Wiki.GIS.com:Terms of use

WIKI.GIS.COM TERMS OF USE

USE OF WIKI.GIS.COM IN ANY MANNER, INCLUDING MERELY BROWSING OR ACCESSING THIS WEB SITE, CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE AND AGREEMENT TO THESE TERMS OF USE. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE THOROUGHLY AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE TERMS BEFORE ACCEPTING.

IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS OF USE OR DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS, CEASE ACCESS AND USE OF THIS WEB SITE AND THE CONTENT FROM THIS WEB SITE IMMEDIATELY. YOU ARE ONLY PERMITTED ACCESS TO AND USE OF THIS WEB SITE AND THE CONTENT FROM THIS WEB SITE UPON ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS OF USE.

These Terms of Use comprise a legal agreement between you and Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. ("ESRI"), a company maintaining wiki.GIS.com. The terms and conditions provided herein govern your access and use of wiki.GIS.com. Additional terms and conditions may apply when accessing certain content.

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS OF USE
1.1 Acceptance. By accessing wiki.GIS.com, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.

As used in these Terms of Use, "Content" includes, but is not limited to, text, images, photographs, and data; software, animations, video, audio, and music; scripts and markup code; service packs, patches, and technical support in response to requests; Web services; publicly available APIs and JavaScript libraries; documentation; and other information, electronic resources, and services provided on wiki.GIS.com (either collectively or individually).

1.2 Modifications to the Web Site or Terms of Use. The Content provided at wiki.GIS.com may be changed, altered, or discontinued at any time without notice to you. This may be done for any reason including, but not limited to, legal compliance, change in policy, aesthetic or technology development, or business or legal considerations. ESRI may also, from time to time, modify or replace these Terms of Use or Privacy Policy, which may affect your rights to use the Content provided. Modified or replaced Terms of Use or Privacy Policy will be made available to you on wiki.GIS.com.

You understand and agree that your access to or use of the Content after the modified or new Terms of Use or Privacy Policy is posted will signify your acceptance to those modified or new Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You further understand that it is your responsibility to read the current Terms of Use and Privacy Policy— you might not be contacted when the Terms of Use or Privacy Policy has been modified or replaced.

2. OWNERSHIP AND USE OF THE CONTENT
2.1 Ownership. The Content is provided to you subject to these Terms of Use. The Content is not in the public domain unless specified as such. Licensors of the Content own the Content (unless otherwise specified), which is protected by United States laws and applicable international laws, treaties, and conventions regarding intellectual property or proprietary rights. These Terms of Use do not transfer to you any exclusive rights or ownership interest in Content.

2.2 Use of the Content and Licensing Terms. The Content contains third-party materials, data, and/or imagery. Use of third-party materials, data, and/or imagery is subject to such third party's license terms or additional use restrictions. As a user, you are responsible for compliance with all applicable third-party license terms. The third-party license terms and any applicable use restrictions may be modified from time to time, and it is your responsibility to check for updates to these license terms or use restrictions. Continued use of the Content will be deemed acceptance of any modifications to license terms or use restrictions.

The Content is licensed to you under one of several licenses, depending on the choice of the licensor of the specific Content. The applicable license will be identified either on the page footer or next to the specific nontext Content. This is only a general overview. The various applicable licenses are as follows:


 * a. Text and nontext media submitted to wiki.GIS.com by its users are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
 * b. Text imported from Wikipedia.org is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). For compatibility reasons, it is also licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts) (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html).
 * c. Nontext media imported from Wikipedia.org are licensed under various licenses specified next to the specific media that are accessed.
 * d. Certain text and nontext media may be available under unique licensing terms. A link to such terms will be identified on the page footer or next to the specific nontext Content.

It is your responsibility to verify which license terms apply to the specific Content before copying, distributing, transmitting, or modifying such Content. You are solely responsible for compliance with these terms, including the terms on copying, distributing, transmitting, and modifying such Content and providing appropriate attribution.

Proper attribution must be given for any use of the Content. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the licensor in the applicable license (but not in any way that suggests that the licensor endorses you or your use of the Content).

The use of images of living or recently deceased individuals is, in some jurisdictions, restricted by laws pertaining to personality rights, independent from their copyright status. You are solely responsible for ensuring that you do not infringe on others' personality rights.

