The-Journal.com (“The Journal”) owns and/or operates the website www.The-Journal.com (“website”). By accessing or using the website, you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy (“Agreement”), as The Journal may amend them at any time. All amendments automatically go into effect on the day after they are posted on the website. Use of the website subsequent to such posting shall constitute your agreement to all such amendments.

Please read this Agreement in its entirety. The Journal encourages an open exchange of information and ideas and believes it is absolutely possible for people with varied of points of view to discuss issues in a civil manner. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE WEBSITE. The Journal MAY TERMINATE YOUR ACCESS THE WEBSITE AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY REASON, WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU.

Access and Use of the website

To gain access to any non-public areas of the website and/or to use certain social networking tools available on the website, you must register for an account (“Account”) and obtain a user name (“User Name”). You agree to register only a single User Name in connection with the website.

You must use a password in conjunction with your User Name to access the non-public areas of the website, including your Account, and to use certain social networking tools available on the website. You may select the password yourself. You must provide accurate identification to retrieve a password you have forgotten. The Journal will not be responsible or liable for any damage caused by disclosure of your password or your inability to remember your password.

Sharing Content and Information on the website

You hereby grant to The Journal an irrevocable license to reproduce, distribute, display, publish, use and prepare derivatives of all remarks, comments, blog posts, suggestions, ideas or other information that you communicate through or on the website (“User Generated Content”). The Journal and its designees will be free to copy, publish, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use your User Generated Content for any and all commercial or noncommercial purposes, without any obligation to compensate you or others for the User Generated Content. If you delete your User Generated Content, you understand that it may still exist in backup copies. When you publish User Generated Content on the website, you understand that such User Generated Content may be publicly available on the internet and that The Journal has no responsibility for or control over any use or further dissemination thereof.

For all User Generated Content that you supply, you represent and warrant that: (i) you have all rights necessary to distribute and publish such User Generated Content; (ii) that if your employer has rights to intellectual property you create, that you have either (a) received permission from your employer to post or make available the content, or (b) secured from your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the content; (iii) you have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the content; (iv) that it does not contain or install any viruses, worms, Trojan horses or any other harmful or destructive code; (v) that it is not and does not contain spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing); and (vi) that it is not libelous or defamatory, does not contain threats or incite violence towards individuals or entities, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless The Journal from any liability that it may incur as a result of your User Generated Content.

Intellectual Property

Other than as expressly allowed herein, you may not modify, copy, distribute, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, User Generated Content (other than User Generated Content supplied by you) or Materials obtained from the website. Provided that you do not modify or delete any copyright or other proprietary notices, you may display and electronically copy, download and print hard copy portions of the Materials and User Generated Content contained on the website, but only for your own noncommercial use. Any other use is strictly prohibited.

Except for your own User Generated Content, you acknowledge that all intellectual property rights and other legal means of ownership in the Materials and User Generated Content residing on the website remain with The Journal, its licensors, affiliates, other website users and third party developers. The trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed on the website, including but not limited to the marks “The Journal” and The-Journal.com (collectively, "Marks") are owned by The Journal or its affiliates. Nothing contained on the website shall be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Marks displayed on the website without the express written permission of The Journal. The misuse of Marks displayed on the website, or any other content on the website, is strictly prohibited.

Although The Journal may from time to time monitor or review any User Generated Content, The Journal is under no obligation to do so and assumes no responsibility or liability arising from the posting of any User Generated Content, nor for any error, defamation, libel, slander, omission, falsehood, obscenity, pornography, profanity, danger or inaccuracy contained in any information contained within any User Generated Content. The Journal does, however, reserve the right to remove any User Generated Content if a user brings to The Journal’s attention the possibility that such User Generated Content may result in The Journal’s liability, is an infringement of the rights of a third party, or is offensive to any third party. In addition, The Journal reserves the right to suspend or terminate any Account, including your Account, if The Journal learns that the person responsible for the Account has engaged in more than one act of infringement in connection with the website. You can report violations here.

Email and SMS Alerts

From time to time, The Journal may make available to website users different email and short messaging service (“SMS”) alerts (“Alerts”). The Journal makes no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of Alerts and users should treat Alerts only as a secondary source of information in any severe weather or similar situation.

Avatars

The Journal operates certain websites that allow users to upload an avatar image to their Profile. The user must hold the copyright or have the express permission of the copyright holder to use the relevant avatar image. Avatar images must not contain any graphic images and or otherwise be objectionable. If the avatar image does not meet those standards or is otherwise a violation of copyright or any term of this Agreement, as determined solely by The Journal, The Journal may remove such avatar image without notice to the user. Further, if a user wishes to upload a new avatar image after such an image has been removed, the user must contact The Journal and request that avatar privileges be restored. For more information, visit our banned accounts information page here.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Liability

