Legalities

Content Legalities

Copyrights
Except for all sections which are identified as the work, and Copyright, of others, this work is Copyright (C) 2004 by Morris Hirsch, operating under the Aquidneck.US domain. This includes the logical arrangement of pages and database functions, the navigational links between pages, and the visual design of the pages. All rights reserved, except as granted here.

In all cases where text and / or images from other sites are shown, in particular, in the Event Calendar and Directory listings, they are intended purely as useful examples of what is to be found there, and the original copyright is hereby acknowledged, whether the original site has explicitly claimed it or not.

The Event Calendar and Directory listings are intended as a service, both to the people or organizations which are listed, and to the readers who are looking for them. If any original copyright owner objects to their text and / or images being shown, or the manner in which it is shown, please contact us to either remove the listing entirely, or to replace it with content that you prefer.

We encourage our members to claim Copyright for their own content, and we caution them to respect the Copyright of others.

By way of Backup Protection we claim Copyright for any and all member page content, which is not otherwise protected. We do this only to protect it from unauthorized off-site use, and claim no other rights.

Handicap Accessible Web Pages
Aquidneck.US uses well known design practices which support Handicap Access. Handicap access (Code Section 508) compliance lets the site work with read out loud devices, and other assistive technology. Our pages are not yet fully compliant with Section 508, but we are working to that goal. We encourage our members to do likewise.

We use static text, rather than images or scripted dynamic features, for navigation and other important information.
Our pages use a standard layout with consistent navigation controls.
We do not use frames, since they are known to hinder read-aloud software.

Image maps (e.g. product pictures or logos keyed to brand names of products) are very useful for a visitor to click on, but very hard for the indexer to extract the same list from. If you also list the brand names as ordinary text, or text links, they become useful for searches.

Political Candidate Web Pages
Just to make it very clear, Aquidneck.US is not working for or against any of these people. The purpose of this service is solely to encourage and demonstrate the use of the web in local politics, to better inform the voters. In our opinion, we are not making in-kind contributions with any monetary value, since the site gives FREE pages to everyone, along with a nominal amount of free help getting them started. We are seeking a determination on this from the Board of Elections. If they find this service to have monetary value, there will still be NO COST to any Candidates, but the value determined will need to be reported as a contribution. Under State Law, such contributions could not be from Aquidneck.US, but would be personal contributions by the owner, Morris Hirsch, with my best wishes to you all.

Links to Third Party Sites
Either in our own content, or User Submissions, the Aquidneck.US web site may contain links to third party web-sites. Since these sites are controlled by parties other than Aquidneck.US , and may link to other sites further removed, Aquidneck.US is not responsible for, and does not endorse any of, the contents of such other web sites.

User Uploads and Downloads
For the purposes of this section, the word "information" refers to any and all types of computer files, including but not limited to, plain text, formatted or rich text, spreadsheets or databases, images, audio, video, scripts or programs.

Unless otherwise expressly stated by you, any information provided, posted or transmitted by you in connection with the Aquidneck.US web site ("User Uploads") shall be deemed to be in the public domain. You assume full responsibility for determining your rights to post such information, for access by others.

You assume full responsibility, and agree to hold Aquidneck.US harmless for consequences, either legal or technical in nature, resulting from your use of any and all information provided, if you choose to download such information posted by others.

Child Protection Issues

The Child Online Protection Act is a 1998 law under which it is a crime to make "material that is harmful to minors" commercially available on the Web. The act also restricts gathering of personal information, which could be used for marketing of any kind.
The act has faced repeated legal challenges. In lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, opponents contend that filtering software could protect minors effectively enough to make the law unnecessary.
The Supreme Court upheld an injunction blocking the law's enforcement and returned the case to a district court for further examination of Internet-filtering technology that might be another way to achieve the law's aims.
[We of course know that the rules set out by COPPA are currently not in force, while they are reviewed by the courts. Because we think they are at least well intended and better than nothing, we choose to follow them anyway.]

Improper Content: We subscribe to the Internet Content Rating Association
Privacy: We do not gather or store information from anyone 13 years old or younger. But until the Web offers reliable proof-of-age technology, all we can do is ask.
When someone identifies themselves as 13 years old or younger, we discard any other information in the registration form. Since all of this information is optional, this does not prevent them from registering to use the site. It does prevent them from receiving any advertising EMail, which of course is precisely the point of the COPPA.