2.3 Improper Use of wiki.GIS.com and the Content. Any use of the Content not permitted in the applicable licenses is prohibited. In addition, you may not (or attempt to)


 * a. Reverse-engineer, decompile, or hack wiki.GIS.com (without consideration given to how reasonable the means used are to keep it secure);
 * b. Alter, obstruct, or remove any proprietary rights notices provided with the Content;
 * c. Manually or systematically harvest user information (including, but not limited to, names, addresses, e-mail addresses, Web page addresses) contained within wiki.GIS.com; or
 * d. Use wiki.GIS.com or the Content for illegal, improper, or inappropriate purposes (including, but not limited to, defamation or harassment of others; distribution of obscene or indecent material; stalking; or distribution of content in violation of the proprietary rights of others).

Any of the foregoing, whether merely attempted or successfully executed, is a material breach of these Terms of Use. Your account may be blocked if you attempt or execute the actions described in this section or if you fail to interact with other users of wiki.GIS.com in a civil manner.

2.4 Trademarks and Logos. Any trademarks and other marks used in this Web site are the property of their respective trademark owners. These marks may only be used where authorized by the trademark owners or permitted by law. Any unauthorized use of these trademarks shall be considered a material breach of these Terms of Use.

2.5 Sharing Your Materials. You are required to grant broad permissions to the general public to redistribute and reuse your materials and create derivative works based on your materials, as long as the use is attributed and the same freedom to redistribute and reuse applies to any derivative works. Therefore, for any materials you hold the copyright to, by submitting them to wiki.GIS.com, you agree to license them under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). This license allows commercial use of your materials, as long as such use is compliant with the terms. You are referred to as a "Licensor" in this license when you share your materials. You retain copyright to your materials; however, you can never retract or alter the license for your materials.

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO LICENSE YOUR MATERIALS UNDER THIS LICENSE, YOU MUST NOT SUBMIT THEM TO WIKI.GIS.COM.

As an author, you agree to be attributed in any of the following fashions: (a) through a hyperlink (where possible) or URL to the article or articles you contributed to; (b) through a hyperlink (where possible) or URL to an alternative, stable online copy that is freely accessible, that conforms to the license, and that provides credit to the authors in a manner equivalent to the credit given on this Web site; or (c) through a list of all authors. (Any list of authors may be filtered to exclude very small or irrelevant contributions.)

If you want to submit or import materials that you have found elsewhere or that you have coauthored with others, you can only do so if it is available under terms that are compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0. It is your sole responsibility to verify that such materials are compatibly licensed.

If you submit or import materials under a compatible license that requires attribution, you must, in a reasonable fashion, credit the author(s). Where such credit is commonly given through page histories, it is sufficient to give attribution in the edit summary, which is recorded in the page history, when importing the materials. Regardless of the license, the materials you submit or import may be rejected if the required attribution is deemed too intrusive.

If you obtain special permission to use a copyrighted work from the copyright holder under compatible terms, you must retain such permission and information regarding it (including relevant names and dates).

You agree to never submit materials that infringe on the copyright of another person or entity. You acknowledge that materials found on the Internet are not necessarily in the public domain and that all such materials should be either authorized for use or conclusively demonstrated to be in the public domain. If you submit infringing or copyrighted materials without receiving appropriate permissions, such materials may be removed and you may be blocked from editing the Content or submitting any materials to wiki.GIS.com.

After you have submitted your materials to wiki.GIS.com, they become part of the Content. You acknowledge that anyone with an Internet connection may alter the Content. ESRI is not responsible if someone changes, edits, modifies, removes, or comments on any part of the materials that you submitted to wiki.GIS.com.

2.6 Your Warranties and Obligation of Indemnification. By submitting your materials to wiki.GIS.com, you represent and warrant that


 * a. The submitted materials are original to you or, if not original, are (i) free from copyright restrictions or (ii) licensed under a license compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 or (iii) written permission has been obtained from the copyright holder to license the materials under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0;
 * b. The submitted materials do not infringe upon or violate any personal, property, or intellectual property rights;
 * c. The submitted materials contain nothing scandalous, libelous, in violation of any right to privacy or publicity, or contrary to law;
 * d. The submitted materials do not contain any confidential or classified information;
 * e. All statements of fact in the submitted materials are true and based on diligent research;
 * f. All advice and instruction in the submitted materials are safe and sound and are not negligent or defective;
 * g. You will not enter into any agreement with a third party that might conflict with your license of the submitted materials on wiki.GIS.com under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0;
 * h. You have not created the submitted materials within the scope of your employment, or appropriate written copyright permissions were obtained from your employer; and
 * i. Written copyright permissions for any copyrighted or other proprietary materials owned by any third party, including your employer, and consent by third parties described, quoted, or depicted in the submitted materials will be delivered by you to ESRI upon ESRI's request.

