Visitor agreement for toledoblade.com

Visitor agreement for toledoblade.com

Welcome to toledoblade.com®, a service of The Toledo Blade business unit of Block Communications, Inc., which contains material derived in whole or in part from The Blade newspaper and other sources. Please read this visitor agreement. By accessing toledoblade.com, you accept the terms of this agreement and agree to abide by them. References to “toledoblade.com” include all Internet-related services of The Toledo Blade, which may use different domain names, such as our mobile edition, green edition, and affiliated web sites.

We expect the Internet to change daily and we will change with it, including changing the terms of this agreement. If you continue to access this toledoblade.com and affiliated web sites after we post such changes, that means you accept the agreement, as modified. If you want to keep up with the changes, check this page every now and then when you visit toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites.

COMMENT STANDARDS

Readers can keep the conversation going on toledoblade.com and affiliated web sites with online comments. Comment sections are available at the end of all news, sports, business, and feature stories.

To comment, users need to login through their own Facebook accounts, and then can post comments on stories. You must be at least 13 years old to post comments to our site.

The Blade requires all commenters to abide by our Privacy Statement and Visitor Agreement, links to which are available in the comment section and guidelines of which continue below. The Blade requires that commenters use their real names and that they use their own Facebook accounts.

Flaming, trolling, soliciting, profaning, and defaming are prohibited as is hateful, racist, and personally insulting remarks. Swear words also are prohibited and comments that diverge from the topic of the story are not allowed. Be polite and considerate of others’ views. Personal attacks against other commenters will not be tolerated. Any violation of these terms could result in the comment being removed from a story and of the commenter being banned from making further comment posts.

If you see someone posting something abusive, you can report it with just a click.

Freedom of speech does not permit readers to publish just anything on our Web sites. You can’t have an opinion about someone’s criminal activity (i.e., “that person is a drug addict” or “that business is crooked”); such is an accusation that without substantiation can incur your own legal trouble.

To stay out of copyright messes, don’t post anyone else’s work.

Violation of any part of the user agreement could result in a comments being removed and the user being banned from making further comments.

These boundaries provide ample room for discussion among our readers.

The Blade welcomes your comments, criticisms, and contributions to our content.

Questions? Contact our Director of New Media.

The Toledo Blade values and respects the privacy of our users. Please take a few minutes to review our Privacy Statement.

We welcome your comments, suggestions, questions, and criticisms about toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites. Please send them, including a copy of any material you want to discuss, to our Director of New Media. We’ll take a look at your comments, and we may respond as appropriate. And if you find something on toledoblade.com or our affiliated web sites which you think is not accurate, let us know, using the same address.

We’re in the information business, so we sincerely respect intellectual property rights, ours and others’. If you think your rights have been violated on toledoblade.com or affiliated web sites by improper posting or distribution of your intellectual property, please let us know. You can do by sending a notice by U.S. mail to The Blade, Director of New Media, 541 North Superior Street, Toledo, Ohio 43660, or by e-mail to our Director of New Media.

The material available on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites is for informational purposes only. If you are going to act on information you’ve found on toledoblade.com or its related web sites, confirm the facts for yourself. In addition to natural delays that may occur because of the nature of electronic communications, you should know that certain financial information, including stock and mutual-fund quotes, and related financial news stories may be delayed at least 20 minutes, as may be required by the stock exchanges and/or the financial information services.

The Blade is not responsible for, and does not guarantee, the performance of goods and services provided by our advertisers or others to whose sites we link. We provide certain links to other web sites as a convenience to you and to enhance the utility of toledoblade.com. But that doesn’t mean that The Blade or its licensors endorses any non-affiliated web site or any product, service or other material offered on such sites. And if you visit those other sites, we encourage you to acquaint yourself with the user agreements and privacy statements for those sites.

