Terms of Service
These Terms of Service and the policies referred to herein (this “Agreement”) contain the terms and conditions that govern your use of the services owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by CoinOpinions, LLC DBA NewsEngine.io. (“Company”) offered through the applicable partner website located at (“Website”). Company makes its services available through the licensed partner (“Partner”) on a“branded” website and Partner provides Company’s additional content within such Website. Throughout this Agreement, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Company. This Agreement applies to all users of the Website, including without limitation users who are browsers, customers, merchants, and/or contributors of content. This Agreement includes the following policies, rules, and additional terms in the attached Appendices: Appendix 1 – Social Media Policy, Appendix 2 – Editorial Policy.
PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. THIS AGREEMENT GOVERNS YOUR USE OF COMPANY’S SERVICES. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY REVISED VERSION OF THIS AGREEMENT, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE.
BEFORE ACCEPTING THIS AGREEMENT, PLEASE BE ADVISED:
A. This Agreement contains a Class Action Waiver (Section 5);
B. This Agreement contains a binding Arbitration provision (Section 5);
C. This Agreement limits our liability and your remedies (Section 14); and
D. This Agreement is governed by Nevada Law (Section 12).
1. Acceptance. By accessing or using the Website, or registering for any services offered by Company, you agree to be bound by this Agreement. Company reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this Agreement at any time effective immediately upon notice. If you have registered for an account, you will be notified of any changes at the email address you provided during registration. Supplemental terms and conditions or documents that may be added to this Agreement from time to time are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. You will be alerted about any changes by updates to the “Last updated” date of this Agreement, and you waive any right to receive specific notice of each such change. Please check this Agreement periodically for changes. Continued use of the Website following the posting of notice of changes to this Agreement will mean you have read and accept such changes. You separately acknowledge, agree, represent and warrant that any information provided by you to Company is true, accurate, correct, complete and that this representation is an essential and material provision of this Agreement. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT REGISTER AND/OR DO NOT USE THE WEBSITE.
2. Age Requirement. To register for or use the Website or services or on your own behalf, you must be at least 18 years of age.
3. The Service. Company and its Partner provide users with access to a collection of web-based resources, including without limitation various communications tools, forums, search services, personalized content, user-generated and user-uploaded content, and related content comprised of audio, audio-video, video, photographs, graphic images, and text (“Materials”), which may be accessed through any medium or device now known or hereafter developed (the “Service”). You acknowledge and agree that the Service may include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for Company to provide the Services. Any reference to the Service herein shall include the Materials and the Web Site. You acknowledge and agree that the Service may include certain communications from Company and/or Partner, such as service announcements and administrative messages, and that these communications are considered part of your license to access Company and/or Partner’s Web Site and Materials and you will not be able to opt out of receiving them. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that augment or enhance the current Service, shall be subject to the Agreement. You are responsible for obtaining access to the Service, and that access may involve third-party fees (such as Internet service provider or airtime charges). In addition, you must provide and are responsible for all equipment necessary to access the Service.
3.1 Press Release Services and Resources. Registered users may use the Service to upload content through the Partner Website to the Service and distribute the content via the Service as a press release (“Press Release”) to Company’s publishing partners. The Service will “hash” (e.g. convert to a unique numeric identifier) the Press Release and store the hash on a public blockchain. In addition to the rights granted in Section 8 below, by uploading Press Release content to the Service, you authorize Company and/or Partner to distribute content according to your purchase selection. You agree that Company’s distribution partners and/or Partner, shall have the rights to review and refuse to publish/distribute any Press Release or part thereof, and you agree to hold Company and/or Partner harmless from any third party refusal to publish/distribute any Press Release.
3.2 Customer Information, Passwords & Security. Visitors may browse the contents of the Website. Users who register an account will create a password upon completing the registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and use of your account, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur using your access credentials. You agree to (a) immediately notify Partner and/or Company of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security of which you become aware, and (b) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. Company and/or Partner reserves the right to terminate your Account, access to the Web Site, and access to the Content if any registration information provided is false, inaccurate or incomplete.
