy and security practices and policies of such third parties or other sites. Any personal information you provide on linked pages is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party’s privacy policy. We encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before providing them with personal information.
Choice and Access
To opt-out of receiving communications from us, or to request access to or that we correct or delete your personal information, please email us at admin@search-ladder.com
Please note that opting out of receiving communications from us will not prevent you from receiving administrative communications, such as those concerning the operation of the Site or about an article or comment you have submitted.
Children
We do not intend, and the Site is not designed, to collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13 years old, you should not register with or otherwise provide personal information to our Site.
Security
We use reasonable security measures in an effort to prevent loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. We cannot, however, guarantee protection of all information against interception, misappropriation, misuse, or alteration, or that your information may be not be disclosed or accessed by accidental circumstances or by the unauthorized acts of others. Furthermore, we have no control over the security of other sites you might visit, interact with or do business with.
Your registration information is accessible online only through the use of a password. To protect the confidentiality of personal information, you must keep your password confidential and not disclose it to any other person. You are responsible for all uses of the Site by any person using your password. Please advise us immediately if you believe your password has been misused or otherwise misappropriated.
Policy Changes
We will modify this Policy if our privacy practices materially change in the future. We will notify you of such changes only by posting the new policy on our Site and indicating at the top of the Policy the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review the Policy each time you visit our Site to see if it has been updated since your last visit to make sure you understand how personal information you provide will be used.
Questions / Additional Information
If you have any questions about this Policy, or the practices of or your dealings with the Site, please contact us.
Terms of Use
1. Acceptance of Terms of Use
GroundReport.com (“Groundreport”) is owned and operated by Search Ladder, LLC, a for-profit corporation domiciled in the State of Michigan. GroundReport is a user-generated content website that provides various services subject to the following Terms of Use (“TOU” or “Terms of Use”). GroundReport reserves the right to alter these Terms of Use without advance notice by posting revised Terms of Use. Accordingly, you should review these Terms of Use each time you access any GroundReport Web site to stay informed of any changes to the Terms of Use.
2. General Terms of Use
GroundReport is available for individuals aged 13 years or older. If you are under 13, please exit this website immediately. By using GroundReport, you represent that you are 13 years of age or older and, if you are under the age of 18, you either are an emancipated minor, or have obtained the legal consent of your parent or legal guardian to enter into these Terms of Use, submit content, participate on this Web site, and fulfill the obligations set forth in the TOU, which forms a binding contract between you and GroundReport.
These TOU apply to all of GroundReport current and future web sites, unless otherwise provided, including but not limited to, the following sites: http:///www.GroundReport.com. In addition, when using particular services provided by GroundReport, you shall be subject to any additional posted Terms of Use, guidelines or rules applicable to such services. All such Terms of Use, guidelines or rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the TOU. The TOU incorporates the Terms of Use of GroundReport’s Online Privacy Policy. Please see our full privacy policy above.
For any portion of the Web sites that requires a user account and/or password (“Account”), whether free of charge or for a fee, you are responsible for all use of your Account (under any screen name or password) and for ensuring that all use of your Account complies fully with the provisions of these Terms of Use. You shall be responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your user name(s) or password(s), if any.
GroundReport shall have the right at any time to change or discontinue any aspect or feature of GroundReport, including, but not limited to, content, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use.
3. Definitions
“Account” has the definition above.
“GroundReport”, “GroundReport’s Web sites” or “Web sites” mean, collectively, GroundReport.com and its affiliate Web sites, present and any future sites, including but not limited to: http:///www.GroundReport.com and any and all on-line services operated by GroundReport on the World Wide Web of the Internet (the “Web”), including any and all information and material provided by GroundReport.
“You” means the user or visitor to GroundReport.
“Privacy Policy” means GroundReport’s current Privacy Policy, available at http://www.GroundReport.com/privacy.jspa.
“Terms of Use” means the current Terms of Use of service in effect as set forth herein or elsewhere on GroundReport.
