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iFlood Terms of Use

These Terms of Use were last updated and are effective as of April 22, 2022.

We welcome you to the iFlood website and related iFlood mobile applications/apps (as applicable and collectively, the “Platform”), which are operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (the “Institution”, “WHOI”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY. THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH BELOW (THE “TERMS”) GOVERN YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM. THESE TERMS ARE A LEGAL CONTRACT BETWEEN YOU AND WHOI AND GOVERN YOUR ACCESS TO, AND USE OF, THE PLATFORM. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS OR OTHERWISE USE THIS PLATFORM, OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS PLATFORM. YOUR USE OF THIS PLATFORM SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE YOUR AGREEMENT TO ABIDE BY EACH OF THE TERMS SET FORTH BELOW. WHOI MAY MAKE CHANGES TO THE CONTENT, FEATURES AND SERVICES OFFERED ON THIS PLATFORM AT ANY TIME.

WHOI provides the Platform and related pages and content for its permitted users. We’ve worked hard to give you the essential information here and elsewhere on our Platform to get you comfortable with our Platform and to make it useful to you. These Terms help enable us to provide you with the services, information, other content and features available through our Platform, and the Terms govern your use of the Platform.

Scope of Access to Platform

Subject to these Terms of Use, WHOI grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable license to download and use the Platform solely for your personal or institutional use. As such, WHOI Content, User Content (other than your own), Third Party Content and any other content, data and information that is made available on or through the Platform may not be shared by you with any third parties without the express permission of WHOI.

You may be given access to a specific user account and certain password protected areas of the Platform. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account, password, registration data and for any and all activity that occurs under your account or password. You agree to notify WHOI immediately of any unauthorized use of your account, password or any other breach of security relating to the Platform. You shall not, and shall not attempt to, access any non-public personal data of another Platform user. Use of the Platform is restricted to individuals over 18 years of age.

Access to this Platform and its features is a privilege, and not a right, and WHOI reserves the right to suspend any user’s account and/or other access to the Platform and its features, in whole or in part, at any time for reasons that include, but not limited to, a user’s failure to abide by these Terms.

General Use Restrictions
You agree not to modify, adapt, translate, or reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discern the source code of the Platform. Further, you may not reproduce all or any portion of source code, software and other technology that comprises the Platform. This Platform is the intellectual property of, and is owned by, WHOI. WHOI reserves the right at any time to suspend or terminate use of this Platform or its functionality and tools by you or other users in WHOI’s sole discretion.
Content on the Platform

• Generally
As part of the Platform: (i) WHOI may from time to time provide certain documents, information, papers, research materials, analyses, comments, logos, graphics, images, photographs, video files, audio files, data files and other content (collectively, the “WHOI Content”); and (ii) you and other users of the Platform may create and/or upload your own documents, information, papers, research materials, analyses, comments, logos, graphics, images, photographs, video files, audio files, data files and other content and other content for which you (or such other users) have all necessary rights and/or permissions (collectively, “User Content”).

You acknowledge and agree that WHOI may remove all or a part of any User Content posted by you or other users from the Platform for any reason, including, without limitation, in the event of a claim as described in the Section below titled “Copyright and Trademark Infringements.”

• WHOI Content
WHOI Content is made available to you by WHOI and is the copyrighted and/or trademarked work of WHOI or WHOI’s users and other contributors. WHOI grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable license to use and display and to make one copy of WHOI Content and to use the Platform solely for your personal or institutional use.

Except for the limited use license above, you acknowledge and agree that you have no right to modify, edit, copy, reproduce, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, alter, modify, or use WHOI Content or the Platform in any other manner.

• ‍User Content
‍If you upload or post any User Content on the Platform, you retain all rights that you possess to your User Content; provided that by uploading and posting User Content (i) you thereby grant to WHOI, a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual and royalty-free license to host and make the User Content available on the Platform, and to copy, edit, modify, adapt, compile, display, publicly perform, publicly broadcast, sublicense, distribute and commercialize in any manner (and without accounting to you for any such matters) such User Content, and to make derivative works thereof, and (ii) you thereby grant to other Platform users, a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual and royalty-free license to use and copy User Content for their personal or institutional use.