3.3 Payment. All services purchased shall be paid as per payment terms in the applicable Service (e.g. payment occurs upon creation and distribution of a press release). You warrant that you have the authority to use the payment information you are providing t and you acknowledge and agree that you authorize Company and/or Partner to charge you for your order. You acknowledge and agree that you shall reimburse Company for all collection costs, attorney’s fees, past due amount with statutory interest, incurred by Company in any action or proceeding to collect any payment from you under any theory of liability.
3.4 You expressly authorize Company and/or Partner to charge the fees and any other charges you may incur in connection with your use of the Services, including any applicable taxes, to the payment method you provided. Upon notice, Company and/or Partner may change the amount of, or basis for determining, any fee, or institute new fees or charges. These new fees or charges will be implemented at the commencement of the next billing cycle after the change is effective.
3.5 Transaction Fees. Customers shall be charged a payment gateway fee, and a Company service fee in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the price of each transaction. [OPTIONAL Please note that features of the various supplier packages, as well as the fees for such programs, are subject to change from time to time in Company’s sole discretion. (see http://www.Company.com/...)]
4. Informal Dispute Resolution. If you have a question, concern or grievance regarding your access or use of the Service, we ask that you provide Company and/or Partner with an opportunity to address your concerns prior to starting formal legal action. Before filing a claim against Company, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by submitting your request to Company in writing. If a dispute is not addressed within one hundred twenty one (121) days of the date of your notice of dispute, you or Company may commence a formal proceeding.
5. BINDING ARBITRATION; CLASS ACTION WAIVER
5.1 You,Company and Partner agree to arbitrate any and all disputes, claims, or controversies arising out of, in connection with, or relating to this Agreement, use of the Service, the Website, and our relationship with you, including any claims that may arise after the termination of this Agreement. This agreement to arbitrate includes any claims against our employees, agents, or any subsidiaries of Company and/or Partner. Arbitration is a method of claim resolution that is less formal than a traditional court proceeding in state or federal court. It uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury and the arbitrator’s decision is subject to limited review by courts.
5.2 All disputes concerning the arbitrability of a claim (including disputes about the scope, interpretation, breach, applicability, enforceability, revocability or validity of this Agreement) shall be decided by the arbitrator. The arbitrator shall also decide whether any claim is subject to arbitration. You further agree that the Commercial Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of this agreement to arbitrate. The AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules are available online at:
https://www.adr.org/sites/default/files/CommercialRules_Web_FINAL_1.pdf.
This Agreement to Arbitrate shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada. The arbitrator is bound by the terms of this Agreement.
5.3 CLASS ACTION WAIVER: YOU AND COMPANY AND/OR PARTNER ALSO AGREE THAT EACH IS GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, CONSOLIDATED ACTION, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION. This means that neither you, Partner, nor Company can seek to assert class or representative claims against each other either in court or in arbitration and no relief can be awarded on a class or representative basis for claims related to this Agreement. The arbitrator also may not consolidate or join another person’s claim with your claim or issue an order that would achieve the same result. You, Partner and the Company further agree that if the provisions of this paragraph, known as the “Class Action Waiver,” are found to be unenforceable, it cannot be severed from this arbitration agreement and the entire provision compelling arbitration shall be null and void.
5.4 You agree that if Company makes any future, material change to this arbitration provision, you may reject any change by sending written notice within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of the change to Company, Inc., address Attn: Legal. Your decision to reject changes in a new arbitration provision, however, does not affect any prior arbitration provisions to which you have already agreed, which remain in effect. Your decision to reject changes shall result in the termination of your Account effective as of the date of such notice.
5.5 Judgment upon the arbitration award may be entered in a court having jurisdiction, or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as the case may be.
6. License & Access. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Company grants you a revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-sublicensable, right and license during the Term to access the Web Site and the Service.
6.1 License Restrictions. Your right to access the Service is subject to compliance with this Agreement. This license does not include: (a) any resale or third-party commercial use of the Service or its contents; (b) any derivative use of the Service or its contents; (c) any downloading or copying of account information for the benefit of yourself, or any other individual or business; or (d) any use of data mining, robots, or similar automated data gathering and extraction tools. For avoidance of doubt, you may not share with any third-party any information accessed or retrieved from the Service. Any unauthorized use terminates the permission or license granted by Company.