4. Changed Terms of Use
GroundReport.com shall have the right at any time to change or modify the Terms of Use and conditions applicable to your use of GroundReport, or any part thereof, including but not limited to the GroundReport Privacy Policy, or to impose new conditions, including, but not limited to, adding fees and charges for use. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on GroundReport Web sites, or by electronic or conventional mail, or by any other means by which you obtain notice thereof. Any use of GroundReport by you after such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by you of such changes, modifications or additions. We recommend you bookmark this page and review it each time you use or access GroundReport.
5. Submissions
By submitting your material, for good and valuable, if intangible, consideration, the sufficiency and receipt of which you hereby acknowledge, you hereby grant to GroundReport and its syndication partners a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to edit, telecast, rerun, reproduce, use, create derivative works from, syndicate, license, print, sublicense, distribute and otherwise exhibit the materials you submit, or any portion thereof in any manner and in any medium or forum, whether now known or hereafter devised, without payment to you or any third party.
Your submissions are deemed non-confidential and GroundReport has no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information, in whatever form, contained in any submission, except pursuant to the GroundReport privacy policy, available above.
You represent and warrant to GroundReport that you have the full legal right, power and authority to grant to GroundReport the license provided for herein, that you own or control the complete exhibition and other rights to the materials you submitted for the purposes contemplated in this license and that neither the materials nor the exercise of the rights granted herein shall infringe upon or violate the right of privacy or right of publicity of, or constitute a libel or slander against, or violate any common law or any other right of, any person or entity.
Users are solely responsible for anything contained in their submissions. Even though many articles are curated by the editors before they are posted, GroundReport does not verify, endorse or otherwise vouch for the contents of any submission or comments. Users may be held legally liable for the contents of their submissions, and may be held legally liable if their submissions include, for example, material protected by copyright, trademark, patent or trade secret law or other proprietary right without permission of the author or owner, or defamatory comments.
Web site user submissions to GroundReport do not represent the views of GroundReport, or any individual associated with Open News Platform Inc. and we do not control user content. In no event shall you represent or suggest, directly or indirectly, GroundReport’s endorsement of user submissions. GroundReport does not vouch for the accuracy or credibility of any content submitted by users on our Web sites, and does not take any responsibility or assume any liability for any actions you may take as a result of reading user published content on GroundReport. Through your use of GroundReport, you may be exposed to content that you may find offensive, objectionable, harmful, inaccurate or deceptive. There may also be risks of dealing with underage persons, people acting under false pretense, international trade issues and foreign nationals. By using GroundReport, you assume all associated risks.
6. Copyrighted Material
(A) GroundReport may, from time to time, be a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties other than users of GroundReport. Accordingly, GroundReport.com has no more editorial control over such content than does a public library, bookstore or newsstand. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, you or any other user of GroundReport, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of GroundReport or Open News Platform Inc. Neither GroundReport nor any third-party provider of information guarantees the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content, nor its merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. GroundReport neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on GroundReport by anyone other than authorized GroundReport employees or contractors in their official capacities. Under no circumstances shall GroundReport be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information, opinion, advice or other content available through GroundReport.
(B) GroundReport respects the copyrights of others and expects its users to do the same. By uploading, posting or otherwise making available content on the Web site, you represent that you own or otherwise have the intellectual property rights to submit such materials. You shall not upload, post or otherwise make available on the Web site any material protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express written permission of the owner of the copyright, trademark or other proprietary right and the burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright or other proprietary rights rests with you. You shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. By submitting material to any public area of the Web site, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such material has expressly granted GroundReport the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright and any other proprietary rights that may exist in such material. You hereby grant GroundReport the right to edit, copy, publish and distribute any such material made available on the Web site by you.
(D) If you believe you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is posted on the Web sites, you may give GroundReport written notification of your claim in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
7. Conduct on GroundReport.com
(A) If you submit any materials or participate in any online forum or any other forum or similar service within or in connection with GroundReport, you agree to abide by the following rules of conduct:
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport any material that violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others, including any statements which may defame, abuse, harass, stalk or threaten others;
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport any material that is grossly offensive to the online community, including blatant expressions of bigotry, racism, abusiveness, vulgarity or profanity.
