Terms
of Use of The International Schools Review Web site
We
don't care much for "legalese", but
as the ISR Web Site grew from its small beginnings in 2003,
a myriad of unforeseen situations have arrisen. In an effort
to clarify our position on just about everything related
to
this Web
Site, we offer the following:
Please understand the following terms and conditions regarding your use of
the International Schools Review Web Site constitutes a legally binding
agreement between you and International Schools Review, Incorporated. In this
Agreement, the term "Web
Site" includes all web pages within the International Schools Review Web
Site including both the members' area and non-members' area of the Web Site.
By using this Web Site you understand, acknowledge
and agree that you will abide by the terms of this Agreement and
that this Agreement will remain in full force and effect as long
as you are a user of the Web Site. If you become a Web Site member
and your membership is terminated or expires, you will continue
to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you use the non-members'
sections of the Web Site, to include but not limited to the Blog,
Forum Articles and Information sections and sample reviews
you understand, acknowledge and agree that you will abide by the
terms of this agreement.
The word "use" in
this Agreement, means anytime you, a user, attempt to access,
do access, interact with, use or view the Web Site, receive or
exchange data or communicate with the Web Site, or in any way
interact with any function, service or feature of the Site, for
any purpose whatsoever.
Site
Registration and Use of User Name and Password
Your user name and password are specifically
yours and you may not allow others to use your user name or password
for any reason. International Schools Review, Inc. is not liable
for any damages caused by or related to the theft of your user
name or password, or your permission or authorization of anyone
else to use your user name or password. You agree to notify us
immediately if you discover or feel there is or could have been
any unauthorized use of your user name or password. Upon notice
we will deactivate your user name and password and issue a new
set of your choice.
Intellectual
Property
The contents of this Web Site, including its
design, text, images, photographs, illustrations, graphic material,
databases, proprietary information and all copyrightable aspects
of the Web Site, including, without limitation, the look and feel
and layout are the express property of International Schools Review,
Inc. and are legally protected, without limitation, under U.S.
Federal and State, as well as any and applicable foreign laws,
regulations
and treaties.
The International Schools Review Web Site is
to be used solely for your noncommercial, non-assignable, non-transferable,
non-exclusive, and limited personal use and for no other purposes.
You agree that you will not download, transmit, display, print
or reproduce anything from the Web Site. You will not, nor will
you allow any third party whether or not for your benefit to reproduce,
modify, create derivative works from, display, perform, publish,
distribute, disseminate, broadcast or circulate to any third party
including, without limitation, on or via a third party web site,
or otherwise use, any material without the express prior written
consent of International Schools Review, Incorporated.
Any unauthorized or prohibited use of any material
may subject you to civil liability, criminal prosecution, or both,
under applicable federal, state and local laws. We require users
to respect our copyright of intellectual property. Should we receive
notice that we are infringing on a copyright, we will act quickly
to remove content on the Site that infringes on the copyright rights
of others.
Conditions
of Posting to the Web Site / Sending Emails and Contact
US forms
All Reviews on the Web Site are received
from anonymous sources. You do, however, understand, acknowledge
and agree that any and all Posting to the Web Site to include,
but not limited to school reviews, director report cards, the
forum and the Blogs are the sole responsibility of the originator
of the Posting. This means that you, the Web Site user, and
not the Web Site, are completely responsible for the consequences
of all Postings that you upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise
make available via the Web Site. IP addresses are recorded
only to ensure site integrity. Should any information contained
in your post to the Web Site allow others to determine that
you are the author of a particular Post it is your sole responsibility
and beyond the control of International Schools Review, Incorporated.
c
If you take advantage
of the “secret
word” feature made available during posting Director
Report Cards and/or School Reviews to the Web Site you may
later use this “secret word” to identify yourself
as the author of a specific review and request minor editorial
changes. At our sole discretion ISR will determine if such
changes will
be made. In any case an entire review will not be removed.
When posting to any function, service or feature of the web
site please think carefully before you click the Submit button.
This action is irreversible.
n
When you post to the International Schools Review Web Site, you agree
that: you are placing the Posting in the public domain without any rights
of further
control over the Posting or its use; and, you specifically authorize International
Schools Review, Inc. to display such Posting in whole or in part or as part
of other information, content and/or material of any kind or nature. Information
you send to the International Schools Review Web Site that pertains to a
school or director or that reflects on a school or director and is transmitted
through
a Contact Us form,
email or any other means is
done
so with
the
intent
to
post and should not be considered private under any circumstances. International
Schools Review, Inc. does not offer monetary or any other type of compensation
for material posted to the Web Site.
