General
Your use of and access to the Microbes.info website ("Microbes.info" or the “site”) is governed by these Terms of Use ("Terms"). Using or accessing the site constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and creates a binding agreement governing your use of and access to Microbes.info.
Microbes.info and its contents are provided to you (the "User") by SmartDen L.L.C. (the "Owners") solely for informational purposes. The goal is to provide a gateway to microbiological resources both on the site and through external links. This site does not attempt to provide any medical advice whatsoever, and the resources provided are not intended to create or replace any physician/patient relationship.
Content
While access to the contents of Microbes.info is available to the public, the information on the site is licensed only for the User's own internal use, and may not be sold, leased, furnished, or otherwise provided for payment to any other person or entity. This limited license shall be non-exclusive and may be freely revoked by the Owners at any time.
Authors and other providers of third-party information available through Microbes.info retain all proprietary rights in their information, and the license granted to Users is subject to such third-party proprietary rights. To this end, Users may not reprint, reproduce, or republish articles or other third-party content in any format, online or offline, without explicit written permission from the author or content provider. Microbes.info is not responsible for any third party use or misuse, including violation of copyright laws regarding third-party content. Users also agree not to use or permit anyone else to use any part of the site, or any content on the site, for any illegal purpose.
Disclaimer
Microbes.info contains opinions, statements, facts, views, and recommendations from the Owners and from third party individuals, writers, and organizations. The Owners do not make any claims with respect to the benefits/performance, accuracy, or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, treatment, product or service displayed on or distributed through Microbes.info.
The information on Microbes.info is believed to be correct as presented, but neither the Owners nor any affiliated parties make any representation or warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of any of the information. The information within Microbes.info is supplied on the condition that Users and recipients will make their own determination as to its suitability of the information for any purpose prior to any use of such information. The User assumes all risk of relying on the information. Neither the Owners nor any affiliated parties will be liable for damages of any nature whatsoever as a result or consequence of the use of the site or reliance upon any information available through Microbes.info, or any of the services, resources and contents thereupon, or any products, processes, opinions or services (by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise) referred to in the information.
External Links (links to external web sites) contained within Microbes.info are provided as a convenience and solely for informational purposes. References or external links to products, processes, opinions or services (by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise) in no way constitute an endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the Owners of any product, process, opinion, service, individual or organization. The Owners bear no responsibility for the accuracy, currency, quality, legality or content of the external sites or subsequent links within any external site. Please contact the webmaster of any external site for answers to questions regarding external content.
Article Postings
Microbes.info may from time to time display User submissions of informative articles, summaries, or reviews on subjects, topics, or issues relating to microbiology (collectively, "Materials"). The authors of all such Materials hosted on or available through Microbes.info retain all proprietary rights in their information, subject only to the license set forth herein.
If the User claims a copyright or other proprietary interest in the Materials provided to the Owners for hosting on the site, the User grants to Owners and their designees a worldwide, non-exclusive, revocable, assignable, royalty-free right to use, reproduce, and distribute (through multiple tiers) such Materials on or through the Microbes.info website or any successor to or affiliate of Microbes.info, without compensation to the User or any other party. The User may revoke this license by written notice to the Owners requesting the removal of the Materials from the site. By submitting Materials, the User warrants that the hosting and display of such Materials does not infringe upon the proprietary rights of any third party.
Feedback
The Owners do not generally solicit feedback, suggestions, or ideas with respect to the operation of the site from Users (collectively, "Feedback"). If the User does provide Feedback to the Owners, the User grants to Owners and their designees a worldwide, non-revocable, perpetual, assignable, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works in any medium and for any purpose, without compensation to the User or any other party.
Forum Submissions
Users choosing to register and post on the forums agree to abide by the Microbes Forum Rules and Regulations set forth elsewhere in these Terms of Use. By providing comments or submissions ("Postings") to the Forums, the User grants to Owners and their designees a worldwide, non-revocable, perpetual, assignable, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works in any medium and for any purpose, without compensation to the User or any other party. None of the Postings shall be subject to any obligation, whether of confidentiality, attribution, or otherwise, on the part of Owners, and the Owners shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Postings.
Registration
Users may need to register to access certain content or the Forum. By registering, the User agrees to (a) provide accurate, current, and complete information as prompted by the appropriate registration form, and (b) maintain and update such information to keep it accurate, current, and complete. The User acknowledges that the Owners reserve the right to terminate the User's access to Microbes.info in the event that the information provided by the User is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete. Registration is not available to children under the age of 13.
As part of the registration process, the User may be asked to select a username and password. The Owners may refuse to grant a username that impersonates someone else, is or may be illegal, is or may be protected by trademark or other proprietary rights law, is vulgar or otherwise offensive, or may cause confusion, as determined by the Owners in their sole discretion. The User agrees not to allow any other person to use the User's username or password, or to transfer in any manner or resell the use of or access to the Microbes.info or any information thereon to any third party.