6.2 Content. In this Agreement, all content, music, audio, video, audio-visual, text, graphics, artwork, images, photographs, animations, data, information, software, designs and other materials included within the Service and all legally-protectable elements of the Service including, without limitation, the selection, sequence, “look and feel” and arrangement of items, as well as all copyrights, trademarks, service marks, brand and trade names and our services, tangible or intangible, created or used by Company shall be the exclusive property of Company and you agree that you shall not challenge Company’s ownership thereof.
6.3 Access. The words “use” or “using” or “consumer” or “consuming” in this Agreement, means any time any individual, including you, directly or indirectly, with or without the aid of a machine, automated or other device, does or attempts to access, interact with, use, display, view, print or copy or use any portion, feature, function or aspect of the Content, transmit, receive or exchange data or communicate with the Content, or in any way utilizes, benefits, takes advantage of or interacts with any function, service or feature of the Content, for any purpose whatsoever. This Agreement does not cover your rights or responsibilities with respect to third party content or web sites or any links that may direct your browser or connection to third party web sites or pages.
6.4 System Requirements. Use of the Service, requires Internet access (fees may apply), software (fees may apply), and may require obtaining updates or upgrades from time to time. Therefore, your ability to use the Service may be affected by these factors. You agree that such system requirements are exclusively your responsibility, that use of the Service and Content may require the use of other hardware and software products, and that such hardware and software is your responsibility.
6.5 User-Provided Content (“UGC”). UGC shall include anything within the definition of Content above that any customer uploads to the Service or submits to Company and/or Partner. Please review this Section, and Section 7, Restrictions on Use, carefully prior to using our Services to understand the rights you give us, and the obligations you have when you post or upload any content through the Services. You are responsible for what you post or upload. By sending us Submissions and/or posting Contributions through any part of the Services or making Contributions accessible through the Services by linking your account through the Services to any of your social networking accounts, you confirm that you have read and agree with Section 7, Restrictions on Use.”
6.6 Representations. You hereby promise that: (a) no part of this Agreement is or will be inconsistent with any obligation you may have to others; (b) you have the full right and authority to provide the assignments and rights granted to Company herein; (c) you have the full legal authority to share UGC; (d) any UGC you share does not and shall not violate any copyright, trademark, service mark, trade name, patent, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary right, or any right of publicity or privacy of a third party (“Third Party Rights”), and (e) any UGC you share does not and shall not create a claim for libel, slander, defamation or disparagement of any third party.
7. Restrictions on Use. Unless otherwise noted, all materials that are part of any Company Service are protected by copyright, trademark, trade dress, and industrial design rights, and/or other intellectual property rights owned, controlled or licensed by Company. No Content from the Service or any other Company property may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except with express written consent of Company. In addition, You agree that you will not, and will not permit others to:
7.1 damage, interfere with, or unreasonably overload, the Service;
7.2 introduce into the Service any code intended to disrupt operations;
7.3 alter or delete any information, data, text, links, images, software, chat, communications and other content available through the Service;
7.4 access the Service by expert system, electronic agent, “bot” or other automated means;
7.5 use scripts or disguised redirects to derive financial benefit from Company;
7.6 modify, reverse engineer, reverse assemble, decompile, copy or otherwise derive the source code of any Service for any reason;
7.7 rent, sell or sublicense any portion of the Service;
7.8 provide any unauthorized third party with access to the Service;
7.9 access or attempt to access confidential Content through the Service;
7.10 interfere with the operation of the Service, including, but not limited to, distribution of unsolicited advertising or mail messages and propagation of computer worms and viruses;
7.11 post advertising messages or solicitations, URLs containing a referral code or referral address, or links to businesses or pages with advertising, including “blind” or “hidden” referral links;
7.12 post any material in any form whatsoever on the Service that is defamatory, obscene or otherwise unlawful or violates any third party’s right of privacy or publicity;
7.13 infringe any third party’s patent, copyright, service mark, trademark or other intellectual property right of any kind or misappropriate the trade secrets of any third party in connection with your use of the Service;
7.14 engage in any activity that does not comply with applicable law and regulations or otherwise engage in any illegal, manipulative or misleading activity through the use of the Service;
7.15 use the manual or automated software, devices or other processes to “scrape,” “crawl,” “spider” or index any page of Content from the Service; or
7.16 collect, store, use or disseminate personal data or information about other users in any manner whatsoever, including but not limited to, solicitation of products or services by mail, telephone or e-mail (e.g. e-mail addresses).