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport any material that contains or advocates pornography, pedophilia, incest or bestiality.
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport any statements that advocate or provide instruction on illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them;
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport any material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any law, engage in activity that would constitute a criminal offense or give rise to a civil liability;
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport any vulgar or obscene language or images;
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport, without GroundReport’s express prior approval, material which contains advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services, including, but not limited to, the solicitation of users to become subscribers of other on-line information services competitive with GroundReport;
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport, any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful or disruptive component;
* You agree not to post or transmit through GroundReport material or statements that do not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of any chat room or bulletin board;
* You agree not to upload, post, or otherwise make available on GroundReport Web sites any material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner of such copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other proprietary right. Any person determined by GroundReport, in its sole discretion, to have repeatedly violated the intellectual property or other rights of others shall be barred from submitting or posting any further material on the Web sites;
* You agree not to impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, any GroundReport employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
* You agree not to interfere with any other user’s right to privacy, including by harvesting or collecting personally-identifiable information about GroundReport users;
* You agree not to interfere with or disrupt the Web sites or servers or networks connected to the Web sites, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Web sites;
* You agree not to upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;
* You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Web sites, use of the Web sites, or access to the Web sites;
* You agree that if necessary, you have the written consent of each and every identifiable natural person in any submission to use such persons name or likeness, and each such person has released you from any liability that may arise in relation to such use; and
* You are not, nor is any other person who appears in your submission, a current member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA) or any other rights society.
Any conduct that in GroundReport’s sole discretion restricts or inhibits anyone else from using or enjoying the Web sites will not be permitted. GroundReport reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove or edit messages or material submitted by you and to terminate your account for any reason. GroundReport is not responsible for material submitted to the Web sites, including curated content, or posted in chat rooms, on bulletin boards or on other forums by users of GroundReport.
(B) The foregoing provisions of this Section 7 are for the benefit of Open News Platform Inc., its subsidiaries, affiliates and its third party content providers and licensors and each shall have the right to assert and enforce such provisions directly or on its own behalf.
8. Monitoring
GroundReport shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Web sites, including online forums, to determine compliance with these Terms of Use. GroundReport GroundReport shall have the right in its sole discretion to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on the Web sites. Without limiting the foregoing, GroundReport shall have the right to remove any material that the Web sites, in its sole discretion, finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof or otherwise objectionable. In addition, GroundReport will share personally identifiable information with governmental authorities and will respond to civil or criminal subpoenas or court orders when legally required or authorized to do so.
The decision by GroundReport to monitor and/or modify the content of the Web sites does not constitute nor shall it be deemed to constitute any responsibility or liability in any manner on the part of GroundReport in connection with or arising from use by you of the Web sites or participation in any online forums or interactive features of GroundReport.
9. Third-Party Links, Sponsors and Frames
(A) GroundReport.com may provide links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because GroundReport.com has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that GroundReport.com is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that GroundReport.com shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource. You should direct any concerns regarding any external resource to the proprietor(s) of that site.
(B) GroundReport.com may contain commercial images and/or links to sponsors of GroundReport.com. GroundReport.com is not responsible or liable for the content of those images and/or links.
(C) No third party may use framing technologies or functionalities to contain any content provided by GroundReport.com, for purposes either commercial or non-commercial, without express prior and written consent from GroundReport.com.
(D) No third party may provide links to any content within GroundReport.com without the express prior written consent from GroundReport.com.
10. Disclaimer of Warranty; Limitation of Liability
(A) You expressly agree that use of GroundReport.com is at your sole risk. Neither GroundReport.com, its affiliates nor any of their respective employees, or agents warrant that GroundReport.com will be uninterrupted or error free; nor do they make any warranty as to the results that may be obtained from use of GroundReport.com, or as to the accuracy, reliability or content of any information, service, or merchandise provided through GroundReport.com.
(B) GroundReport.com IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OTHER THAN THOSE WARRANTIES WHICH ARE IMPLIED BY AND INCAPABLE OF EXCLUSION, RESTRICTION OR MODIFICATION UNDER THE LAWS APPLICABLE TO THESE TERMS OF USE.