You agree that you will not upload, post or otherwise make available on this Platform any third party content that is protected by copyright, trademark or any other proprietary right without the express permission of (or other appropriate grant of rights from) the third party owner of such content. You are solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, trademarks, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from any User Content that you post. In addition, you are not allowed to post on the Platform any User Content that identifies specific individuals, residences or other subject matter as to which the subject thereof should reasonably be regarded as being entitled to an expectation of privacy.

You represent and warrant that: (i) you own all User Content posted by you on or through this Platform or otherwise have the right to post such content and to grant the licenses set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting by you of User Content on or through this Platform does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, trademark rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person or entity.

• ‍‍Third Party Content
‍Certain information and other content appearing on the Platform may be the material of third party licensors or other contributors to WHOI (collectively, “Third Party Content”) other than users. Third Party Content does not include User Content. The Third Party Content is, in each case, the copyrighted and/or trademarked work of the applicable creator/licensor. You agree to only display the Third Party Content on your device solely for your personal use or institutional use.

• Content Disclaimer
‍
Your use of this Platform and/or any WHOI Content, User Content or Third Party Content and other content available through or on the Platform is at your own risk. User Content and Third Party Content have not been verified or authenticated (and all WHOI Content may not have been verified or authenticated), in whole or in part, by WHOI, and such content may include inaccuracies, calculation errors, erroneous descriptions, typographical errors and/or other errors. WHOI does not warrant the accuracy or timeliness of WHOI Content, User Content or Third Party Content contained on the Platform and WHOI disclaims any and all liability for any errors or omissions in any such content.

WHOI DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THE PLATFORM AND ALL WHOI CONTENT, USER CONTENT AND THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH OR ON THE PLATFORM, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Term and Termination

Your right to use the Platform may continue until terminated by WHOI in our discretion. If you violate these Terms, WHOI may terminate and/or suspend your access to this Platform, in whole or in part, without notice. On any termination, you will be required to cease using the Platform.

‍Privacy Policy

‍Your use of this Platform is governed by the WHOI Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) which can be accessed at this link: https://www.whoi.edu/privacy-policy/

‍Electronic Communications

By using the Platform, you consent to receiving electronic communications from WHOI. These electronic communications may include notices about applicable fees and charges, transactional information and other information concerning or related to the Platform. These electronic communications are part of your relationship with WHOI and you receive them as part of your purchase. You agree that any notices, agreements, disclosures or other communications that we send you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing.

‍Links to Third Party Sites

‍This Platform may be linked to other third party sites that are not WHOI Platform. WHOI provides such links to third party sites to you only as a convenience, and WHOI is not responsible for such linked third party sites, including, without limitation, the content or links displayed on such sites.

Platform ‍Etiquette

‍When posting User Content to, or otherwise using, the Platform, you agree to NOT:

• ‍Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten, or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
• Use racially, ethnically, or otherwise offensive language.
• Discuss or incite illegal activity.
• Use explicit/obscene language or solicit/post sexually explicit images (actual or simulated).
• Submit anything that exploits children or minors or that depicts cruelty to animals.
• Submit any copyrighted or trademarked materials without the express permission from the owner.
• Disseminate any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, ‘junk mail’, ‘spam’, ‘chain letters’, ‘pyramid schemes’, or any other form of such solicitation.

This list of prohibitions above is illustrative and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of prohibited activities when using the Platform. These prohibitions do not require WHOI to monitor, police or remove any User Content or other information submitted by you or any other user. WHOI reserves the right and in its sole discretion to (a) terminate a user’s ability to post to the Platform and (b) refuse, delete or remove any User Content, with or without cause and with or without notice, for any reason or no reason, or for any action that WHOI determines is inappropriate, violative of (or otherwise inconsistent with) these Terms, or disruptive to the Platform or other users of the Platform. WHOI may report to law enforcement authorities any actions that may be illegal, and any reports it receives of such conduct. When legally required or at WHOI’s discretion, WHOI will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in any investigation of alleged illegal activity on the Platform.

You understand that your interactions and dealings with other users of the Platform are solely between you and such other user. WHOI shall not be responsible for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as a result of any such interactions and/or dealings. WHOI will also have no obligation to become involved in any dispute arising out of your interactions and/or dealings with other users of the Platform.