Site
Availability
The International Schools Review Web Site is
made available without any warranty of any kind, express or
implied, or any guarantee that the site will be available
for use
at all times, or
that all features will be functioning at all times. There are many
factors beyond our control that can cause Web Site crashes and
other disruptions to service. Without limiting the foregoing, we
are not responsible or liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors,
or omissions arising out of your use of the Site. You understand,
acknowledge and agree that you are assuming the entire risk as
to the quality, accuracy, timeliness, completeness and correctness
of any and all features and functions of the Site, including, without
limitation, Postings and materials associated with your use of
the Web Site.
Rules
of Conduct
Your use of the Web Site
is subject to all applicable local, state, national laws and
regulations and, in some cases, international treaties. You shall
not use the Web Site in any manner that attempts to, or is likely
to be libelous, defamatory, indecent,
vulgar or obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit or sexually
suggestive, racially, culturally, or ethnically offensive, harmful,
harassing, intimidating, threatening, hateful, objectionable,
discriminatory, or abusive, or which may or may appear to impersonate
anyone else or effect us adversely or reflect negatively
on us or the Web Site. Out of courtesy to other users, Please
limit posts to our Forum and Blogs to 3 posts in a 24 hour period.
We reserve the right to suspend the log in of any user violating
the rules of conduct.
The
Web Site Is A Third Party Venue
Postings to the Web Site do not reflect the views of International
Schools Review, Incorporated. International Schools Review, Inc.
does not endorse, edit or screen Postings, although we reserve
the
right
to do so. Nor shall we be liable for any Posting that is in violation
of this Agreement. In no event shall International Schools Review,
Inc. be construed to have any responsibility or liability for
or in connection with any Posting whatsoever. However, if we
determine, in our sole discretion and judgment, that any Posting
does or may violate any of the terms of this Agreement, we reserve
the right, at any time to refuse to allow the Postings and/or
remove and delete Postings.
Loss
or Damages
You understand, acknowledge and agree that,
to the fullest extent permissible by law, International Schools
Review, Inc., its officers, directors, employees, service providers,
advertisers or suppliers shall not be liable for any loss or
damage, of any kind, direct or indirect, in connection with or
arising from use of the Site or from this agreement, including,
but not limited to, compensatory, consequential, incidental,
indirect, special or punitive damages. Without limiting
the foregoing, users, by their use of the site, agree to indemnify
and hold International Schools Review Incorporated, Its officers,
directors, shareholders, agents and employees harmless from any
claim, cost, fee, fine, damage or liability of any kind, including
reasonably attorney’s fees, directly or indirectly arising
by reason of their use of the site.
Future
Changes to This Agreement and Its Legality
This Agreement, together with any Additional Terms, Rules, our
Privacy Policy, and any other regulations, procedures and policies
which we refer to and which are hereby incorporated by reference,
contains the entire understanding and agreement between you and
the Web Site and supersedes any and all prior or inconsistent
understandings relating to the Site and your use of the Site.
This Agreement cannot be changed or terminated orally. If any
provision of this Agreement is held to be illegal, invalid or
unenforceable, this will not affect any other provisions and
the Agreement will be deemed amended to the extent necessary
to make it legal, valid and enforceable. Any provision which
must survive in order to allow us to enforce its meaning shall
survive the termination of this Agreement; however, no action
arising out of this Agreement or your use of the Site, regardless
of form or the basis of the claim, may be brought by you more
than one (1) year after the cause of action has arisen (or if
multiple causes, from the date the first such cause arose).
We reserve the right, at any time and from time to time, for any reason in
our sole discretion, to change the terms of this Agreement. If such changes
should take place we will post or display notices of material changes on the
Site and may also e-mail you about these changes. Once we post any changes
to this agreement on the Web Site, these changes become effective immediately
and if you use the Site after they become effective it will signify your agreement
to be bound by the changes. You should check back frequently and review the
terms and conditions of this Agreement regularly so you are aware of the most
current rights and obligations that apply to you and the terms and conditions
of your agreement with us. Should changes take place we will note this by posting
the date of update.
IF
YOU ARE CONSIDERING LEGAL ACTION PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING
The people that post to
the Web Site do so anonymously. The Supreme Court of the United
States has held that anonymity of speech is protected under the
First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. United
States' courts recognize the right to speak anonymously on the
Internet. When courts have ordered the disclosure of the name
of an anonymous
user, a litigant must show that its need for identifying information
clearly outweighs the user's U.S. constitutional right.
If you question the legality of
anonymous Postings on the internet please see 47 USC Section 230,
which is the federal law that permits many entities to "host" other
people's content without being liable for defamation, libel, etc.
By its plain language, 230 creates a federal immunity to any cause
of action that would make service providers liable for information
originating with a third-party user of the service. For more information
see Zeran v. AOL, 129 F.3d 327, 330 (4th Cir. 1997). Under
230(c)(2)(A),
What happens when International
Schools Review, Inc. deletes inappropriate comments? The answer
is that no provider or user of an interactive computer service
shall
be
held liable on account of any action voluntarily taken in good
faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the
provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy,
excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether
or not such material is constitutionally protected.