(C) THIS DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY 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. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GroundReport.com IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR VISITORS OF GroundReport.com OR THIRD PARTIES AND THAT THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.
(D) IN NO EVENT WILL GroundReport.com, ITS PARENT OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES, OR ANY PERSON OR ENTITY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING OR DISTRIBUTING GroundReport.com, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE GroundReport.com, NOR SHALL GroundReport.com, ITS PARENTS OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES, OR ANY PERSON OR ENTITY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING OR DISTRIBUTING GroundReport.com BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, CLAIMS, OR INJURY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR PERSONAL OR BODILY INJURY, ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR CREATING CONTENT, BY VIDEOTAPING, PHOTOGRAPHY OR OTHERWISE, FOR SUBMISSION TO GroundReport.com, AND YOU HEREBY ASSUME ALL RISK FOR ANY DAMAGES, CLAIMS OR INJURIES. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 10 SHALL APPLY TO ALL CONTENT ON GroundReport.com
(E) IN ADDITION TO THE TERMS OF SERVICE SET FORTH ABOVE, NEITHER GroundReport.com, NOR ITS PARENT OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES, INFORMATION PROVIDERS OR CONTENT PARTNERS SHALL BE LIABLE REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OR DURATION, FOR ANY ERRORS, INACCURACIES, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER DEFECTS IN, OR UNTIMELINESS OR INAUTHENTICITY OF, THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN GroundReport.com, OR FOR ANY DELAY OR INTERRUPTION IN THE TRANSMISSIONTHEREOF TO THE USER, OR FOR ANY CLAIMS OR LOSSES ARISING THEREFROM OR OCCASIONED THEREBY. NONE OF THE FOREGOING PARTIES SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY THIRD-PARTY CLAIMS OR LOSSES OF ANY NATURE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOST PROFITS, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. NEITHER GroundReport.com, NOR ITS PARENT OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES, INFORMATION PROVIDERS OR CONTENT PARTNERS WARRANT OR GUARANTEE THE TIMELINESS, SEQUENCE, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THIS INFORMATION. ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES AS TO THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.
(F) GroundReport.com makes reasonable efforts to protect personally identifiable information about you, as explained in its Online Privacy Policy below, but GroundReport.com disclaims any and all liability of any kind for any unauthorized access to or use of your personally identifiable information. By accessing GroundReport.com, you acknowledge and agree to GroundReport.com’s disclaimer of any such liability. If you do not agree, you should not access or use GroundReport.com.
11. Termination
You agree that GroundReport.com, in its sole discretion, may terminate your Account, password, and User Name and/or use of the Web sites, and may remove and discard any content within the GroundReport.com Web sites, for any reason, including, without limitation, if GroundReport.com believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms of Use. You agree that any termination of your access to the Web sites under any provision of this Terms of Use may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that GroundReport.com may immediately deactivate or delete your Account, password, and User Name and all related information and files associated with it and/or bar any further access to such files or the Web sites. Further, you agree that GroundReport.com shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Web sites. The provisions of Sections 6, 9 (C), 9 (D), 10, 12, 13 and this Section 11, shall survive termination of these Terms of Use.
12. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless GroundReport.com, GroundReport, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against all claims and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of the use of GroundReport.com by you or your Account by you or any other person using the Account. GroundReport.com reserves the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this Section. In such event, you shall provide GroundReport.com with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by GroundReport.com.
13. Trademarks
“GroundReport.com” and the GroundReport.com logo, are service marks of Ground Report LLC. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, logos and service marks appearing on GroundReport.com are the property of GroundReport.com or their respective owners.
14. Miscellaneous
These Terms of Use and any operating rules for GroundReport.com established by GroundReport.com constitute the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all previous written or oral agreements between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. These Terms of Use shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. If you access GroundReport.com from any location other than the United States, you accept full responsibility for compliance with all local laws. You are also subject to United States export controls and are responsible for any violations of United States embargoes or other federal rules and regulations restricting exports. No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. If any part of these Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, it will be replaced with language reflecting the original purpose in a valid and enforceable manner. The enforceable sections of these Terms of Use will remain binding upon the parties.
