WIKI FOSSCELL NITC:Terms of Service: Difference between revisions

: Disclaimer: This summary is not a part of the Terms of Use and is not a legal document. It is simply a handy reference for understanding the full terms. Think of it as the user-friendly interface to the legal language of our Terms of Use.</small></small>

* '''Empower and Engage''' people around the world to collect and develop educational content and either publish it under a free license or dedicate it to the public domain.<br>

* '''Disseminate''' this content effectively and globally, free of charge.<br>

* Terms of Use and Policies — You adhere to the below Terms of Use, to the Universal Code of Conduct, and to the applicable community policies when you visit our websites or Projects or participate in our communities.<br>

* No Professional Advice — The content of articles on Wikipedia and other Projects is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.<br>

'''If you need help or you want to report a violation of these Terms of Use you can''':<br>

* Ask for help by email: Contact experienced volunteers for help by emailing info@wikimedia.org.<br>

* Contact the Wikimedia Foundation: You can find information about how to reach us on our contact page.<br>

We welcome you ("you" or the "user") as a reader, or contributor of the Projects, and we encourage you to join the Wikimedia community. Before you participate, however, we ask that you please read and agree to the following Terms of Use ("Terms of Use").

These Terms of Use tell you about our public services at NITC Wiki, our relationship to you as a user, and the rights and responsibilities that guide us both. We host an incredible quantity of educational and informational content, all of which is contributed and made possible by users like yourself. Generally we do not contribute, monitor, or delete content (with rare exceptions, such as under policies like these Terms of Use, for legal compliance, or when faced with urgent threats of serious harm). This means that editorial control is in the hands of you and your fellow users who create and manage the content.

As used throughout the rest of the Terms of Use, our services consist of: [<tvar name="1">//www.wikimedia.org</tvar> The Project Websites we host], technological infrastructure that we maintain, and any technical spaces that we host for the maintenance and improvement of our Projects.

<ol STYLE="list-style-type: lower-alpha"><li><translate><!--T:12--> '''We do not take an editorial role:''' Because the Projects are collaboratively edited, the vast majority of the content that we host is provided by users, and we do not take an editorial role. This means that we generally do not monitor or edit the content of the Project Websites, and we do not take any responsibility for this content. Similarly, unless we have expressly stated otherwise, we do not endorse any opinions expressed via our services, and we do not represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any submitted community content on the Projects.</translate></li>

<li><translate><!--T:13--> '''You are responsible for your own actions:''' You are legally responsible for your edits and contributions on the Projects, your reuse of content on the Projects, your use of the APIs, and your use of our services more generally. For your own protection you should exercise caution and avoid taking any actions that may result in criminal or civil liability under any applicable laws. For clarity, applicable law includes at least the laws of the United States of America and the State of California. For other countries, this is determined on a case-by-case basis. Although we may not agree with such actions, we warn users—particularly the editors, contributors, and authors—that non-U.S. authorities may seek to apply other country laws to you, including local laws where you live or where you view or edit content. We generally cannot offer any protection, guarantee, immunity or indemnification against the application of such laws.</translate></li></ol>

== 2. Privacy Policy == <!--T:14-->

We ask that you review the [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy</tvar>|terms of our Privacy Policy]], so that you are aware of how we collect and use your information.

== 4. Refraining from Certain Activities == <!--T:19-->

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The Projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation only exist because of the vibrant community of users like you who collaborate to write, edit, and curate the content. We happily welcome your participation in this community. We encourage you to be civil and polite in your interactions with others in the community, to act in good faith, and to make edits and contributions aimed at furthering the mission of the shared Project. We ask that all users review and follow the [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal Code of Conduct</tvar>|Universal Code of Conduct]] ("UCoC"), which lays out requirements for collegial, civil collaboration across all Projects that we host.

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Certain activities, whether legal or illegal under the applicable law, may be harmful to other users and violate our rules, and some activities may also subject you to liability. Therefore, for your own protection and for that of other users, you may not engage in such activities on, or otherwise using, our Projects. These activities include:

::* Intentionally or knowingly posting content that constitutes libel or defamation under the laws of the United States of America;

::* Engaging in fraud.</translate>

: '''Committing Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights'''</translate>

::* Infringing copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other proprietary rights under the applicable law.</translate>

: '''Misusing Our Services for Other Illegal Purposes'''</translate>

::* Using the services in a manner that is inconsistent with applicable law.</translate>