Service Quality Legalities

Completeness or Accuracy
Since the contents of the internet is ever changing, Aquidneck.US also disclaims any responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of any directory or search result. We welcome your suggested additions, deletions, or corrections. Please contact us, and we will endeavor to use them.

No Endorsement of Outside Entities
The businesses offering products or services on this database are neither part of, affiliated with, or endorsed , employed, or guaranteed in any way by Aquidneck.US . They are simply assembled here for informational purposes, ( similar to a listing in the local or national phone book) allowing you a quick search of companies in your area. This in no way is meant to represent an endorsement of these companies/individuals.

We would recommend that you the consumer, fully research and evaluate the credentials of any entity or person, that you would enter into a contract to hire for services and make your own determination as to their credentials and or qualifications.

We have no power to control, to oversee or otherwise dictate any power of authority over these companies, and as such will have absolutely no liability, for any work and or damages that are caused either directly or indirectly by these companies and or persons.

No Support By or Interest In Outside Entities
The businesses or persons listed on this database are neither affiliated with, clients, supporters or sponsors of, Aquidneck.US . Where any such relation does exist, it will be clearly stated. and will have no influence on how listings are displayed.

Opting Out
How completely can I remove myself from your database?

When you select the "Delete My Account" link, we will delete your account information from our active records. We do not keep lists of "former" or "inactive" users. Please understand however, that "good house keeping practices" for computer systems, and interactive sites like ours, include making back up copies of important files, and holding them for as long as they may be needed for recovery. This means that some record of your account could remain until those back up files are deleted.

Being Careful
Be careful! When you delete a file from the server it is gone! Keep copies on your own system until you are certain they will not be needed.

Keep a copy of everything on the web site on your own computer, and if it is critical, copy it to removable media, such as floppies or CD. My hosting provider gives the usual guarantees to try not to lose everything, and I'm sure they won't, but if it ever happens, "sorry" won't get them back!

Source Code Legalities

The software tools I used, the PHP page programming language, and the MySQL database system, are free. More to the point, they are now included as part of many low-priced web hosting services. So for five dollars a month, you could be running something like this. The software I'm developing for the various services will be free too.

Except for all sections which are identified as the work, and copyright, of others, this work is Copyright (C) 2004 by Morris Hirsch, doing business under the Aquidneck.US domain. All rights reserved, except as granted here.

Your basic Copyleft terms -- Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, for any purpose, are permitted, except as may be restricted by original copyright holders, provided that the following conditions are met:

You are free to copy, modify, and include it in your larger works, for any reason including sale of the larger work for profit.
You may not sell what is essentially just the work given to you, but you may sell advice or assistance in using it, or materials providing such advice or assistance.
I can still sell or give away this or later versions.
Redistributions of source code must retain the above Copyright notice, all earlier Copyright notices of others, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above Copyright notice, all earlier Copyright notices of others, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer, in the documentation, and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

(See also Wikipedia Copyleft)

DISCLAIMER

Limitations of Liability
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
This software is provided free of charge with no support. By use of this free information you agree to waive any claims, for any damages whatsoever, regardless of the fact that some states do not allow the exclusion, or limitation, of liability for consequential or incidental damages.
This software is provided by the Author and Contributors ``AS IS'' and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, non-infringement, and the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are disclaimed.
In no event shall the Author or Contributors, or their Agents or Servants, be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

Scope
These works are essentially lengthy examples of some known techniques, and are presented to you with the same rights and limits as text book examples. This software is provided in source format; You are advised to examine it and understand it, before putting it to use.
This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes may be periodically added to the information herein, at any time without notice.
This software uses only algorithms and coding techniques that are available to the public in the open literature. You are however, advised to make your own determination of legality, for your intended use.
Caution! The comments, instructions, and other documentation which accompany this, or other software, are intended only to assist you in the use of such software. By your use of these materials, for their intended purpose, you agree that they cannot, and should not, take the place of materials intended for use in a program of instruction and study.
This information is for educational purposes only and is intended to be a supplement to, and not a substitute for, expertise and professional judgment. The information is NOT to be used for diagnosis or corrections of problems, of design, implementation, or operation, in a specific system. You should always consult your own professional for specific advice.
The information is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, or adverse effects, nor should it be construed to indicate that use of a particular method, algorithm, program, or source code is safe, appropriate or effective for your needs. It is not a substitute for, and it does not replace the need for, analysis and design services provided by your professional.