15. Force Majeure
Neither GroundReport.com nor you shall be liable for damages or for delays or failures in performance resulting from acts or occurrences beyond their reasonable control, including, without limitation: fire, lightning, explosion, power surge or failure, water, acts of God, war, terrorism, revolution, civil commotion or acts of civil or military authorities or public enemies: any law, order, regulation, ordinance, or requirement of any government or legal body or any representative of any such government or legal body; or labor unrest, including without limitation, strikes, slowdowns, picketing, or boycotts; inability to secure raw materials, transportation facilities, fuel or energy shortages, or acts or omissions of other common carriers.
Compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
GroundReport.com is committed to full compliance with U.S. copyright law, and expects its users to do the same. Accordingly, as a courtesy, GroundReport.com is providing the following information regarding its understanding of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) concerning notice of claimed online copyright infringement. GroundReport.com is not providing legal advice. Any persons wishing to assert or oppose a claim under the DMCA should consult their own legal adviser concerning these matters.
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. Under the DMCA, copyright owners may contact the authorized agent of an Internet service provider to report alleged infringements based on unauthorized use of their protected works appearing on web pages hosted by the service provider. Upon receipt of properly filed complaints satisfying the requirements of the DMCA, GroundReport.com will remove or block access to the allegedly infringing material posted by third party users of the GroundReport.com Web sites. If an GroundReport.com user who posted such material believes in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed, the user may submit a counter-notice to assert a private dispute with the claimed copyright owner. GroundReport.com will not be a party to such disputes over alleged copyright infringement.
Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement.
If you believe in good faith that information posted by a user on an GroundReport.com Web site violates your rights under U.S. copyright law, please contact us.
Responding to a Claim of Copyright Infringement.
If you receive a notice of copyright infringement for material you have posted on an iReport Web site, click here.
More information on U.S. copyright law can be found at the following Web sites:
* The Copyright Act, Title 17 of the U.S. Code
* U.S. Copyright Office
If you believe in good faith that information posted by a user on GroundReport.com violates your rights under U.S. copyright law, you may notify GroundReport.com in the manner described below. You should be aware that U.S. copyright law provides substantial penalties for false claims of copyright infringement. According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”), claimants who make misrepresentations concerning copyright infringement may be liable for damages incurred as a result of the removal or blocking of the material, court costs, and attorney’s fees.
To be effective, the notification must include the following:
1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at a single online Web site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of works at that site;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit GroundReport.com to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
7. Upon receipt of the written notification containing the information as outlined in paragraphs 1) through 6) above:
GroundReport.com shall remove or disable access to the material that is alleged to be infringing and shall forward the written notification to the person or entity who posted the material at issue;
GroundReport.com shall take reasonable steps to promptly notify the alleged infringer that it has removed or disabled access to the material.
Counter Notification
A person who receives a notification of alleged copyright infringement, and believes that the claim is erroneous, may submit a counter notification to GroundReport.com’s Designated Agent within thirty (30) days of the date the material was removed from the site.
You may email your concern and request that includes substantially the following:
1. A physical or electronic signature of the person submitting the counter notification;
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the person submitting the counter notification has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material or the owner of the rights to be removed or disabled; and
4. The person’s name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the he or she consents to the jurisdiction of federal district court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the person’s address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which GroundReport.com may be found, and that the person will accept service of process from the complaining party or an agent of such person.
5. Upon receipt of a counter notification containing the information as outlined in paragraphs 1) through 4) above:
1. GroundReport.com shall promptly provide the complaining party with a copy of the Counter Notification; and
2. GroundReport.com shall inform the complaining party that it will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it within ten (10) business days.
GroundReport.com shall replace the removed material or cease disabling access to the material within ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days following receipt of the counter notification, provided GroundReport.com’s Designated Agent has not received notice from the complaining party that an action has been filed seeking a court order to restrain the alleged infringer from engaging in infringing activity on GroundReport.com’s Web sites. activity on GroundReport.com’s Web sites.