: '''Engaging in Disruptive and Illegal Misuse of Facilities'''</translate>

::* Engaging in automated uses of the Project Websites that are abusive or disruptive of the services, violate acceptable usage policies where available, or have not been approved by the Wikimedia community;

::* Disrupting the services by placing an undue burden on an API, Project Website or the networks or servers connected with a particular Project Website;</translate>

::* Probing, scanning, or testing the vulnerability of any of our technical systems or networks unless all the following conditions are met:</translate>

<translate><!--T:102-->

:::* such actions do not unduly abuse or disrupt our technical systems or networks;</translate>

:::* such actions are not for personal gain (except for credit for your work);</translate>

:::* you report any vulnerabilities to the relevant developers (or fix it yourself); and</translate>

::* You must disclose each and any employer, client, intended beneficiary and affiliation with respect to any contribution for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation. You must make that disclosure in at least one of the following ways:</translate>

:::* a statement in the edit summary accompanying any paid contributions.</translate>

::* In addition, if you make a public posting off the Projects advertising editing services on Wikipedia in exchange for compensation of any kind, you must disclose all Wikipedia accounts you have used or will use for this service in the public posting on the third-party service.</translate>

::* Applicable law, or Project-specific policies and Foundation policies and guidelines, such as those addressing conflicts of interest, may further limit paid contributions or require more detailed disclosure. For example, infringing Wikimedia Trademarks (defined hereinafter at Section 6) to advertise paid editing services, removing disclosures on previously adequately disclosed paid edits, or logged-out paid editing in a manner that makes adequate disclosure a practical impossibility violate this section.</translate>

::* A Wikimedia Project community may adopt an alternative paid contribution disclosure policy which may supplement or replace this section. If a Project adopts an alternative disclosure policy, you may comply with that policy instead of the requirements in this section (titled "Paid Contributions Without Disclosure") when contributing to that particular Project.

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:: For more information, please read our [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use/Frequently asked questions on paid contributions without disclosure</tvar>|FAQ on disclosure of paid contributions]].

Undisclosed editing by users receiving compensation creates an unreasonable burden on volunteer editors [[<tvar name="1">{{lwp|Wikipedia:Conflict of interest}}</tvar>|who investigate and enforce community policies]]. Therefore, for violations of this section related to undisclosed paid editing, you agree to submit to binding "Med-Arb" (a "Marketing Company Mediation") as described in section 14 of these Terms of Use.

You are responsible for safeguarding your own password and other security credentials, and should never disclose them to any third party.

== 6. Trademarks == <!--T:36-->

== 7. Licensing of Content == <!--T:38-->

<OL STYLE="list-style-type: lower-alpha"><LI><translate><!--T:41-->

'''Text to which you hold the copyright:''' When you submit text to which you hold the copyright, you agree to license it under:</translate>

<!--T:42-->

Please note that these licenses do allow commercial uses of your contributions, as long as such uses are compliant with the terms of the respective licenses. Where you own Sui Generis Database Rights covered by CC BY-SA 4.0, you waive these rights. As an example, this means facts you contribute to the projects may be reused freely without attribution.</translate></li>

<li><span id="7b"></span><translate><!--T:44--> '''Attribution:''' Attribution is an important part of these licenses. We consider it giving credit where credit is due – to authors like yourself. When you contribute text, you agree to be attributed in any of the following fashions:</translate>

<li><translate><!--T:45--> Through hyperlink (where possible) or URL to the article to which you contributed (since each article has a history page that lists all contributors, authors and editors);</translate></li>

<li><translate><!--T:46--> Through hyperlink (where possible) or URL to an alternative, stable online copy that is freely accessible, which conforms with the relevant license, and which provides credit to the authors in a manner equivalent to the credit given on the Project Website; or</translate></li>

<li><translate><!--T:47--> Through a list of all authors (but please note that any list of authors may be filtered to exclude very small or irrelevant contributions).</translate></li>

<li><span id="7c"></span><translate><!--T:48--> '''Importing text:''' You may import text that you have found elsewhere or that you have co-authored with others, but in such case you represent and warrant that the text is available under terms that are compatible with CC BY-SA (or, as explained above, another license when exceptionally required by the Project edition or feature). For a list of compatible licenses, see [<tvar name="1">//creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-considerations/compatible-licenses/</tvar> Creative Commons]. You shall not import content that is available solely under GFDL.</translate><br />