External Links Content and Coverage
All of the web sites linked directly from this Site have been viewed, but they are not reviewed periodically, and their contents may have changed. The Author is not responsible for, and has no control over, the content of any off-site pages, or any other web sites linked to from them. Therefore, a link to a web site does not mean endorsement, or accept any responsibility for the content of such site. It is your responsibility to take precautions, to ensure that whatever is selected is free of viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other items of a destructive nature. In the present context of software, this means that we have examined all contributed software for such dangers, but can not, and do not guarantee their absence.
Since the contents of the internet is ever changing, Aquidneck.US also disclaims any responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of any directory or search result. By use of this free information you agree to waive any claims, for any damages whatsoever, due to the lack of completeness or accuracy of any directory or search result. In the present context of software, this means that newer or better methods may exist, and not be used, and the results may be less than otherwise possible.

Testing
No animals were used in the testing of this software, I did all the suffering myself.

Health Warnings
If you become dizzy or develop a headache while reading this code, discontinue use immediately. Do not study this code while driving, or operating heavy machinery. Do not view this code by means of any device or media product which may result in your exposure to lead or to mercury.

TERMS OF USE

Parties to the Agreement
This Agreement on Terms of Use (the "Agreement") is by and between Aquidneck.US (the "Site"), and you, your heirs, assigns, agents and contractors ("You"), and is made effective as of the date of electronic execution.

Parts of the Agreement
This Agreement comprises the current document, plus such policies, extensions, explanations, and definitions, as may be incorporated by named reference, and made available to you, by the same means as this current document. This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions of Your relationship with the Site, and Your use of the Site's services, and represents the entire Agreement between You and the Site.

If any part of this Agreement shall be held, in any jurisdiction, to be illegal, unenforceable or invalid, in whole or in part, such provision shall be modified, in that jurisdiction only, to the minimum extent necessary to make it legal, enforceable, and valid, and the legality, enforceability and validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall not be affected or impaired.

Conditions
By using the Site's Services, You agree to all the terms and conditions set forth herein. You acknowledge that You have read, understand and agree to be bound by, all the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

You further agree, to be bound by the terms of this Agreement for transactions entered into by:

You on Your behalf;
anyone acting as Your agent;
anyone who uses the account You have established with the Site, whether or not the transactions were on Your behalf, and/or authorized by You.

Revisions to the Agreement
You acknowledge that the Site may revise or amend this agreement, upon posting the revised amended terms on its Web site, at any time, with timely notice to You, but without prior notice to You, or Your expressed approval.

Revisions to the Site
You acknowledge that any new, different, or additional features, or other changes to the services provided by the Site, will automatically be subject to this agreement.

Your Continued use of the Site's services and its Web site, after any such changes to this agreement have been posted, constitutes your acceptance of those changes.

If you do not agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement, and any amendments hereto, do not use or access our services.

You agree that statements of a general nature, shown on the Site's web site, or in other promotional materials, will not bind the Site, to provide services, or levels of service.

Service Level
You agree to waive any and all claims, arising from:

the Site's failure to display some or all of Your content, or to make such content available in search results, listings, directories, or indexes, for any reasons whatever, even if such content was displayed at other times.
the Site's failure to display to You, some or all of the content of a third party, or to make such content available to You in search results, listings, directories, or indexes, for any reasons whatever, even if such content was displayed at other times.
Your failure to receive communications directed to You, through, or in care of the Site, but not forwarded to You.
the failure of a third party to receive communications, sent by You, through, or in care of the Site, but not forwarded to the third party.

Fees
The Site reserves the right to charge, but only upon prior notice to You, followed by Your Consent for the Site to proceed, a reasonable service fee, for performing administrative or support tasks, outside the scope of its regular services. These include, but are not limited to, customer service issues that cannot be handled over email, but require personal service, and disputes that require legal services. Administrative fees, once charged, will be non-refundable.

Priveleged Information
You understand and agree, that all content and materials contained in this Agreement, the Privacy Policy, and the Site web site, are protected by the various copyright, patent, trademark, service mark and trade secret laws of the United States, as well as any other applicable proprietary rights and laws, and that the Site expressly reserves its rights in, and to, all such content and materials. You further understand, and agree that, You are prohibited from using, in any manner whatsoever, any of the afore-described content and materials, without the express written permission of the Site.

