Effective Date: November 30, 2015
These terms of service (these "Terms") govern your access to and use of the website (the "Site") of More Perfect Union, Inc. ("MPU") at (https://thechisel.com), including any content, functionality and services offered on or through the Site, or remotely through any MPU applications (collectively, the "Services"), so please read them carefully before using the Services.
By using the Services, you agree to be bound and abide by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference. You also represent that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with MPU and are not barred under any applicable laws from doing so. If you are using the Services on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind the organization to these Terms, in which case the term "you" shall refer to both you and the organization. If you do not meet these requirements, you must not access or use the Services.
MPU provides an online platform and related proprietary technology for collaborative decision-making regarding important public policy issues. The platform allows nonpartisan organizations and bipartisan coalitions to post their public policy proposals ("Proposals") on the Site, engage the voting public in dialogue via an online forum, refine the Proposals, build consensus through voting - and ultimately send the Proposals to Congress. MPU selects Proposals on the basis of (i) bipartisanship, (ii) credibility of the organizations and their experts, and (iii) rigor of analysis. MPU distills the Proposals into easy-to-understand, accessible, visually appealing and engaging content. The organization or coalition owns its Proposals, approves all content, and modifies its Proposals as it sees fit.
In providing a venue for Proposals and related dialogue, engagement and voting, please note that MPU does not take any position regarding the wisdom or feasibility of any Proposal or commentary relating to any Proposal, nor does MPU endorse or advocate any political viewpoint, product or individual.
Any policies and rules posted by MPU on the Site with respect to its Services are hereby incorporated into these Terms.
We may revise and update these Terms from time to time at our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them, and apply to all access to and use of the Services thereafter. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of revised Terms means that you accept and agree to the changes. As we will be continually improving the Services and adding more features, you are expected to check this page each time you access the Services so you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you.
To participate in some features of the Services, such as posting comments or questions and voting on Proposals, you must register with MPU. Registration will help ensure the integrity of the MPU processes for collaborative decision-making and demographic representation.
To register with MPU, you must be a U.S. citizen who is at least 18 years of age. You may create only a single account with MPU. You may not create an account on behalf of anyone else.
Registration is simple: you only need to provide (i) your name and email address and (ii) a password of your choice. You may also create an optional user profile. MPU reserves the right to require, in its sole discretion, submission of any additional form of authentication as part of the registration process. By registering for the Services, you represent and warrant that the registration information you provide is accurate, current and complete. You also agree that all information you provide to us, whether as part of your registration or through the Services or otherwise, is governed by our Privacy Policy, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy.
Without committing to update any content on the Site, we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the Services, any Site content, or any portion thereof in our sole discretion, for any reason or no reason at all, without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason the Services or any portion are unavailable at any time or for any period. You are responsible for (i) making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Services (e.g., providing your own equipment and internet connection and paying any internet access fees) and (ii) ensuring that all persons who access the Services through your internet connection are aware of these Terms and comply with them.
If you choose a password as part of our registration procedures, you must treat such password as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with access to the Services or portions of it using your user name, password or other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your user name or password or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your MPU account or password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, and for restricting access to your account. We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy for information about some of the measures you may take to help protect your account, but we cannot guarantee that implementing such measures will ensure the security of the account or your information.
We have the right to disable any user name, password or other identifier, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms.
The Site and its entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, code, algorithms, pedagogy, database, text, displays, images, video and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement thereof) are owned by MPU and its licensors and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.
These Terms permit you to use the Services for your own personal, non-commercial use only. You are granted a limited, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Services, subject to these Terms and in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations and any agreements or terms with third parties to which you are subject. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store or transmit any of the material on the Site (other than your User Contributions as defined below), except as follows:
You must not:
If you wish to make any use of material on the Services other than as set out in this section, please address your request to [email protected]chisel.com.
No right, title or interest in or to the Services or any content on the Services is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by MPU. Any use of the Services not expressly permitted by these Terms is a breach of these Terms and may violate copyright, trademark and other laws.
The MPU and TheChisel names and logos are pending trademarks of More Perfect Union, Inc. You must not use any of these names or any of these logos without the prior written permission of MPU. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans on the Site, including the names and logos of organizations whose experts provide any Proposals, are the trademarks of their respective owners.
You may use the Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You agree not to use the Services in any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local or international law or regulation.
You also agree not to:
The information presented on or through the Site, including but not limited to information included in Proposals, is made available solely to foster discussion and build consensus regarding public policy issues. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. MPU is not responsible or liable for the accuracy, usefulness or availability of any information transmitted or made available via the Site or any Proposal. MPU disclaims any and all liability for any loss, damage or injury based on information directly or indirectly obtained through the Services.
The Services feature a forum that allows MPU registrants to post, submit, publish, display, or transmit (hereinafter, "post") comments, questions, suggestions, personal stories, opinions, links to other websites and various content or materials on the Site, including text, images and videos, that can be accessed and reviewed by other MPU registrants, including participating public policy experts. Other interactive features may be added to the Services in the future. Any content or materials posted by a MPU registrant are referred to in these Terms as "User Contributions.""