BY SUBMITTING YOUR MATERIALS TO WIKI.GIS.COM, YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD ESRI, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, AND ANY LICENSEES OF YOUR MATERIALS HARMLESS FROM AND AGAINST ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, LIABILITY, OR EXPENSE (INCLUDING COSTS AND ATTORNEYS' FEES) ARISING OUT OF ANY DEMAND, CLAIM, ACTION, OR PROCEEDING ALLEGING FACTS THAT, IF ESTABLISHED, CONSTITUTE A BREACH OF YOUR ABOVE REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.

2.7 Copyright Policy. Our copyright policy is to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable international intellectual property law (including, in the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and to take down allegedly infringing materials and/or terminate the accounts of repeat infringers, as applicable. Further details of the copyright policy can be found at  http://www.esri.com/legal/licensing/dmca_policy.html.

2.8 Leaving the Web Site. When using the Content, you may have the opportunity to leave wiki.GIS.com in order to access and download additional content provided on other Web sites linked from wiki.GIS.com. You acknowledge that content on any other Web site is the sole responsibility of the third-party content provider. These Terms of Use do not convey to you any rights to access or use third-party content on other Web sites (including copying, distribution, creation of derivative works, or public display). Access and use of third-party content on other Web sites may require that you agree to different or separate terms, conditions, and restrictions. Agreeing to any such terms and conditions will be between you and the third-party content provider and will not affect these Terms of Use.

3. PRIVACY AND PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
3.1 Web Site Privacy Policy. You may be requested to provide certain information, configuration data, or personal information when you are accessing the Content, submitting your materials to wiki.GIS.com, or requesting support through this Web site. This information will be collected and used in accordance with the Privacy Policy. You agree to the use of this information in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

3.2 Passwords and Account Information. Some parts of this Web site may require you to create and use a personal account to access the Content provided. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password for your personal account and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your personal account unless access to your account number, account name, or password was obtained through no fault or negligence of your own. You agree to the following:


 * a. You will provide truthful and accurate information at all times when using the Content provided on this Web site;
 * b. You understand that using a false or incomplete name or e-mail address, impersonating any person or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity will result in immediate removal of your personal account and termination of any rights provided herein;
 * c. You will use the Content for your individual use, and the account's name and e-mail address must be specific to you--personal accounts may not be shared with other users;
 * d. You understand that sharing account information or allowing others to access your account will result in removal of your personal account;
 * e. You will notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security as soon as you become aware of such use or breach; and
 * f. You will log off from your account at the end of each session.

ESRI shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this section.

3.3 Termination of Personal Account. ESRI reserves the right to monitor use of the Web site and the right to suspend or cancel your account or access to the Web site at any time, or to take any other appropriate measures in its legal capacity to enforce these Terms of Use. If you have your personal account removed from the Web site for not following these Terms of Use, you may not be allowed to return or create a personal account in the future.

4. DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
'''4.1 Disclaimer of Warranties. THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON THIS WEB SITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS,"''' WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT. IN PARTICULAR, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ESRI AND ITS AFFILIATES DO NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON THIS WEB SITE WILL BE


 * A. AVAILABLE TO YOU UNINTERRUPTED IN A SECURE FORM;
 * B. ACCURATE OR FREE FROM ERROR; OR
 * C. FIT TO USE IN YOUR APPLICATION, FOR YOUR PURPOSES, OR ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR NEEDS.

ESRI IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO CORRECT ANY ERRORS OR INCONSISTENCIES IN THE CONTENT.

There is no guarantee of validity of the information found on wiki.GIS.com. Nothing found on this Web site has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide complete, accurate, or reliable information. The Content may recently have been changed by someone whose opinion does not correspond to the state of knowledge in the relevant field. Any information on wiki.GIS.com may reflect a bias or be inaccurate or misleading. None of the contributors, sponsors, administrators, or anyone else connected with wiki.GIS.com in any way can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate or libelous information or for your use of the information contained in or linked from this Web site.

USE OF WIKI.GIS.COM IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

You understand that the Content may include


 * a. Words that are considered profane, vulgar, or offensive by some readers;
 * b. Audio, visual, or written representations of people or events that may be protected by some cultures, or considered objectionable or offensive by some readers;
 * c. Inaccurate or misleading information on dangerous or risky activities; and
 * d. Inaccurate or misleading information that is normally the subject of professional opinions.