CHAT ROOMS AND FORUMS

The Internet is tremendously exciting. It allows people throughout the world to exchange valuable information, ideas, and creative works. For this medium to thrive, we all need to respect the rights of those who share their creations with us. So it’s important to set a few ground rules that we expect you to understand and follow.

GENERAL RULES

The Toledo Blade encourages a free and open exchange of information and ideas. But we cannot and do not moderate or review every posting made on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites, particularly postings by other visitors. Remember: toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites are providing the service, but individuals and organizations other than toledoblade.com are providing the information and opinions posted in these areas. While we endorse the free exchange of information and ideas, that doesn’t mean we endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting, no matter whom it’s from. When you read postings, use your own good judgment about what your read. Be skeptical. Be thoughtful. Be careful.

You and you alone are responsible for what you post in the public areas on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites, just as every other user is responsible for what that user posts. You may not post or transmit any defamatory, abusive, obscene, offensive, threatening, or illegal material, or any other material that infringes on the ability of others to enjoy toledoblade.com or that infringes on the rights of others. Be aware that others may view any material you post in public areas. We expect you to take that commitment seriously. We have the right to deny access to anyone who we believe has violated these or any other term of this agreement.

We welcome younger readers to toledoblade.com. However, you must be at least 13 years old to post comments on stories on our web sites or to register on toledoblade.com or affiliated web sites for any reason.

We reserve the right (but are not obligated) to delete, move, or edit any postings that come to our attention that we consider unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons. We will also comply with legal requirements regarding disclosure of messages and content to others, including law enforcement agencies.

You may not use toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites to violate anyone’s intellectual-property rights, including copyright, trademark, and related rights. By submitting material to toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites, you are representing that you have the right to do so, either as the owner of the material or with the express consent of the owner. Submitting material that is the property of another, without the consent of its owner, violates this agreement, and it may also violate other laws, including those relating to copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights.

You may not use toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites in any other way which might violate applicable law. For example, you may not upload or deploy viruses or other harmful material, you may not threaten, harass, or intentionally embarrass or cause harm or distress to anyone else, you may not promote criminal behavior, and you may not solicit personal information from others, especially those under the age of 13.

All material you submit to any public area of toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites, and all communications sent using toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites, become the property of The Toledo Blade and may be reproduced, modified, and distributed as we see fit in any medium and for any purpose.

NO SOLICITING

You may not use toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites, or information posted on toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites (such as phone numbers or e-mail addresses) to advertise or to solicit anyone to buy or sell products or services, or to make donations of any kind, without our express written approval. (Of course, you may contact our advertisers regarding products and services they offer.) You may not send unsolicited emails to employees of The Toledo Blade or other visitors to toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites. You may not use electronic or automated means to collect information from toledoblade.com. Some of these prohibited activities are commonly referred to as spamming, data mining, and e-mail harvesting.

Although we make toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites freely accessible, this free access doesn’t mean that we, or anyone else who participates, gives up rights to the materials that appear on the site. The materials available on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites are the property of The Toledo Blade and our licensors, as applicable, and are protected by a variety of intellectual property laws, including copyright, trademark, and other laws. You may display and print for your personal, noncommercial use information you receive through toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites. And we invite you to encourage others to access the information themselves on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites and to tell them how to do that. But you may not reproduce or distribute (including by email or other electronic means) any of the materials, including code, software, images, information, data, or other content, without the prior written consent of the owner. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute materials found on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites should be sent to Assistant Managing Editor - Administration, The Toledo Blade, 541 North Superior Street, Toledo, Ohio 43660, or e-mail our Assistant Managing Editor - Administration.

The Associated Press provides some of the material on toledoblade.com. No AP material may be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication, or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. No portion of these AP materials may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in these materials or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part of these materials or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.