Privacy
Microbes.info does not collect any personally identifiable User information except as follows:
- Our web hosting software registers all inbound IP addresses with respective dates and times of access, and tracks the usage of the site. This information is used to analyze our web traffic and help us further our site development.
- Information that the User provides during registration for the forum.
No other information is collected from our visitors.
We do not sell, disclose, or otherwise distribute any of the User information we collect, except as may be required by law.
Location
Microbes.info can be accessed from countries around the world, and may contain references to information or services that are not available in the User's country. The Owners make no representation that Microbes.info or any of the information available through it will be appropriate or available for use at locations outside the United States, and access to Microbes.info from any jurisdiction where its content may be illegal is prohibited. Users accessing Microbes.info from a location outside the United States are solely responsible for compliance with all local laws.
Changes to Terms
These Terms may be updated from time to time. Whenever we change our Terms, we will post those changes to this Terms of Service page, and other places we deem appropriate so that Users are aware of any changes to Microbes.info. By continuing to use the site, you agree to and accept the changes to the Terms.
Jurisdiction
These Terms constitute a binding agreement which shall be deemed to have been executed in the United States in the State of Florida and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with, and the validity and performance hereof shall be governed by, the laws of the State of Florida, without reference to principles of conflicts of laws thereof. The User consents to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of or for the State of Florida in connection with any action or proceeding instituted relating to these Terms or any use of Microbes.info.
Advertisements
The Owners agree that any advertising or sponsored content on the site shall be labeled as such.
The presence of advertisements in no way constitutes an endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the Owners of any product, process, opinion, service, individual or organization. The Owners bear no responsibility for the accuracy, currency, quality, legality or content of any external site or subsequent links within any external site.
All advertisements on the Site are subject to our Advertising Policy, which can be found here.
Microbes Forum Rules and Regulations
In addition to all other provisions of these Terms, use of and access to the Microbes.info forum is subject to the following Rules and Regulations.
All visitors can view the forum, however only registered users are allowed to post messages. Registrations are typically processed within 24 hours.
The real-time nature of this forum makes it impossible for us to review all messages or confirm the validity of information posted. We are not responsible for the content of any messages posted or any outside websites or information linked in any message – all messages are solely the responsibility of, and express only the views of, their respective authors. We may remove objectionable messages if and when we deem it necessary, and our decisions on such matters are solely within our discretion.
The guidelines below are designed to clarify various responsibilities of community members (users) here at www.microbes.info/forum/. Please read and become familiar with them.
Forum-wide Rules and Regulations
- Registration is required in order to post on the forum.
- Posts are to be made in a relevant forum. Users are asked to read the forum descriptions before posting. Users consistently posting to the wrong forum may be given a warning.
- Users should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to revocation of access.
- Users are asked to not act as "back seat moderators". If members note an issue which contravenes something in these guidelines they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a Moderator. Only do this if a moderator has not replied to the post within 6 hours. Users who consistently "act" as moderators may be warned or access revoked.
- Users should remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting generally offensive text, images, links, etc will not be tolerated and will lead to a revocation of access.
- Users are asked to respect the copyright of other users, sites, media, etc. Users linking to or asking for information on such material without permission will receive a warning and their post will be removed. If the behavior continues, the users’ access will be revoked.
- Users should respect the bandwidth of other users and sites. The use of inline image tags pointing to data stored on third party systems for which the user has not received permission to link to may be removed.
- Users should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing". That is users should not post excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small or colored text, etc. Similarly users should not SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. Users consistently abusing this will be warned.
- Users should use an appropriate, specific, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Examples of good titles include; "How do I start a batch culture", "I’m having problems with my gram stains", etc. Examples of bad titles include; "Help me!", "My bug!", "I've got a question!", etc.
- Spam is not tolerated here under any circumstance. This includes offering company services, equipment and supplies, soliciting employment, chain letters, etc. Users posting spam will be warned and their post removed. If the behavior continues, the users’ access will be revoked.
- The moderating, support and other teams reserve the right to edit or remove any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to Team Members and not users.
Warnings and Bans (Revocation of Access)
- Users will be warned at least once for a particular offence before being banned.
- The moderating, support and other teams reserve the right to ban an offending user at any time.
- Users who feel they have been unfairly warned or banned are welcome to contact the Moderator team leader. If the Moderator team leader feel you were treated badly they will remove a warning or ban. If you feel the Moderator team leader is also unfair you may contact a Moderator group member. However, a decision at this level is final. Contacting Moderator group members over warning matters should be done so as a very last resort ... group members do not want to be bothered unless vital.
- Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban will lead to that ban being made permanent. Circumvention includes re-registering under a non-banned username, changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban, registering a new email account to evade an email ban, etc.
- Permanent bans are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them.
Revised: March 11, 2016.