8. User Submissions and Contributions. If you send us any question, comment, suggestion, idea, feedback, or other information about the Services (“Submissions”), and if you chat, contribute to, or participate in blogs, message boards, online forums, and other functionality during which you may create, submit, post, display, transmit, publish, distribute, or broadcast content and materials to us or through the Services, including but not limited to text, writings, video, audio, photographs, music, graphics, comments, reviews, rating suggestions, personal information, or other material (collectively, “Contributions”), you agree to assign to us all rights in all inventions, works of authorship, mask works, designations, designs, know-how, ideas and information made or conceived or reduced to practice, in whole or in part, whether or not registerable (“Intellectual Property Rights”) in your Submission, whether the Submission is transmitted online, by email, by postal mail, or otherwise. Any Contribution shall be and be treated as a Submission.
You agree that Company may, at any time, without restriction, edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate and otherwise use in any medium now known or hereafter developed any Submission. Company shall have no obligation to: (a) maintain any Submission in confidence; (b) pay compensation for any Submission; or (c) respond to any Submission. Company may, but has no obligation to, monitor, edit or remove any submission or portion thereof that we determine in our sole discretion is or may become unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party’s intellectual property or this Agreement. You hereby waive any right, claim, or cause of action for compensation, damages or any other remedy, legal or equitable, arising from Submissions and any UGC you share with Company. You may not use a false email address, pretend to be someone other than yourself, or otherwise mislead us or third-parties as to the origin of any comments. You are solely responsible for any comments you make and their accuracy. Company shall have no responsibility and no liability for any comments posted by you or any third-party. You agree to abide by the additional Social Media Policy in Appendix 1.
9. Privacy. It is our policy to respect the privacy of Company users. Therefore, in addition to the privacy of registration data, Company shall not monitor, edit, or disclose the contents of a guest’s e-mail unless required in the course of normal maintenance of Company and its systems or unless required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to: (1) comply with the law or comply with legal process served on Company; (2) protect and defend the rights or property of Company; or (3) act in an emergency to protect the personal safety of our users or the public. You shall remain solely responsible for the content of your messages. Our Privacy Policy can be found here.
10. Indemnity. You shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless, Company, Partner, their directors, officers, employees, agents and contractors from and against any and all liabilities, claims, costs, assessments, fees or expenses of any kind, including without limitation defense costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees (“Claims”) arising from or related in any way to (a) your violation of this Agreement, (b) any claim by a customer (other than you) related to your use of the Service, (c) any claim arising from your UGC, or your Press Release or any part thereof, or (d) any action or claim by third parties alleging a violation of Third Party Rights, provided Company promptly notifies you in writing of any claim, and allows you to control the conduct of any related defense or settlement negotiations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you shall not settle a third party claim without the prior written consent of Company if such settlement shall require action or payment by Company.
11. Termination. This Agreement is effective on the earlier of the date you click “I Accept” or the first date you access the Service (the “Effective Date”) and shall continue in effect until terminated by either party. You may terminate this Agreement at any time by destroying all materials obtained from Company and all related documentation and all copies and installations thereof, whether made under this Agreement or otherwise. If you have an active subscription, termination of this Agreement shall not relieve you of the obligation to pay the subscription fee, if any, or any other fees due. Any rights to access and use the Services under this Agreement shall terminate immediately without notice from Company if in Company's sole discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of this Agreement.
Company may, at its sole discretion and at any time, discontinue providing access to, alter or replace the Materials in the Service, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Service under any provision of this Agreement may occur without prior notice. Further, you agree that Company shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any termination of your access to the Service.