TRADEMARKS

We think it’s important that everyone on the Web knows who provides the material you’re seeing. We especially want you and everyone else to be able to know which materials and services are provided by toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites and which are not. Therefore, we respect the trademarks of everyone else, and we expect you to respect our trademarks. You may not use any trademark or service mark appearing on toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites without the prior written consent of the owner of the mark. “toledoblade.com” and the toledoblade.com logo are registered trademarks of The Toledo Blade. Requests for permission to use our trademark or service mark may be sent to Director of New Media, The Toledo Blade, 541 North Superior Street, Toledo, Ohio 43660, or e-mail our Director of New Media.

LINKING

We welcome links to our service. You are free to establish a hypertext link to toledoblade.com, but the link must not in any way suggest that we sponsor or endorse your site.

NO FRAMING

You may not frame any of the content of toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites, or incorporate into another web site or other service any intellectual property of toledoblade.com, its affiliated web sites, The Toledo Blade, or any of our licensors, unless you first receive our express written permission. Requests for permission to frame our content may be sent to Director of New Media, The Toledo Blade, 541 North Superior Street, Toledo, Ohio 43660, or e-mail our Director of Digital Media Operations.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY

We think you’ll find toledoblade.com an interesting and useful site. We’ll work hard to keep it that way. But we can’t guarantee that you’ll like everything you find here. We hope you understand, and we want to make sure you understand some of the basic limitations about our site and your use of it. Therefore, we want you to read this disclaimer carefully before using toledoblade.com.

YOUR USE OF THIS SERVICE IS SOLELY AT YOUR RISK. IF YOU RELY ON TOLEDOBLADE.COM OR ANY MATERIAL AVAILABLE THROUGH IT, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM ANY MATERIAL AND/OR DATA DOWNLOADED FROM OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED THROUGH TOLEDOBLADE.COM.

THERE MAY BE DELAYS, OMISSIONS, INACCURACIES, OR OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE INFORMATION YOU FIND ON OR THROUGH TOLEDOBLADE.COM. TOLEDOBLADE.COM IS PROVIDED *AS IS*, *WITH ALL FAULTS*, AND *AS AVAILABLE*. THE TOLEDO BLADE AND OUR AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS CANNOT AND DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH TOLEDOBLADE.COM. NOR DO WE GUARANTEE THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE, OR THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE TOLEDO BLADE, OR OUR AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF USE OF TOLEDOBLADE.COM, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, EVEN IF WE ARE ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. (BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, THE LIABILITY OF THE TOLEDO BLADE AND OUR AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH STATE LAW.) THE LIABILITY OF THE TOLEDO BLADE, AND OUR AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS, IF ANY, ARISING OUT OF ANY KIND OF LEGAL CLAIM IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO ANY SERVICE OF TOLEDOBLADE.COM SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO THE SERVICE FOR THE USE OF SUCH SERVICE.

MISCELLANEOUS

We work hard to ensure that information we post to toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites is both timely and accurate. But news changes and evolves; reports that were accurate when posted may become outdated or may be superseded by follow-up reports. As this happens, we may continue to provide access to the original report in a news archive, or elsewhere. When we do so, we don’t go back and change the original report to reflect new developments. We want the record to reflect how the news unfolded. But if you want the most recent information on a given subject, make sure you’re looking at the most current report.

You may be given a chance to register in order to gain access to certain services on toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites. We may ask you to select a user name and a password. During the registration process, you must supply accurate and complete information, and may not register under the name of, nor attempt to enter toledoblade.com or its affiliated web sites under the name of, another person. We reserve the right to reject or terminate any user name that, in our judgment, we deem inappropriate. You are responsible for preserving the confidentiality of your password and will notify the toledoblade.com Director of Digital Media Operations of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your account.

This visitor agreement is governed by United States and Ohio law, without reference to conflict of law principles. By using this service, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in Lucas County, in all disputes arising out of or relating to this agreement or toledoblade.com.

Thanks for visiting toledoblade.com and its affiliated web sites, and for agreeing to abide by the rules. We hope you enjoy using toledoblade.com and affiliated web sites. Let us know what you think about it, and how you think we can make it better.