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You agree to abide by the terms of this agreement whenever you use this Web site’s user-contribution features, including comments, discussion boards, or any other feature.

Please read this agreement carefully. We think it contains a lot of useful information to help you understand our ground rules, your legal exposure and our expectations of the “good manners” our users should show when using this Web site.

Please also refer to our separate privacy policy regarding information you provide to Independentmail.com.

General comment policy

We believe in a robust, open exchange of information and ideas. And we believe it is possible for people from a variety of points of view to discuss issues in a civil manner.

By commenting, you agree not to upload, post, distribute, e-mail or otherwise publish or make available any comments (even those that utilize typographical obfuscations) that are libelous, defamatory, obscene, harmful, vulgar, threatening, tortious, harassing, abusive, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, racially or ethnically objectionable, or otherwise illegal material.

You also agree not to advertise or not to solicit anyone to buy or sell products or services or to make donations of any kind, without our express written approval.

We reserve the right (but assume no obligation) to remove any and/or all of your contributions and/or comments and ban user accounts that foster incivility. We also reserve the right to remove postings from usernames which themselves might be considered objectionable.

Objectionable posts

We DO NOT review every contribution made on this Web site, and we rely on our users to alert us of objectionable posts. Any user who feels that a contribution to this Web site is objectionable is encouraged to click the “Suggest removal” link related to the specific post or posts. We will make every effort to remove objectionable messages as quickly as reasonable -- if we determine that removal is necessary. We cannot and do not respond to every request for comment removal.

Harassing behavior

If you believe an Independentmail.com commenter is engaging in harassing behavior, we suggest you

  • Not respond. Engaging in comment behavior that violates our use policy, even in response to other commenters whom you believe are acting in a harassing manner, will subject your own comments to removal and your own account to possible banning.

  • Click “suggest for removal” on the comment(s) at issue.

  • Contact online@independentmail.com if the problem persists.

    • Responsibility for comments and contributions

    We do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any user contribution, regardless of whether it comes from a user, celebrity, “expert,” or other source. Responsibility for what is posted or contributed to this site is the sole responsibility of each user.

    Use rights for comments and contributions

    Your posting of content and your thoughts on independentmail.com automatically gives independentmail.com a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, disseminate, perform, transmit and display such content (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content. If you are not the owner of such content, you shall be deemed to have warranted that the owner of the content has expressly granted to you a similar license.

    Banning of users

    If you become a problem for us or our site’s other users, we may ban you from using our services and Web sites. We also reserve the right to ban accounts with usernames which are in themselves objectionable. (If your account is banned, and you want to argue for reinstatement, you must contact the site staff at online@independentmail.com) We cannot and do not respond to every request for reinstating banned accounts, nor to every e-mail requesting explanation for why an account was banned.

    Compliance with police and judicial orders

    We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we may know about you, including your IP address(es)) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from this type of action.

    Legal terms of use

    By contributing to this Web site, you agree not to post any defamatory, abusive, harassing, obscene, sexual, threatening or illegal material, or any other material that infringes on the ability of others to enjoy this site, or that infringes on the rights of others.

    You agree to NOT to use this Web site to violate any copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property. By contributing to this Web site, you are representing that you are the owner of the material, or are making your submission with the explicit consent of the owner.

    Submitting material that is the property of another without the specific consent of its owner is not only a violation of this agreement, but may also subject you to legal liability for infringement of copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights.

    Independentmail.com may ban any user, or delete any post, or take any action with regard to its Web sites related to user submitted content.

    By contributing to this Web site, you:

  • Agree not to solicit others. You agree not to contribute for the purposes of advertising or to solicit anyone to buy or sell products or services, or to make donations of any kind, or to promote other web sites, without our express written approval, or where expressly permitted.

  • Agree not to have multiple personalities on our boards. Each user may have only one username. If you would like to change your username, please email online@independentmail.com Use or possession of multiple usernames may result in our banning your user account or accounts.

  • Agree not to create usernames which are objectionable, even those which utilize typographical obfuscations.

  • Agree not to upload, post, distribute, e-mail or otherwise publish or make available on this Web site any libelous, defamatory, obscene, harmful, vulgar, threatening, tortious, harassing, abusive, invasive of another user’s privacy, hateful, racially or ethnically objectionable, or otherwise illegal material;

  • Agree not to upload, post, distribute, e-mail or otherwise publish or make available on this Web site any content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under non disclosure agreements);

  • Agree not to upload, post, distribute, e-mail or otherwise publish or make available on this Web site any content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights (“Rights”) of any party;

  • Agree not to upload, post, distribute, e-mail or otherwise publish or make available on this Web site any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation; and

  • Agree not to upload, post, distribute, e-mail or otherwise publish or make available on this web site any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware, telecommunications, or other equipment.

  • Agree to not impersonate anyone on this web site;

  • Agree not to knowingly give out any private information about other users. Users who engage in the behavior of continually trying to guess other user’s private information may be banned and their account and contributions removed.

    • We retain the right to revoke access privileges of anyone who we believe has violated any of the terms outlined here or if such user is deemed a problem to either the site or its other users. We also reserve the right to ban any user and his or her comments from showing up on this Web site, without notice.