You acknowledge that by reason of their relationship, both You and the Site may have access to certain products, information and materials relating to the other part's business, which may include business plans, customers, software technology, and marketing plans that are confidential and of substantial value to either party, respectively, and which value would be impaired if such information were disclosed to third parties. Consequently, both the Site and You agree that it will not use in any way for its own account or for the account of any third part, nor disclose to any third part, any such information revealed to it by either part, as the case may be.

You and the Site further agree that each will take every appropriate precaution to protect the confidentiality of such information. In the event of termination of this agreement, there shall be no use or disclosure by either party of any such confidential information in its possession, and all confidential documents shall be returned to the rightful owner, or destroyed. The provisions of this section shall survive the termination of the agreement for any reason. Upon any breach or threatened breach of this section, either party shall be entitled to injunctive relief, which relief will not be contested by You or the Site.

Terms of Use
You warrant that all information provided by You is truthful, complete, current and accurate. You also warrant that You are using the Site's services in good faith, and that You have no knowledge of Your infringing upon, or conflicting with the legal rights of a third party, or a third party's trademark or trade name.

You also warrant that the web presence hosted by the Site, on Your behalf, will not be used in connection with any illegal, or morally objectionable activity, as defined below:

violate state or federal laws of the United States;
relate to or transmit spyware, viruses, Trojan Horses, access codes, backdoors, worms, timebombs or any other code, routine, mechanism, device or item that corrupts, damages, impairs, interferes with, intercepts or misappropriates any software, hardware, firmware, network, system, data or personally identifiable information.
Sending Unsolicited Commercial Email messages (UCE), including the sending of "junk Email" or Spam, or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material, with whom You do not have an existing business relationship.
are tortious, or wrongful interference, in the business affairs of others;
improper or non-priveleged use of confidential information;
improper or non-priveleged use of copyrighted information;
contents which defame, embarrass, harm, or libel third parties;
contents which abuse, threaten, intimidate, demean or harass third parties;
vulgar, obscene, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;
invasive of a third party's privacy;
impersonate the identity of a third party;
appeal purely to the prurient interests of third parties;
involve hate crimes, terrorism and pornography;
harm minors in any way; or
obtain, or attempt to obtain, personally identifiable information, from or about minors.

In connection with your use of the Site, you agree you will not:

Transmit any message, information, data, text, software or images, or other content ("Material") that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, or otherwise objectionable
that may invade another's right of privacy or publicity;
Impersonate any person or entity, including but not limited to, a Aquidneck.US official or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
Post or transmit any Material that you do not have a right to reproduce, display or transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as nondisclosure agreements);
Post or transmit any Material that contains a virus or corrupted data;
Delete any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary designations or labels that you upload to any communication feature;
Use the Site�s communication features in a manner that adversely affects the availability of its resources to other users (e.g., excessive shouting, use of all caps, or flooding continuous posting of repetitive text);
Post or transmit any unsolicited advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail", "spam", "chain letters", "pyramid schemes" or anyother form of solicitation or any non-resume information such as opinions or notices, commercial or otherwise;
Violate any applicable local, state, national or international law;
Upload or transmit any Material that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;
Delete or revise any Material posted by any other person or entity;
Manipulate or otherwise display the Site by using framing or similar navigational technology, or
Register, subscribe, attempt to register, attempt to subscribe, unsubscribe, or attempt to unsubscribe, any party for any Aquidneck.US product or service if you are not expressly authorized by such party to do so.

Rights
You understand and agree that the Site has the absolute right and power, in its sole discretion, and without any liability to You whatsoever, to suspend or close Your account, with no prior notice to You:

if it comes to the Site's attention that You are using the Site's services for purposes of engaging in, participating in, sponsoring or hiding Your involvement in, illegal or morally objectionable activities,
to avoid any financial loss or legal liability, civil or criminal, on the part of the Site, its owner(s), whether individuals or parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, shareholders, and its agents, officers, directors, and workers, either volunteers or employees;
when required by law, in the good faith belief that such action is necessary, in order to conform to the edicts of the law, or to comply with a legal process served upon the Site.
if the Site is named as a defendant in, or investigated in anticipation of, any legal or administrative proceeding arising out Your use of the Sites's services.

You also acknowledge and agree that the Site may suspend your rights under this Agreement during resolution of a dispute.