Date of last revision: April 5, 2016
Welcome to the Markle Foundation’s web site located at www.markle.org (the “Web site“). The Web site is owned and operated by the Markle Foundation (the “Foundation,” “we,” or “us“). The following are the Terms and Conditions of Use for the Web site (the “Terms and Conditions“). Before using this Web site, please read these Terms and Conditions and our Online Privacy Policy which is incorporated herein by reference.
By using the Web site, you acknowledge that you have read and are legally bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree with the Terms and Conditions, please do not use the Web site.
You should review these Terms and Conditions regularly as they may change. Your continued use of the Web site following the posting of changes to the Terms and Conditions constitutes acceptance of those changes. Modifications will be posted on the Web site and the “date of last revision” at the top of this page will be revised.
When using the Web site, you will abide by all applicable international, federal, state and local laws, including, but not limited to, those pertaining to libel, slander, defamation, trade libel, product disparagement, harassment, invasion of privacy, and copyright and trademark infringement.
We provide the Web site content as a courtesy to be used only for informational purposes and we do not represent the content to be error free. THE WEB SITE AND ALL INFORMATION, CONTENT, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE WEB SITE ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, DATA ACCURACY, AND QUIET ENJOYMENT. THE FOUNDATION DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE WEB SITE OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKE THE WEB SITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT OF THE WEB SITE IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR CURRENT FOR ANY SPECIFIC OR PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR APPLICATION. THE WEB SITE IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, TAX, MEDICAL OR OTHER ADVICE. IN ADDITION, THE FOUNDATION IS NOT ENDORSING OR RECOMMENDING THE USE OF THE MEANS OR METHODS CONTAINED ON OR THROUGH THE WEB SITE FOR ANY SPECIAL OR PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING ALL OF THE CONTENT ON THE WEB SITE BEFORE RELYING ON IT.
IN NO EVENT WILL THE FOUNDATION OR ANY OF ITS OFFICERS, TRUSTEES, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR CONTRACTORS (COLLECTIVELY, “REPRESENTATIVES”) BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES-WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, GENERAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, FOR ALLEGED LOST PROFITS OR OTHERWISE-THAT MIGHT RESULT FROM ANY USE OF THE WEB SITE, OR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON MATERIALS OR LINKS MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE WEB SITE.
Some jurisdictions do not allow exclusions of liability for certain types of damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations may not apply to you to the extent prohibited by law. In such cases, the Foundation’s liability will be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
Copyright and Ownership. All of the content featured or displayed on the Web site, including without limitation text, graphics, photographs, images, moving images, sound and illustrations (collectively, “Content“), is owned by the Foundation, its licensors, vendors, agents, and/or content providers, as applicable. All elements of the Web site, including without limitation the Content, the general design of the Web Site and the software and other technology used in the Web site, are protected by trade dress, copyright, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to intellectual property rights. Any unauthorized use of the Web site may violate copyright laws, laws of privacy and publicity, and other laws and regulations. The Foundation reserves the right to track the usage of Content.
Except as expressly permitted in the Creative Commons section below, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, enter into a database, perform, modify, create derivative works from, transmit or in any way exploit the Content, except as permitted under the last sentence of this paragraph and except that you may make one print copy of articles for personal, non-commercial use. In using Content, you may not (1) state or imply that the Foundation is endorsing you, your viewpoints or any of the products or services that you or your organization may provide, (2) represent that you or your organization has a relationship with the Foundation or any of the events, products or services that the Foundation provides unless that relationship is the subject of a written agreement with the Foundation, or (3) remove or change any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notices on the Content. We respect the right of others to make “fair use” of the materials contained on our site; accordingly, you may from time to time excerpt and use materials on this site consistent with the principles of “fair use.”
We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement and terminate accounts of repeat infringers according to the process set out in the U. S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If you believe that any Content infringes your intellectual property rights, please notify the Foundation at: copyright@markle.org.
Trademarks. Certain trademarks used in the Web site (including, but not limited to, the Markle and Markle Foundation names) (collectively, the “Marks“) are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Foundation. You may not use, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute or modify the Marks in any way, including in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of materials on the Web site, without the Foundation’s prior written consent. The use of the Marks on any other Web site or network computer environment is not allowed.
Creative Commons. As part of its mission, the Markle Foundation aspires to use its assets wisely to achieve the greatest possible impact. We believe that making our work openly available and free to the public will contribute to this mission. Our intention is to assure that the intellectual fruits of the works we develop and commission, other than material of purely internal application, are easy to find and available for sharing in order to maximize their impact and hence the public benefit. Therefore, a Creative Commons license applies to publications, reports and videos which bear the Creative Commons symbol.
To the extent that the Foundation makes available to you through the Web site (or otherwise) an embeddable player for viewing video and playing audio Content from the Web site (the “Embeddable Player“) and/or “widgets” to obtain access to Content from the Web site (“Widgets“), you agree as a condition to accessing and using such items that:
On the Web site we may offer blogs, webcasts, online communities, and other services that provide an opportunity for you to post or otherwise transmit comments and other content to the Web site (collectively, the “Services“). The use of the Services is subject to these Terms and Conditions and any additional provisions that may be specified as a condition to using the Services. Some users of the Services may submit content that contains personally identifiable information. Please review our Online Privacy Policy before providing any personally identifiable information.
Member Account, Password and Security. Some of the Services may require that you create/receive a password and account designation before using the Services. You must maintain the confidentiality of any such password and account, and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. If you allow third parties to access the Services through your username and password, you will defend and indemnify the Foundation and its Representatives from and against any liability, costs or damages arising out of claims or suits based upon or relating to such access and use. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security related to the Services of which you are aware.