12. Jurisdiction & Venue. Unless otherwise specified, the Service is available solely for the purpose of promoting products and/or services available in the United States, its territories, possessions, and protectorates. The Service is controlled and operated by Company from its offices within the State of Nevada, United States of America. Company makes no representation that materials in the Service or products purchased through the Service are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access this Service from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. You agree that any dispute shall be conducted in the State or Federal Courts within the State of Nevada, in connection with any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to this Agreement. You hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of adjudicating any such action.
13. DISCLAIMER. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, COMPANY AND PARTNER DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
NEITHER COMPANY NOR PARTNER WARRANTS THAT THE SERVICES SHALL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SERVICE OR ANY COMPANY OR PARTNER WEBSITE OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKES THE SERVICE, WEBSITE, OR CONTENT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. NEITHER COMPANY NOR PARTNER WARRANTS OR MAKES ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SERVICE, CONTENT OR THE WEBSITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.
NEITHER COMPANY NOR PARTNER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONDUCT, WHETHER ONLINE OR OFFLINE, OF ANY CUSTOMER OR OTHER USER OF THE SERVICE. NEITHER COMPANY NOR PARTNER ASSUMES ANY RESPONSIBILITY AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, OR ALTERATION OF, THE SERVICE. NEITHER COMPANY NOR PARTNER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS OR TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION OF ANY TELEPHONE NETWORK OR LINES, COMPUTER ONLINE SYSTEMS, SERVERS OR PROVIDERS, COMPUTER EQUIPMENT OR SOFTWARE, OR THE FAILURE OF EMAIL ON ACCOUNT OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS OR TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON THE INTERNET OR AT ANY WEBSITE, INCLUDING INJURY OR DAMAGE TO ANY PERSON'S COMPUTER RELATED TO OR RESULTING FROM PARTICIPATING OR DOWNLOADING CONTENT IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SERVICE.
14. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. IN NO EVENT SHALL COMPANY, ITS PARTNERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, INTERNS, SUPPLIERS, SERVICE PROVIDERS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INJURY, LOSS, CLAIM, DAMAGE OR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, WHICH ARISES OUT OF OR IS ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH (A) ANY USE OF THE SERVICE, OR ANY SERVICES PROCURED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE, OR (B) ANY FAILURE OR DELAY (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE ANY COMPONENT OF THE SERVICE), EVEN IF ADVISED OF THEIR POSSIBILITY. BECAUSE SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH STATES OR JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
15. Links to Outside Websites and Services. To the extent that the Website contains links to outside services and resources, neither Company not Partner controls the availability and content of those outside services and resources. Any concerns regarding any such service or resource, or any link thereto, should be directed to the particular service or resource.
16. Miscellaneous. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada and you agree that this Agreement shall be deemed to have been entered into and performed exclusively in the State of Nevada. If any provision of this Agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this Agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
APPENDIX 1.
Social Media Policy
This Policy is part of the Company Terms of Service.
Social Media Policy
This Social Media Policy (“Policy”) is applicable to all Content on the Website.
1. Definitions
Social Media Channels. Blogs, micro-blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking services, user-rating services and any other online collaboration, sharing or publishing platform, whether accessed through the web, a mobile device, text messaging, email or any other existing or emerging communications platform.
Social Media Account. A personalized presence inside a social networking channel, initiated at will by an individual. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking channels allow users to sign-up for their own social media account, which they can use to collaborate, interact and share content and status updates. When a user communicates through a social media account, their disclosures are attributed to their User Profile.
Social Media Disclosures. Blog posts, blog comments, status updates, text messages, posts via email, images, audio recordings, video recordings or any other information made available through a social media channel. Social Media Disclosures are the actual communications a user distributes through a social media channel, usually by means of their social media account.
User Profile. Social Media Account holders customize their User Profile within a Social Media Channel with specific information about themselves which can be made available others users.
Copyrights. Copyrights protect the right of an author to control the reproduction and use of any creative expression that has been fixed in tangible form, such as literary works, graphical works, photographic works, audiovisual works, electronic works and musical works. It is illegal to reproduce and use copyrighted material through social media channels without the permission of the copyright owner.
