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Legal / Terms of Use

Effective: August 25, 2009
Replaces the Terms posted: March 20, 2009

Welcome to COWORKERS.COM (the "Site"), a World Wide Web site which is operated by Coworkers.com, Inc. ("COWORKERS.COM"), a Delaware (USA) corporation.

As used in this Agreement, the term "Member" refers to the individual that accepts our Member Agreement and, where appropriate, the entity represented by such individual.  The term "Visitor" refers to an individual who views or creates content that is posted on the Site, or uses services provided by the Site, but has not registered as a Member.  The term "User" refers to an individual who is either a Member or a Visitor.

All Users agree to abide by the following Terms of Use ("Terms") with respect to use of the Site.  We reserve the right to alter these Terms effective immediately upon posting on the Site.

COWORKERS.COM provides Users with a variety of web-based services ("Services") for interacting with coworkers and others with whom they may share work-related interests or experiences.  Some Services require Users to be Members, while others are available to Visitors.

All contents of this Site, other than User-generated content, are the Copyright of Coworkers.com, Inc.  All rights reserved.  When you post public content on the Site, you hereby license to Coworkers.com, Inc. the right to display, copy, publish, reproduce and recreate in any medium now known or yet-to-be-created your user content.

A.    Scope of Use.   Unless otherwise agreed upon, this Site is for your personal, noncommercial use.  If you download any material, you must keep all copyright and other notices intact.  You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, or other content, software, products or services obtained from this Site.  In addition, the information contained herein may not be taken out of context or presented in an unfair, misleading or discriminatory manner.

B.    You are Solely Responsible for Conduct.   You agree that you are solely responsible for your actions and the content of your transmissions through or posting on the Site.

C.    No Illegal or Deceptive Acts.   Users agree:

  1. to abide by all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and regulations in your use of the Site;
  2. not to impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  3. to comply with all laws regarding the transmission of technical data (including without limitation encryption) exported from the United States through the Site;
  4. not to use the Site for illegal purposes;
  5. to comply with all regulations, policies and procedures of networks connected to the Site; and
  6. not to use the Site to collect or harvest personal information, including, without limitation, financial information, about other Users of the Site.

D.    Libelous or Scandalous Materials.   Users agree:

  1. not to post, promote or transmit through the Site any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature;
  2. not to transmit or post any material that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation;
  3. not to interfere with another User's use and enjoyment of the Site or another entity's use and enjoyment of similar Sites, or engage in surveys, contests, chain letters or post or transmit "junk mail", "spam", "chain letters", or unsolicited mass distribution of e-mail; and
  4. that COWORKERS.COM neither endorses the content of any User communications, postings or data nor assumes any responsibility for any threatening, libelous, obscene, harassing or offensive material contained in such materials, or any crime facilitated by use of this Web site.

E.    System Integrity.   Users agree:

  1. not to upload or distribute in any way files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's computer;
  2. not to interfere or disrupt networks connected to the Site;
  3. not to use any device, software or routine or attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Site or any transactions being offered at the Site;
  4. not to take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Site's infrastructure; and
  5. not to disclose Member's Password to third parties or use Member's Password for any unauthorized purpose.

F.    Compliance with Digital Millennium Copyright Act.   In the event that User posts or makes accessible communications or other materials that infringe the copyrights of a third party, COWORKERS.COM may terminate User's access to the Site in accordance with COWORKERS.COM's copyright infringement policy pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  COWORKERS.COM maintains a special e-mail address for notifications of claimed infringement concerning materials. All correspondence should be addressed to COWORKERS.COM's "Designated Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement" at infringement@coworkers.com.  Visitors may contact COWORKERS.COM with complaints regarding allegedly infringing posted material and COWORKERS.COM will investigate those complaints.  If the posted material is believed in good faith by COWORKERS.COM to violate any applicable law, COWORKERS.COM will remove or disable access to any such material and COWORKERS.COM will notify the posting User that the material has been blocked or removed in accordance with its copyright infringement policy.  COWORKERS.COM may, at its sole discretion, immediately terminate User's access to the Service should User's conduct fail to conform with any provision of these Terms of Use.

G.    No Warranty.   The information and content found on this Site is provided to Users "AS IS" and you agree to use it at your own risk.  COWORKERS.COM makes no guarantees, representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, arising by law or otherwise, including but not limited to content, quality, accuracy, completeness, effectiveness, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose, usefulness, use or results to be obtained from this information, or the information or server will be uninterrupted or error-free.

H.    Disclaimer of Warranty.
COWORKERS.COM DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.  Some states do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so to such extent, the above disclaimer may not be applicable to certain Users.

I.     Disclaimer of Liability.
COWORKERS.COM SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU IN RESPECT OF ANY CLAIM, DEMAND OR ACTION, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE NATURE OF THE CAUSE OF THE CLAIM, DEMAND OR ACTION ALLEGING ANY LOSS, INJURY OR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR INDIRECT, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OR POSESSION OF THE CONTENT OR INFORMATION FOUND ON THIS SITE; OR FROM ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE, CONTRACTS OR SAVINGS, OR ANY OTHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE.  Some states do not allow certain liability exclusions or damage limitations, so to such extent, the above disclaimer may not be applicable to certain Users.

J.     Inappropriate Content.
COWORKERS.COM provides Services to enable its Users to generate honest feedback about other persons and events. When used properly our Services provide a valuable evaluation tool. However, we are aware that our Services, like any tool, can be misused. Without limiting the definition of "misuse", we consider any of the following Users activities to be misuse:

  • Posting a message that threatens, harasses, abuses or intimidates any other party, including non-Users;
  • Attempting to artificially alter ratings or feedback with fictitious information or accounts;
  • Posting any content that is scandalous, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, offensive, or otherwise violates the rights of a third party or is otherwise offensive to a person of normal sensitivity;
  • Posting any content that invades the privacy of another person; and
  • Using the Services for the purposes of engaging in an activity for the direct commercial benefit of the User.

K.     How to Notify COWORKERS About Inappropriate Content and Misuse.
If you believe that a User has engaged in misuse of the Services, you can notify COWORKERS.COM about the suspected misuse, by sending us a message via http://www.coworkers.com/contact.action.  We will review the alleged misuse, and, if in our opinion we agree that a User has posted unsuitable content, we will remove the improper material.

L.     Anonymous Postings.
As a User, you are permitted to post content to the Site anonymously.  Even with an anonymous posting, our records do contain certain data, such as your IP address or MAC address, which could lead to the disclosure of your identity.  We call such data "Indirect Identifiable Data."  We will not make such Indirect Identifiable Data available to any third party in the normal course of business.  However you should be aware, that under certain exceptional circumstances, for example if ordered by a court of law, we may be required to disclose such Indirect Identifiable Data to third parties.

M.     Priority of Member Agreement.
If a Visitor becomes a Member, the terms of the Member Agreement shall take priority over these Terms in the event of a conflict or inconsistency.