Use of the Services. All users of the Services agree to act responsibly. We do not control the Content posted through the Services and, as such, do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, quality or availability of such Content.
We do not censor the Content being posted, and you should not assume that we review all Content being posted. Nonetheless, we reserve the right to modify, to not post, or to remove after its posting, any Content which violates our guidelines. Such Content may be removed immediately and without prior notice, and further postings by the individual may be blocked. For Content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos, documents, etc., you grant the Foundation a perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, display and distribute any Content that you post on or in connection with the Services.
We offer Services in order to encourage a healthy exchange of ideas. To achieve that objective, postings to those Services must be respectful and comply with the law. Therefore, postings to the Services are subject to the following guidelines:
1. As a private foundation, we are prohibited from supporting attempts to influence the outcome of any election for public office or engaging in lobbying activity. Therefore, the following types of Content are prohibited:
2. In order that we may encourage a healthy exchange of ideas, discourse must be respectful. Do not post Content that:
By accessing the Web site, you agree to abide by all security and safety measures established by the Foundation or its partners or service providers. You agree not to circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Web site or features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on use of the Web site or the Content therein. The Foundation reserves the right, for any reason, at its sole discretion, to terminate, change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Web site at any time. The Foundation may also impose limits on certain features of the Web site or restrict access to any part or all of the Web site without notice or penalty.
You agree that you will not use any bot, crawler, harvester, indexer, robot, spider, scraper or any other automated means to access, compile, read or gather content from the Web site automatically.
Additionally, you agree that you will not: (a) take any action that, in our sole discretion, imposes, or may impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (b) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Web site or any activities conducted on the Web site; (c) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Web site; (d) attempt to decompile, decipher or reverse engineer any of the software used by the Foundation and its licensors as part of the Web site; or (e) use the Web site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms and Conditions.
Information that the Foundation publishes on the Web site may contain references or cross-references to products, programs, or services that are not available in your location. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information expressed or made available by third parties, including users or others, are those of the respective author(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect the views, findings, or opinions of the Foundation. Any description or reference to non-Foundation products, services, or individuals on the Web site is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an endorsement or a recommendation of such products, services, or individuals by the Foundation.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Foundation and the Representatives from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities and costs of every nature incurred by any of them in connection with any claim, damage or loss related to or arising out of: (i) your use of the Web site, (ii) any assistance or services provided by us or the Representatives to you, (iii) any alleged unauthorized use of the Web site by you, or (iv) any breach or alleged breach by you of these Terms and Conditions. You agree to cooperate fully in the defense of any of the foregoing. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to control exclusively the defense of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and you will not settle any matter without our prior written consent. Your obligation to indemnify, defend and hold harmless shall be limited to the extent that you are afforded sovereign immunity under applicable federal, state or local laws. In such cases where your obligation to indemnify may be limited due to the requirements of federal, state or local laws, you shall be responsible for the ordinary negligent acts and omissions of your agents and employees causing harm to persons not a party to these Terms and Conditions.
In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users of the Web site, you release the Foundation and Representatives from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.
As a convenience to users, the Web site contains links to websites operated by third parties (“Third-Party Sites”). Third-Party Sites are not under the control of the Foundation, and, as such, access to and use of such Third-Party Sites is at your own risk and subject to corresponding third-party, not the Foundation, terms of use and privacy policies. The Foundation is not responsible for, does not endorse, and hereby disclaims any and all content, advice, or services found, learned, available, or provided on such Third-Party Sites. The fact that we provide a link to a Third-Party Site does not necessarily mean that we endorse, authorize or sponsor that Third-Party Site, nor that we are affiliated with the Third-Party Site.
Unless otherwise set forth in a written agreement between you and the Foundation, you must adhere to the Foundation’s linking policy as follows: (a) the appearance, position and other attributes of the link may not be such as to damage or dilute the goodwill associated with the Foundation’s name or any Foundation trademark or service mark; (b) the appearance, position, and other attributes of the link may not create the false appearance that your organization or entity is sponsored by, affiliated with, or associated with the Foundation; and (c) when selected by a user, the link must display the Web site on full-screen and not within a “frame” on the linking site.
The Web site is controlled and operated from the Foundation’s offices in the State of New York. By accessing the Web site, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement which is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any conflict of laws principles. All activity occurring in connection with the Web site (including, but not limited to, accessing pages, downloading materials, etc.) is presumed to occur in the State of New York.
In connection with any suit, action or proceeding arising from or relating to these Terms and Conditions, you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts within the State of New York.
You agree that (a) these Terms and Conditions constitute an agreement “signed by you” under applicable law; (b) any notices or other communication regarding your use of the Web site may be provided to you electronically (by posting on the Web site, by e-mail, and other electronic formats) and will be considered received upon posting or other distribution. These Terms and Conditions (including the Privacy Policy) constitute the entire agreement between you and the Foundation and supersede all other agreements, oral or written, concerning its subject matter. You consent to the use of the English language in these Terms and Conditions and all documents or notices relating to them and your use of the Web site.
If any of these Terms and Conditions is determined to be invalid, void or unenforceable for any reason, then the unenforceable provision will be deemed amended in a manner that will most nearly carry out the intent of the provision to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law or deleted if amendment is not possible, and the remaining Terms and Conditions will be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.
The Foundation’s failure to enforce these Terms and Conditions in every instance in which they might apply is not a waiver of any of the Foundation’s rights, and the Foundation reserves its right to take all legal steps available to enforce these Terms and Conditions.
We reserve the right to terminate the Web site and/or these Terms and Conditions at any time without notice for any reason, including, in the case of these Terms and Conditions, for your violation of any of its provisions. The Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Release and Applicable Law and Jurisdiction provisions of these Terms and Conditions shall survive any such termination.