Trademarks. A trademark is a brand name. A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services. While one may use a competitor’s trademark in certain circumstances, such use must be truthful and not misleading, inaccurate or incomplete. Trademark owners have the right to prevent others from doing anything that would 1) improperly suggest association, affiliation, endorsement or sponsorship, 2) lessen the trademark’s ability to identify its owner, 3) tarnish the reputation of the trademark owner by associating it with illegal, substandard or offensive goods/services and 4) confuse consumers.
2. Transparency
You shall disclose your identity and affiliation to paid or promotional content distributed via social media channels. If you have a personal or financial interest in something you are discussing, you must disclose that relationship.
You are prohibited from using services or technologies for “bulk-posting” to social media channels or other platforms. Company considers bulk posting to be an unethical practice known as “spam,” which can violate the Terms of Use of many online platforms.
You are discouraged from engaging directly with minors via social media channels, and must always use extreme care if creating content intended to be consumed by minors. In addition, it is useful to keep in mind that you should:
• Comply with all laws and regulations regarding disclosure of your identity;
• Use your real name and identify for whom you work in any social media post that involves Company or Company-related topics; and
• Aim for a consistent profile across all your social media accounts since conflicting information damages your credibility, and could also adversely impact the Company’s reputation.
3. Disclosures
The law requires that certain types of relationships must be disclosed. The key requirement to keep in mind is the obligation to disclose any relationship that may have, or may be perceived to have, influenced the purpose, character and tone of the information provided.
Personal Opinion. If you write a review or blog post and your post contains only your own opinions, you haven't received any compensation for the review or post, and you otherwise have no material connection to the topic of your post, you have nothing to disclose.
Free Sample/Free Gift. If you have been given a free copy, sample, or gift of a product or service and you write a review or blog post, you must disclose the facts and circumstances of how you received the item or service, even if you have not been paid to review or post on that topic. You do not run afoul of the disclosure rules if you receive payment unrelated to your content. This disclosure is useful to keep in mind when your content relates to product previews, reviews of samples, services, gifts, books, software, music, movies, etc.
Promotional Relationships. If you write a review or blog post and your post is based upon an advertising relationship, and you have received compensation (cash, free services, product samples for personal use or a gift) for the review or post, you must disclose the nature of the relationship, whether you received anything of value, and information about relationships with advertisers or endorsers that would have a material impact about how a prospective consumer would view the message. This disclosure is useful to keep in mind when your content relates to paid posts, sponsored messages, tweets, fan page postings, etc.
Employment Relationships. If you write a review or blog post and your post is based upon an employment relationship, e.g. you are an employee of the company you are posting about, employee or shareholder of a related company, or you are a paid consultant of the company, you have a “material business relationship” to disclose, even if you are not being directly compensated for the message. You may post on behalf of a business or brand. In fact, it may even be part of your job description. Again, be mindful of the requirement to disclose any "connections" that may have influenced you, including both direct and indirect relationships. This requirement is not meant to interfere with their legal rights to bargain collectively or engage in concerted or protected activities under the NLRA, but rather to ensure that others can easily distinguish the official position of organization or our organization's management from those of our employees.
Affiliate Relationships. If you write a review or blog post and your post is based upon an affiliate relationship, e.g., you have included affiliate links on your page, you must disclose the fact that the relationship exists and that you will be paid for referrals from your page.
Third-Party Posts. If you or the Company created or “sponsors” an online forum, be aware that, under certain circumstances, a customer’s or other third party’s content on a social media site may become attributable to the firm. Whether third-party content is attributable to a firm depends on whether the firm has (1) involved itself in the preparation of the content or (2) explicitly or implicitly endorsed or approved the content.
Paid Endorsements. Paying a third-party to write endorsements of your company, product or service, is unethical, a violation of the US Federal Trade Commission Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, and grounds for immediate termination or suspension of your account. You shall not distribute rewards, incentives, promotional items, gifts, samples or any other items without clearly disclosing the terms and conditions under which it was distributed in a publicly accessible location on our organization’s website.
4. Violations
Failure to comply with these social media policies may result in:
• Termination or suspension of your account, without notice
• Civil or criminal penalties as provided by law.
APPENDIX 2
Editorial Policy
This Policy is part of the Company Terms of Service.