The Journal MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE WEBSITE’S CONTENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ABOUT ANY USER GENERATED CONTENT, ALERTS, RSS FEEDS, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OF The Journal OR ITS VENDORS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR USERS. THE WEBSITE AND THE MATERIALS, USER GENERATED CONTENT, ALERTS, RSS FEEDS, INFORMATION, SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ON THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DATA, TEXT, GRAPHICS AND LINKS, ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, The Journal DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUS, AND WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE. The Journal DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED ON THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE THE WEBSITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. The Journal DOES NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE MATERIALS, USER GENERATED CONTENT, ALERTS, RSS FEEDS ON THE WEBSITE IN TERMS OF THEIR COMPLETENESS, CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE, YOU (AND NOT The Journal) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. IN CERTAIN STATES, THE LAW MAY NOT PERMIT THE DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL The Journal BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF The Journal HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION UNDER CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, OR PERFORMANCE OF THE WEBSITE AND ANY INFORMATION, SERVICES, PRODUCTS, MATERIALS, USER GENERATED CONTENT, ALERTS OR RSS FEEDS AVAILABLE FROM THE WEBSITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless The Journal, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and suppliers from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs, resulting from any violation of this Agreement, your User Generated Content or any activity related to your Account or your use of the website (including, but not limited to, negligent or wrongful conduct), by you or any other person accessing the website using your Account.

Modification of the website and these Terms of Use

By providing Materials on the website, The Journal does not promise that the Materials will remain available to you. The Journal is entitled to terminate all or any portion of the website at any time, without notice to you. The Journal also reserves the right to change the terms under which the website is offered, and your use of the website following any such changes shall be deemed to constitute your consent to this Agreement and its modifications.

Privacy and Use of Your Information

Any communication or material you transmit to the website by electronic mail or otherwise, including any User Generated Content, is and will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. Anything you transmit or post on the website may be used by The Journal or its affiliates for any purpose, including but not limited to reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication and posting. Furthermore, The Journal is free to use any ideas, concepts or techniques contained in any communication you send to the website for any purpose whatsoever.

The Journal makes commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard individual website users’ personal information. Nevertheless, The Journal cannot ensure that these measures will provide perfect security. The Journal will not be responsible or liable for damage, pecuniary or otherwise, caused by a third party’s unauthorized access to or use of your information.

You will not use the website in any manner, or in connection with any User Generated Content provided by or on behalf of you or any person accessing a website under your authority, that (1) infringes or violates any patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, or other intellectual property right of any third party, or (2) violates any applicable international, federal, state or local law, rule, legislation, regulation of ordinance, including, without limitation, the Communications Decency Act of 1996, as amended.

Your use of the website constitutes your agreement to respect other users’ privacy. You may not, under any circumstances, release personal information of others to third parties, including to your employees, without the written consent of both The Journal and the person or persons whose personal information you intend to share. You may not, under any circumstances, use personal information obtained from the website to send unsolicited email, facsimile transmissions, chain letters, spam or any other communication or messages, even if the recipient has communicated with you in the past. You agree to immediately notify The Journal of any release or breach of any third party’s personal information (including name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, account numbers or social security number) that occurs as a result of use of a website under your Account.

You may not do anything to interfere or attempt to interfere with any function of the website. You may not take any action that overloads, places an unreasonable burden on or otherwise diminishes the functionality or responsiveness of the website, which The Journal shall solely determine. Any attempt to alter information posted on a website or to interfere with the website will result in immediate termination of your right to access the website and may also render you liable for civil and/or criminal penalties.

Information Gathered

The Journal gathers identifying information about website users (“Information”) only when a user provides that information on a voluntary basis such as by registering for or using an Account, Alerts, RSS feeds, by posting User Generated Content, by using social networking tools and the like. The Journal does not sell, rent or lease user information to third parties. The Journal occasionally may share Information with its affiliates and related companies. If you choose to use social networking tools available on the website, your favorites or other profile information may be shared with other website users who also use those social networking tools.

The Journal periodically collects and analyzes log files, including IP addresses, from its servers. These files give a general picture of who is visiting the website and which pages are being viewed most often. This information is collected to assist The Journal in the maintenance and administration of the website. The Journal may share log file information with advertisers, but will refer only to general, aggregate usage data, not user specific identifying information.

The website will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on The Journal or the website; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of The Journal; or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the website, or the public. Except as noted above, The Journal does not share any of the personal information you provide to us with any third party other than our service providers who assist us in providing information and/or services to you.

The Journal also uses “cookie” technology that allows its servers to deposit codes on a user’s computer. This information helps determine the number of visitors to the website on an ongoing basis and the types of internet browsers and operating systems used by the website’s users. This information is used to enhance your website experience without notice, only if required to do so by us in providing information and/or services to you.

Third Parties

The Journal offers to website users social networking tools that may include “friending," updating Profile information, posting comments on other users' Profiles and identifying website content or User Generated Content as something of interest to a particular user. When a user takes advantage of the social networking tools, the user agrees to share personal information with other users. The Journal provides privacy tools within its social networking framework to enable users to control the types of this personal information that is shared with other users. If you post User Generated Content to the website that includes your User Name, email address or any other personally identifying information, you understand that that information can be read by any third party and may result in unsolicited messages from other posters or third parties.

Process to Remove Your Personal Information

Most of The Journal’s services include information on how to remove your information, and/or and cancel a particular service. We do not generally delete or remove accounts. Alternatively, you may send an email to [email protected] to request the services and information you would like removed. Your request should include the specific reasons why The Journal should remove identified content. The Journal reserves the right to decline requests for removal of information based on maintaining the historical and archival nature of the website.