Terms of Service

rev. 1/2012

As a visitor to Half the Sky Foundation’s website and online community forums (collectively referred to as “Services”), you accept the following conditions. We urge all users to carefully read our Terms of Service (“Terms”) and Privacy policies.

Half the Sky Foundation offers its information on the Internet essentially for the benefit of individuals interested in its efforts to uphold its mission, to protect and promote the well-being of children and to foster human development.

The content of the Half the Sky web site is selected on the basis of Half the Sky's own criteria and at its own sole discretion. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Half the Sky excludes all liability for all content appearing on its site and makes no representations or warranties in respect of that content.

Half the Sky reserves the right at any time to change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the Half the Sky web site, including but not limited to these terms of service, hours of availability and equipment needed for use.

Copyright and Ownership

Half the Sky Foundation reserves all copyrights on material on its web pages, including photographs and graphic designs. All content included on this site, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, video and audio-video clips, sound recordings, with the exception of your and other community members’ "Submissions," (defined below) is the property of Half the Sky Foundation or its content suppliers and protected by United States and international copyright laws. In the case of some content, Half the Sky has acquired the right to reproduce the content.

The use of Half the Sky Internet material for any purpose, including repackaging in hard copy or compilation for CD-ROM or any other electronic media, is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. The unauthorized use of the Half the Sky name and logo is against international law and is expressly forbidden.

Any use for a purpose other than for personal or educational purposes, requires the express prior written permission of Half the Sky Foundation. If you wish to mirror, reproduce, republish or translate any of the information for wider dissemination, please contact us with your request.

General User Conduct

You understand that the Services are for personal use and educational purposes only. You also agree not to use the Services to:

• Harvest or collect the email address or other contact information of other users of the Services for the purpose of data mining, sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications;
• Use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, or overburden the website;
• Reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, or resell any portion of the Services for any purpose without the written permission of Half the Sky;
• Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age, or your affiliation with any person or entity;
• Engage in any activity that interferes with applicable laws.

Online Community Guidelines

The purpose of Half the Sky’s online community is to provide a safe place for people who care about the welfare of China’s children to connect, share stories, and build relationships with each other. Some subjects can be controversial – however, we ask that you treat every member of our community with respect if you disagree with her or him. We welcome all thoughts, opinions and ideas, as long as they are relevant, constructive, and respectful.

Personal Information

We will do our best to protect your personal information, but please be aware that this is an online community and you should not post any critical personal information, such as full names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.

Children

Children under 13 are not allowed to sign up for an account, (for more information see “Privacy,”) and we strongly recommend that minors 13 years of age or older ask their parents for permission before sending any information about themselves to anyone over the Internet.

Submissions

Visitors may post and submit content (“Submissions”) including, but not limited to: stories, comments, pictures, video, suggestions, ideas and questions as long as the content is not harmful, hateful, threatening, abusive, illegal, defamatory, obscene, knowingly deceptive or misleading, infringing on third-party intellectual property rights and does not consist of or contain software viruses or commercial solicitation. Half the Sky Foundation maintains the right to edit any Submission in order to alter grammar, spelling, or presentation.

External Content

Hyperlinks that connect to other websites, resources and content may sometimes be posted within our Services. Half the Sky has no control over any content that is not provided directly by us. Half the Sky accepts no responsibility or liability in respect to the conduct of any user in connection with such third party Web Sites, or for any material submitted by those users. Please exercise caution when linking to outside content and ensure that content is appropriate for our forums. You are also responsible for any content you post – so make sure that you’re not posting any copyrighted materials or anything you don’t have permission to share or reproduce. This includes posting articles on our discussion forums (we recommend that you provide the link to the full article).

Responsibility for submissions posted on our Service

By posting a Submission on a Half the Sky Foundation website, you are granting Half the Sky Foundation a license to use your Submission in accordance with these Terms of Service. When you post Submissions to any part of the Half the Sky Foundation website, you automatically grant, represent, and warrant that you have the necessary rights to grant Half the Sky Foundation an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferrable, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such content for any purpose.

You are legally responsible for your Submissions. If any part of your Submission is not your original work, it is your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright owner before you post your Submission. Failure to comply with these Terms of Service may expose you to liability to Half the Sky Foundation and liability to individuals or legal entities whose copyrights or other rights have been violated.

If you choose to remove your Submissions from the Services, the license granted above will automatically expire as to such Services. However, you acknowledge that Half the Sky Foundation may retain archived copies of your Submissions. Half the Sky does not assert any ownership over your Submissions. You retain full ownership of all your Submissions and any associated intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, provided you acknowledge and agree that you are fully responsible for protecting and enforcing such rights and that Half the Sky Foundation shall have no obligations to do so on your behalf.

Your Account

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and your password to access the services Half the Sky provides. You are also responsible for all activity that occurs under your account; if you are aware of unauthorized use of your account, please contact Half the Sky immediately at contact@halfthesky.org.

Inappropriate Content and Abusive Posts

Half the Sky Foundation encourages open, honest dialogue, and understands that some subjects are sensitive in nature. However, we reserve the right to remove any profanity or abusive posts. Threatening, defamatory, and obscene posts are also not tolerated. If a user persists in submitting such posts on Half the Sky Foundation’s community forums, he or she will be blocked and prevented from posting further.

Solicitation/Advertising

We do not allow soliciting or advertising in our online community. Any posts relating to solicitation or advertising will be removed, and you are not allowed to contact another member to ask for money, help, or to offer products or services. If a member continues to engage in this type of activity, she/he will be blocked and prevented from posting further.

Half the Sky Administrators

Half the Sky Foundation’s community manager(s) reserve the right to delete any content or ban any user without warning. Privately-owned websites, such as this one, are not subject to freedom-of-speech guarantees; if a user violates our community guidelines, she/he runs the risk of losing her/his account.

While we will be monitoring the online community’s discussion, it may be impossible for us to monitor all activities. If you think anyone has violated these community guidelines, please report it immediately to contact@halfthesky.org.

Termination

Half the Sky Foundation may terminate your account and/or delete your profile and any user content or submissions you have posted at any time with or without notice for any reason, including but not limited to, your violation of these Terms of Service. We also reserve the right, at our sole discretion and at any time, to modify or discontinue the Services on a temporary or permanent basis, with or without notice.

Terms Updates/Revisions

We are continually improving and adding to the features and functionality of our Services, and as a result, we may need to update or revise these Terms. We reserve the right to update or revise these Terms at any time, without prior notice. If there is a discrepancy between Terms anywhere on our Services, the most recently updated Terms will take precedence. Your continued use of our Services indicates that you accept those changes. We will update the policy effective date at the top of this page. You may access the current version of these Terms of Service at any time by clicking the link marked “Terms” at the bottom of each page of our Service.

Not for Profit Status

Half the Sky Foundation has registered charitable status in the United States and is registered as an institution for general benefit (ANBI) in the Netherlands. Half the Sky Foundation (Asia) Limited, Half the Sky Foundation (UK) Limited, Half the Sky Foundation (Canada) Inc., Half the Sky Foundation Australia Ltd are all separate, affiliated entities that have legal registered status in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia respectively. [Half the Sky Foundation Australia Ltd has applied for deductible gift recipient status and is pending regulatory approval].

Contact Us

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about these Terms of Service.

Half the Sky Foundation
E-mail: contact@halfthesky.org
Phone: +1.510.525.3377
Fax: +1.510.525.3611
Address: 715 Hearst Ave. Ste 200, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA

Copyright © 1998-2012, Half the Sky Foundation