You agree that, if you import text under a CC license that requires attribution, you must credit the author(s) in a reasonable fashion. Where such credit is commonly given through page histories (such as Wikimedia-internal copying), it is sufficient to give attribution in the edit summary, which is recorded in the page history, when importing the text. The attribution requirements are sometimes too intrusive for particular circumstances (regardless of the license), and there may be instances where the Wikimedia community decides that imported text cannot be used for that reason.</translate></li>

<li><span id="7d"></span><translate><!--T:50--> '''Non-text media:''' Non-text media on the Projects are available under a variety of different licenses that support the general goal of allowing unrestricted reuse and redistribution. When you contribute non-text media, you agree to comply with the requirements for such licenses as described in our [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Resolution:Licensing policy</tvar>|Licensing Policy]], and also comply with the requirements of the specific Project edition or feature to which you are contributing. Also see the [[<tvar name="2">:c:Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Licensing</tvar>|Wikimedia Commons Licensing Policy]] for more information on contributing non-text media to Wikimedia Commons.</translate></li>

<li><span id="7e"></span><translate><!--T:52--> '''No revocation of license:''' Except as consistent with your license, you agree that you will not unilaterally revoke or seek invalidation of any license that you have granted under these Terms of Use for text content or non-text media contributed to the Projects or features, even if you terminate use of our services.</translate></li>

It is possible to notify us of illegal content, or content that violates our Terms of Use (including all policies and other documents incorporated by reference) for other reasons [[<tvar name="1">{{foundationsite|1=about/contact/}}</tvar>|by contacting us directly]]. However, you can typically make a request directly to the Project's community: this may be more efficient, and is more consistent with our Projects' aim to empower the user community.

* Investigate your use of the Projects or our services (a) to determine whether a violation of these Terms of Use, Project edition policy, or other applicable law or policy has occurred, or (b) to comply with any applicable law, legal process, or an appropriate governmental request;

* Refuse, revert, disable, or restrict access to contributions of any user who violates these Terms of Use;</translate>

* Ban a user from editing or contributing or block a user's account or access for actions violating these Terms of Use, including repeat posting of unlawful material under applicable law in line with human rights principles;

* Take legal action against users who violate these Terms of Use (including reports to law enforcement authorities); and

In the interests of our users and the Projects, in the extreme circumstance that any individual has had their account or access blocked under this section, they are prohibited from creating or using another account on or seeking access to the same Project, unless we provide explicit permission. Without limiting the authority of the community, the Foundation itself will not ban a user from editing or contributing or block a user's account or access solely because of good faith criticism that does not result in actions otherwise violating these Terms of Use or community policies.

Especially problematic users who have had accounts or access blocked on multiple Project editions may be subject to a ban from all of the Project editions, in accordance with the [[<tvar name="1">:m:Special:MyLanguage/Global bans</tvar>|Global Ban Policy]]. In contrast to Board resolutions or these Terms of Use, policies established by the community, which may cover a single Project edition or multiple Projects editions (like the Global Ban Policy), may be modified by the relevant community according to its own procedures.

The blocking of an account or access or the banning of a user under this provision shall be in accordance with Section 13 of these Terms of Use.

We make available a set of APIs, which include documentation and associated tools, to enable users to build products that promote free knowledge. By using our APIs, you agree to abide by all applicable policies governing the use of the APIs, which include but are not limited to the [[<tvar name="1">:m:Special:MyLanguage/User-Agent policy</tvar>|User-Agent Policy]], the [[<tvar name="2">wikitech:Robot policy</tvar>|Robot Policy]], and the [[<tvar name="3">:mw:Special:MyLanguage/API:Etiquette</tvar>|API:Etiquette]] (collectively, "API Documentation"), which are incorporated into these Terms of Use by reference.

Though we hope you will stay and continue to contribute to the Projects, you can stop using our services any time. In certain (hopefully unlikely) circumstances it may be necessary for either ourselves or the Wikimedia community or its members (as described in Section 10) to terminate part or all of our services, terminate these Terms of Use, block your account or access, or ban you as a user. If your account or access is blocked or otherwise terminated for any reason, your public contributions and a record of your activities on or in relation to the Projects (including any correspondence you have sent us) will be unaffected (subject to applicable policies), and you may still access our public pages for the sole purpose of reading publicly available content on the Projects. In such circumstances, however, you may not be able to access your account or settings. However, regardless of any other provision in these Terms of Use, we reserve the right to suspend or end the services at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. Even after your use and participation are banned, blocked or otherwise suspended, these Terms of Use will remain in effect with respect to relevant provisions, including Sections 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9-16, and 18.</translate>

We hope that no serious disagreements arise involving you, but, in the event there is a dispute, we encourage you to seek resolution through the dispute resolution procedures or mechanisms provided by the Projects or Project editions and the Wikimedia Foundation. If you seek to file a legal claim against us, you agree to file and resolve it exclusively in a state or federal court located in San Francisco County, California. You also agree that the laws of the State of California and, to the extent applicable, the laws of the United States of America will govern these Terms of Use, as well as any legal claim that might arise between you and us (without reference to conflict of laws principles). You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of, and agree that venue is proper in, the courts located in San Francisco County, California, in any legal action or proceeding relating to us or these Terms of Use.