‍Unauthorized Activities

‍Unauthorized use of any WHOI Content, User Content, Third Party Content or the Platform may violate certain laws and regulations. You agree to indemnify and hold WHOI and its officers, directors, employees, affiliates, agents, licensors, and content partners harmless from and against any and all costs, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees and costs of defense) WHOI or any other indemnified party suffers in relation to or arising from any claim or demand from a third party based on your User Content and/or that your use of the Platform violates any copyrights, trademark rights or other rights of any third party. WHOI may report to law enforcement authorities any actions that may be illegal, and any reports it receives of such conduct. When legally required or at WHOI’s discretion, WHOI will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in any investigation of alleged illegal activity on this Platform, the Platform or on the Internet.

‍Proprietary Rights

“‍iFlood” is a trademark of WHOI in the United States.

Other trademarks, names and logos on this Platform are the property of their respective owners.

Unless otherwise specified in these Terms, all information and screens appearing on the Platform, including WHOI Content, documents, the Platform itself, site design, text, graphics, logos, images and icons, as well as the arrangement thereof, are the sole property of WHOI, Copyright © 2022 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Except as otherwise required or limited by applicable law, any reproduction, distribution, modification, retransmission, or publication of any copyrighted material is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of the copyright owner or a valid license.

‍Copyright and Trademark Infringements

• ‍Notification.
WHOI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask you to do the same. WHOI may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, terminate access to the Platform to users who infringe the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work is the subject of copyright infringement and/or a trademark infringement and appears on the Platform, please provide the
Forum’s copyright agent the following information:

– A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
– Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
– Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit WHOI to locate the material.
– Information reasonably sufficient to permit WHOI to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
– A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
– A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

WHOI’s agent for notice of claims of copyright or trademark infringement on the Platform can be reached as follows:
Office of General Counsel 
266 Woods Hole Rd Ms#40A
Woods Hole, MA 02543

Please also note that for copyright infringements under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing may be subject to liability.

• Counter-Notification
If you elect to send us a counter notice, to be effective it must be a written communication provided to our designated agent that includes substantially the following (please consult your legal counsel or see 17 U.S.C. Section 512(g)(3) to confirm these requirements):

‍- A physical or electronic signature of the user.
– Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
– A statement under penalty of perjury that the user has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
– The user’s name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the user consents to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the user’s address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the Platform provider may be found, and that the user will accept Platform of process from the person who provided notification as set forth above or an agent of such person.

Such written notice should be sent to our designated agent as follows:

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability.

Only the owner of the subject intellectual property rights may report potentially infringing items through WHOI’s reporting process set forth above. If you are not the owner of the subject intellectual property rights, you should contact the intellectual property rights owner and they can decide whether to use the process described in these Terms.


General ‍Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

THE PLATFORM, AND ALL WHOI CONTENT, USER CONTENT, THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND ALL OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH OR ON THE PLATFORM, IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, ALL OF WHICH ARE DISCLAIMED. USE OF THE PLATFORM, AND ALL WHOI CONTENT, USER CONTENT, THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND ALL OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH OR ON THE PLATFORM, IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

WHOI SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM YOUR POSTING, DISPLAYING, COPYING, USING OR DOWNLOADING ANY OF THE MATERIALS, WHOI CONTENT, USER CONTENT OR THIRD PARTY CONTENT TO OR FROM THIS PLATFORM. IN NO EVENT SHALL WHOI BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, EXTRAORDINARY, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA, REVENUE, PROFITS, USE OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE) HOWEVER ARISING, EVEN IF WHOI KNOWS THAT THERE WAS/IS A POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE AND WHOI SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN THE AGGREGATE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF THE LESSER OF: (I) THE FEES, IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO WHOI FOR ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM IN THE PRIOR 12 MONTHS, OR (II) FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00).

‍Changes

‍WHOI reserves the right to change, modify, supplement and/or update these Terms from time to time.

‍General

‍Massachusetts law and controlling U.S. federal law, without regard to the choice or conflicts of law provisions, will govern these Terms. If any of these Terms is found to be inconsistent with applicable law, then such term shall be interpreted to reflect the intentions of the parties, and no other terms will be modified. WHOI’s failure to enforce any of these Terms is not a waiver of any such term contained herein. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and WHOI and supersede all prior or contemporaneous negotiations, discussions or agreements between you and WHOI about the Platform. The proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, representations made by you, indemnities, limitations of liability and general provisions shall survive any termination of these Terms.