Editorial Guidelines for News Releases
Company reserves the right to review all press releases before distribution to ensure that content is newsworthy, accurate and in an acceptable press release format.
Company provides these guidelines to help your press release avoid approval and distribution issues. Press releases must contain clear, timely, and newsworthy content free of advertising hype, direct mail, and commercial bulk email a/k/a “spam.” Press releases should incorporate the following features/qualities:
Newsworthy Content: Timely information about a product, service, business, event, or other media mention on a topic currently in the news. The news announcement must be clearly stated in the headline.
Objective Tone: Press releases should be free of hype flags and direct address (i.e. “you,” “I,” “we,” etc.) unless used appropriately in context. Red Flags that may delay or block your news announcement include direct addressing, exclamation points, overstated product/service claims; descriptions of a product or service that lack credible support.
Legal Accuracy: For all press releases referencing civil or criminal legal matters, your announcement must include the correct case number, court of record, complaint number or other sufficient documentation.
Valid Contact Information: Press releases must contain a valid contact name, phone number, and e-mail address in the contact information.
Written Authorization: In certain cases, Company may require written authorization from a company executive before a press release is approved for distribution (e.g. network marketing companies).
Optimal Length: Company recommends that press releases be 300 to 800 words, with a 1 or 2 sentence summary.
Grammar and Spelling: Check for spelling and grammatical errors, and primary language. Company recommends including definitions for industry jargon and acronyms.
Company Formatting: Do not use HTML tags and other formatting such as non-standard characters, tables or forced line breaks. Ensure hyperlinks are fully functional. Non-functional links will delay review until the link is removed or functional.
Transparency: You must identify the company or organization that is issuing the release in the headline. If distributing on behalf of a third-party, then the source would be the third-party. You must also disclose the relationship among the organizations.
Accepted File Types: Company only accepts releases containing links or attachments with the following extensions: .jpeg, .gif, .png, .tiff, .bmp, .ps, .pdf, .doc*, .xl*, .rtf, .ppt*, .mpeg. .mp*, and .mov.
Company does not distribute:
Sexually Explicit Content: content about sexually explicit material or products, or references or links to explicitly sexual material, illegal material, or profane language.
Harmful Content: content advocates, incites, suggests, promotes, encourages, provides instruction on, or is otherwise intended to cause, harm or exact revenge upon an individual or group.
Online Gambling: content that promotes or links to online gambling, fantasy sports, and related sites.
Payday or Short Term Loans: content that promotes or links to payday, short term or other unsecured loan services.
Online Pharmaceuticals: content that promotes or links to online pharmacies or websites that sell prescription drugs unless such website provides an explicit method for verifying prescriptions.
Weight Loss Products: content that promotes or links to unsafe or potentially hazardous weight loss products or ingredients cited on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tainted Products list.
Health Supplements: content that promotes or links to health supplement content, irrespective of any claims of legality:
Sexual Enhancement Products: content that promotes or links to promote sexual enhancement products.
Stock Recommendations: content that promotes or links to promote stock picks, newsletters, alerts, recommendations, advice or reviews. Publicly traded companies may still promote their own news.
SEO Tactics: content that promotes or links to tactics for keyword stuffing, link buying and selling, link stuffing, over-hyphenated domains, paid social media followers, and reputation management. Company reserves the right to remove news releases that appear to have earned inbound links through participation in paid link schemes.
Advertisements: content that promotes or links to primarily aimed at selling a product or service, then it is an advertisement and not a press release.
Link SPAM: Please limit your link count to 1 per 100 words. This policy is in place to protect the value of the links in a press release and the value of links within the Company network.
Reprints: News and feature images, articles, opinion columns, editorials or news stories from other websites or publications, especially if they are copyrighted, are not press releases.
Duplicate Content: A press release can only be distributed once through Company. In addition, a significant majority of each press release must be original content. Templated content is not permitted. Using copyrighted content from other sources is a violation of Company’s Terms of Service.
Third Party Legal Releases: Company only accepts press releases from law firms in which the firm is representing one of the parties in the case. Company does not accept press releases regarding legal cases from third party firms.