To ensure that disputes are dealt with soon after they arise, you agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action you might have arising out of or related to use of our services or these Terms of Use must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations or, if earlier, one (1) year after the pertinent facts underlying such claim or cause of action could have been discovered with reasonable diligence (or be forever barred).</translate>

As described in section 4 of these Terms of Use, you agree to resolve violations of the Paid Contributions without Disclosure in a Marketing Company Mediation at the Foundation's discretion. Marketing Company Mediations are '''binding''' mediations where, at the end of either a half or full day session, any disputed items that remain unresolved will be decided by the mediator in a legally binding decision. They will be conducted in meetings by teleconference or videoconference. If an in-person meeting is required, then the Marketing Company Mediation will take place in San Francisco County, California. The parties will split all fees and expenses related to the mediation/arbitration equally.

We are not responsible for the content, data, or actions of third parties, and you release us, our directors, officers, employees, and agents from any claims and damages, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any claim you have against any such third parties. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from us or through or from our services creates any warranty not expressly stated in these Terms of Use.

== 17. Modifications to these Terms of Use == <!--T:90-->

Just as the Wikimedia community's input is essential for the growth and maintenance of the Projects, we believe that community input is essential for these Terms of Use to properly serve our users. It is also essential for a fair contract. Therefore, we will provide these Terms of Use, as well as any substantial future revisions of these Terms of Use, to the community for comment at least thirty (30) days before the end of the comment period. If a future proposed revision is substantial, we will provide an additional 30 days for comments after posting a translation of the proposed revision in at least three languages (selected at our discretion). The community will be encouraged to translate the proposed revision in other languages as appropriate. For changes for legal or administrative reasons, to correct an inaccurate statement, or changes in response to community comments, we will provide at least three (3) days' notice.

Because it may be necessary to modify these Terms of Use from time to time, we will provide notice of such modifications and the opportunity to comment via the Project websites, and via a notification on <tvar name="1">[[mail:wikimediaannounce-l|WikimediaAnnounce-l]]</tvar>. However, we ask that you please periodically review the most up-to-date version of these Terms of Use. Your continued use of our services after the new Terms of Use become official following the notice and review period constitutes an acceptance of these Terms of Use on your part. For the protection of the Wikimedia Foundation and other users like yourself, if you do not agree with our Terms of Use, you cannot use our services.

These Terms of Use do not create an employment, agency, partnership, joint control or joint venture relationship between you and us, the Wikimedia Foundation. For the purposes of European Economic Area law, United Kingdom law, or other laws that involve a similar concept, you are not acting "under the authority of" the Foundation when you use the services. If you have not signed a separate agreement with us, these Terms of Use are the entire agreement between you and us. If there is any conflict between these Terms of Use and a signed written agreement between you and us, the signed agreement will control.

You agree that we may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms of Use, by email, regular mail, or postings on the Projects or Project Websites.

If in any circumstance, we do not apply or enforce any provision of these Terms of Use, it is not a waiver of that provision.

Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in these Terms of Use, we (the Wikimedia Foundation) and you agree not to modify the applicable terms and requirements of any free license that is employed on the Projects or Project editions when such free license is authorized by these Terms of Use.

These Terms of Use were written in English (U.S.). While we hope that translations of these Terms of Use are accurate, in the event of any differences in meaning between the original English version and a translation, the original English version takes precedence.

If any provision or part of a provision of these Terms of Use is found unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Terms of Use and will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and all other provisions of these Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect.

We appreciate your taking the time to read these Terms of Use, and we are very happy to have you contributing to the Projects and using our services. Through your contributions, you are helping to build something really big – not only an important collection of collaboratively edited reference Projects that provides education and information to millions of students who might otherwise lack access, but also a vibrant community of like-minded and engaged peers, focused on a very noble goal.

'''These Terms of Use went into effect on <date>'''