Code of Conduct

Wait! Before you decide not to read this…

 

It’s okay, we all skip reading the user agreement from time to time. Our agreement contains some pretty important information that may be different from other sites, though, so we’ve pulled the most important points out and put them right here at the top. Please read through the information below and know that by using this site, you agree all of the rules and guidelines on this page. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

ASTC Rules & Etiquette

 

Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

 

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to our Member Services Department via the Contact Us link on this site. Technical questions on association management issues should directed to our help desk.

 

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the Member Services Department. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.

 

The Rules

  • Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted. 
  • You may not reproduce postings from this site on any other public platform without the consent of the author.
  • Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. 
  • Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may. 
  • Don't post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other area where others might see it. Contact people directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them.
  • All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you. 
  • Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.
  • Job postings or open position listings are not to be posted except in designated areas and with explicit permission from the Association of Science-Technology Centers.
  • All messages must add to the body of knowledge. We reserve the right to reject any message for any reason.

 

Discussion Group Etiquette

  • Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, and location. 
  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject. 
  • Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting. 
  • Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information from which everyone can benefit. 
  • Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals--not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as "remove me from the list." Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings. 
  • Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message." 

The Association of Science-Technology Centers reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

 

 

The Legal Stuff (Terms of Use)

 

Community.astc.org ("Site") is owned by the Association of Science-Technology Centers ("ASTC"), a non-profit organization that encourages excellence and innovation in informal science learning by serving and linking its members worldwide and serving their common goals. BY ACCESSING OR USING THIS SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND ALL POLICIES AND GUIDELINES WE POST REGARDING USE, WHICH ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY.

 

Except as otherwise indicated, ASTC owns this Site and owns (or uses with permission) all the registered and unregistered trademarks, logos, wallpaper, icons, characters, information, pictures, photographs, designs, graphics, artwork, images, audio and video clips, music, sound, software, text, data, comments, postings, submissions, and other material and content on the Site, and the arrangement and selection of such material and content (collectively the "Content"). Your unauthorized use of the Content may violate copyright, trademark, patent, privacy, and other U.S. and/or international laws, and may infringe upon the rights of ASTC, as well as third parties not owned by or affiliated with ASTC. Such unauthorized use may result in your personal liability, including potential criminal liability.

 

Except for Content you have posted on this Site in accordance with these terms and conditions, or unless expressly permitted by ASTC, you may not alter, archive, copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, transmit, modify, adapt, translate, display, distribute, sell, license, prepare derivative works based upon, or otherwise use or exploit the Content, provided that you are granted a limited, non-sublicensable right to access and use the Site, to download material from this Site for your own personal use, and to make one machine-readable copy and/or one print copy that is limited to occasional articles of personal interest only. You may not use bots, data-mining technology, or any other technique intended to extract data or information from this Site. Any attempt to interfere with this Site or impede the lawful enjoyment of the Content by anyone may be subject to civil and criminal penalties.

 

This Site may also contain Content owned by third parties, including but not limited to promotional and business partners, licensors, licensees, and advertisers. The use of the names or trademarks of such third parties and any references to their products or services on this Site does not constitute an endorsement by ASTC of such parties or their products or services. ASTC does not endorse or warrant the accuracy or reliability of, or assume any liability in connection with, any Content on this Site provided by third parties, or any of their products or services.

 

This Site may contain links to or from third-party websites, including without limitation, sites operated by promotional and business partners, licensors, licensees, and advertisers, or links contained within user-generated content. ASTC has not reviewed the websites linked this Site and is not responsible for the content of any such sites. Your use of any linked site is subject to the terms and conditions of use and privacy policy imposed by the operator of the linked site, so you should review them carefully. ASTC disclaims all liability in connection with your use of a linked site.

 

Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants the Association of Science-Technology Centers the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material. In providing any Content to this Site, you represent and warrant that:

  • You are the owner or licensee of such Content and have a right to post it.
  • The Content does not and will not violate the intellectual property or publicity rights of any person.
  • Your posting of the Content does not and will not violate these terms and conditions, or any ASTC policy or guideline. 

If you believe that your copyrights in a work have been infringed, you can notify us of alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). The notice must include the following information:

  • a legend or subject line "DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice".
  • a description of the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed.
  • the URL of the site and a description of where the allegedly infringing material is located on that site.
  • your address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
  • a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the alleged infringing material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  • a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that all the information in your notice is accurate, and that you are the copyright owner (or, if you are not the copyright owner, that you are authorized to act on the behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed).
  • your electronic or physical signature.

ASTC reserves the right to respond to DMCA notices that do not comply with any of these requirements in its discretion.

 

You may send DMCA notices by mail, e-mail, or facsimile to:

 

DMCA Agent

Association of Science-Technology Centers

818 Connecticut Avenue NW

7th Floor

Washington, DC 20006-2734

email: dmcaagent@astc.org

fax to: 202/783-7207

 

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers. The following rules shall apply to your posting of any Content on this Site:

  • You are responsible and liable for any Content that you submit, post, or display on this Site.
  • You are responsible and liable for any activity or transactions that occur under your user name.
  • You shall not abuse, harass, threaten, or intimidate other users of this Site.
  • You shall not use this Site for any illegal or unauthorized purpose.
  • You shall not post Content that is harmful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, unlawful, obscene, or otherwise objectionable.
  • You shall not use this site to promote any commercial activity, such as advertising any product or service.

 

ASTC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to:

  • Review, edit, or delete any material posted by users, including without limitation material that is unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable or which violates a party's intellectual property or these terms and conditions, without undertaking any responsibility to do so.
  • Adopt rules in any community area or condition access to any such community features by any individual or group on certain criteria, deny or restrict access by any individual or group that fails to meet those criteria or by anyone who fails to comply with our criteria or rules at any time, and change or modify the criteria or rules at any time.
  • Deny access by any user to this Site.

 

Limitation of Liability and Disclaimer

THIS SITE AND THE CONTENT AND THE SERVICES PROVIDED ON OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ANY OTHER MATTER. ASTC DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT IN THE SITE OR SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE ARE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT INFORMATION WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE, OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVERS, HARDWARE, OR SOFTWARE USED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SITE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES, MALWARE OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL ASTC, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THIS SITE OR THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS SITE. ASTC assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the Content of the website, whether provided by ASTC or any third party.

 

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ASTC and its directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) in connection with any claim, suit, action, demand, or proceeding made or brought against any such party arising out of or related to your use of this Site, including, but not limited to, any Content you post at or submit to this Site.

 

Revisions to this Agreement

ASTC RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE, MODIFY, ADD, OR REMOVE ANY OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND ANY OTHER CONTENT AT THE SITE AT ANY TIME. PLEASE CHECK THIS PAGE EACH TIME YOU VISIT FOR CHANGES AND MODIFICATIONS TO THESE TERMS, WHICH WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE UPON POSTING. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS DO NOT USE THIS SITE. CONTINUED USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE BY YOU OF ANY SUCH CHANGES.

 

Severability

If any provision of these Terms of Use is deemed unlawful, void, or unenforceable for any reason, then that provision will be deemed severable from the remainder of this Agreement and will not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of this Agreement.

 

Updated: September 2013 

Background image at community.astc.org/2014conference courtesy of subtlepatterns.com