You understand that wiki.GIS.com is not a substitute for seeking professional advice.

'''4.2 Limitation on Liability. '''ESRI SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RELATED TO YOUR DECISION TO ACCESS AND USE ANY OF THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON THE WEB SITE, EVEN IF ESRI IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.

No contract is created between you and users of this Web site, the owners of the servers upon which it is housed, the individual wiki.GIS.com contributors, sysops, or anyone else who is in any way connected with wiki.GIS.com.

4.3 Links to Third-Party Sites. Many links on this Web site link to Web sites owned and operated by third parties. These Web sites are not under ESRI's control, and ESRI is not responsible for information (regardless of how it is transmitted or received) or services provided by third-party Web sites. Any links to third-party Web sites provided on the Web site do not imply an endorsement, affiliation, or sponsorship of any kind and do not represent warranties of the quality of services provided by such third parties.

5. TERM AND TERMINATION
'''5.1 Term. '''These Terms of Use shall continue to apply until terminated by you or ESRI. Termination may only occur as provided in this section.

'''5.2 Termination by You. '''You may terminate these Terms of Use by ceasing and discontinuing your use of all the Content.

'''5.3 Termination by ESRI. '''ESRI may terminate these Terms of Use if


 * a. You have breached the terms and conditions provided in these Terms of Use through either your action or inaction;
 * b. You have breached a license relating to the use of the Content;
 * c. ESRI discontinues providing the Content; or
 * d. ESRI, at its sole discretion, believes that it is in ESRI's best commercial interest to terminate these Terms of Use as applicable to you.

'''5.4 Effects of Termination. '''Upon termination of these Terms of Use, all rights and obligations owed by the parties shall cease except for those set forth in Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5. Those rights and obligations shall continue indefinitely.

6. EXPORT COMPLIANCE
You may not access, submit, upload, download, use, or export the Content provided on the Web site in violation of U.S. Export Control laws or regulations, or in violation of any other applicable laws or regulations. You agree to comply with all export laws and restrictions and regulations of any United States or foreign agency or authority and not to directly or indirectly provide or otherwise make available the Content in violation of any such restrictions, laws, or regulations, or without all necessary approvals. Specifically prohibited is the use of any Content for the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons of mass destruction. As applicable, you shall obtain and bear all expenses relating to any necessary licenses and/or exemptions with respect to your own use of the Content outside the United States. Neither the Content nor the underlying information or technology may be downloaded or otherwise provided or made available, either directly or indirectly, to


 * a. Any country subject to U.S. trade sanctions, individuals or entities controlled by such countries, or nationals or residents of such countries other than nationals who are lawfully admitted permanent residents of countries not subject to such sanctions;
 * b. Anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals, or
 * c. Any person or entity on the U.S. Commerce Department's Denied Persons List.

By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you agree to the foregoing and represent and warrant that you are not located in or under the control of, and are not a national or resident of, any such country or on any such list.

7. GENERAL TERMS
'''7.1 No Implied Waivers. '''The failure of either party to enforce any provision of these Terms of Use shall not be deemed a waiver of the provisions or of the right of such party thereafter to enforce that or any other provision.

'''7.2 Severability. '''The parties mutually agree that if any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make the intent of the language enforceable.

'''7.3 Language. '''You agree that the English-language version of these Terms of Use shall govern their interpretation. Any versions provided in a language other than English are provided for convenience only. Any inconsistencies or contradictions shall not affect the interpretation of the English-language version.

'''7.4 Successor and Assigns. '''You shall not assign or otherwise transfer your rights or delegate your duties under these Terms of Use without ESRI's prior written consent. Any attempt to do so without ESRI's consent shall be void.

'''7.5 Governing Law, Dispute Resolution. '''The laws of the State of California govern your relationship with ESRI under these Terms of Use and shall be construed according to those laws without regard to conflict of laws principles. The parties agree to attempt in good faith to negotiate any conflict arising under these Terms of Use. The parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in San Bernardino County any and all disputes not resolved within thirty (30) days of notice. Notice to ESRI shall only be proper if made by certified mail at the address provided herein.

'''7.6 Equitable Relief. '''You agree that your breach of these Terms of Use may cause irreparable damage and that, in the event of such breach, in addition to any and all remedies at law, ESRI shall have the right to seek an injunction, specific performance, or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction without the requirement of posting a bond or undertaking or proving injury as a condition for relief.

'''7.7 Integration. '''These Terms of Use and applicable licenses constitute the sole and entire agreement between the parties relating to your use of the Content.