All User Contributions must comply with the content standards set out in Section 11 of these Terms.
Your votes on Proposals will be completely anonymous and confidential. Any User Contributions you post to the Site will be considered non-confidential and will be attributed to you, using your actual first and last name. You will be allowed to post User Contributions only after having registered with the Site and logged in. We encourage thoughtful discussion and meaningful connections between real people, and requiring the use of real names helps prevent impersonations and bad behavior. The quality of conversations can deteriorate when fake names or nicknames are used and users hide behind the cloak of anonymity.
Your User Contributions belong to you; however, by posting User Contributions on the Site, you grant MPU a perpetual, irrevocable, non-terminable, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, copy, distribute, publicly display, modify, create derivative works, and sublicense such content or any part of such content, in any media, for the purpose of providing the Services, including but not limited to (i) marketing and advertising materials relating to the Services, (ii) MPU blog postings, social media accounts and trade events, and (iii) communications with potential investors and business partners.
You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights in and to your User Contributions and have the right to grant MPU and its affiliates the rights granted herein. You represent and warrant that all of your User Contributions do and will comply with these Terms.
You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not MPU, have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy, and appropriateness.
Any content and/or opinions uploaded, expressed, or submitted to the Site, including all Proposals, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by MPU, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity submitting them and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of MPU. We are not responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of the Site. Without limiting the foregoing, under no circumstances will MPU be liable in any way for Proposals or User Contributions, including, but not limited to, for any defamation, infringement, falsehoods, errors or omissions in any such Proposals or User Contributions, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use or publication of any such Proposals or User Contributions posted, delivered, emailed or otherwise transmitted via the Services. You acknowledge that MPU is not responsible for preventing or identifying infringement of intellectual property rights or other violations associated with the Proposals or User Contributions, and MPU assumes no responsibility for screening or monitoring for possible (i) infringement or enforcing user rights or third party rights with respect to Proposals or User Contributions , (ii) unlawful, inappropriate or unpermitted use, (iii) libel, falsehoods, errors or omissions contained in Proposals or User Contributions, or (iv) noncompliance with governmental laws and/or regulations. MPU as an organization does not take any position with regard to any Proposal or User Contribution.
MPU has no desire or intention to censor open, constructive and lively discussion of public policy issues on the Site. We will, however, enable users of the Site to report postings in violation of our content standards (Section 11) and to hide the comments of selected commenters. We reserve the right to:
Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to cooperate fully with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting any materials on or through the Services. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS MPU FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY MPU DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ANY SUCH INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER MPU OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
However, you understand and agree that we can neither review all material before being posted on the Site nor ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications, or content provided by any user or third parties. We have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or non-performance of the activities described in this section.
You have the right to terminate your MPU registration at any time by contacting us at [email protected]. Upon termination of your account, your registration information and user profile (if you created one) will be removed from the Site, your User Contributions may be removed from the Site, and your User Contributions will not be available to you. However, you understand that MPU is not required to remove your User Contributions, and removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time. MPU has no obligation to maintain or provide User Contributions of a MPU registrant after account termination and may delete all content provided unless legally prohibited from doing so.
MPU may terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site or Services, or any portion thereof, (i) in order to comply with applicable law, (ii) if you provide any information that MPU determines, in its sole discretion, to be untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete (or if the information becomes untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete), (iii) if MPU determines, in its sole discretion, that you are using your MPU account in a manner not permitted by these Terms, or (iv) in other circumstances, as MPU deems appropriate at its sole discretion.
MPU encourages use of the Site for vigorous debate and exchange of opinions regarding public policy issues important to all of us. However, our objective is to keep this discourse both civil and thoughtful. To that end, we require compliance with the following content standards.
These content standards apply to any and all User Contributions. User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must NOT:
If you believe that your work has been copied on the Site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our designated Copyright Agent with the written information specified below. Please note that this procedure is exclusively for notifying us that your copyrighted material has been infringed.
Our Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement regarding the Site can be reached by email at [email protected].
You may link to the homepage of the Site, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part without our express written consent.
The Site may provide certain social media features that enable you to:
You may use these features solely as they are provided by us and solely with respect to the content they are displayed with and otherwise in accordance with any additional terms and conditions we provide with respect to such features. Subject to the foregoing, you must not:
The website from which you are linking, or on which you make certain content accessible, must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in these Terms.
You agree to cooperate with us in causing any unauthorized framing or linking immediately to cease. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
We may disable all or any social media features and any links at any time without notice at our sole discretion.
If the Site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, whether by MPU or as User Contributions, these links are provided for your convenience only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them, including but not limited to any viruses or other destructive code contained on such sites. These sites may also contain information that some people may find offensive or inappropriate. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to this Site, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use and the Privacy Policy for such websites. MPU shall not be responsible or liable for any such site, its content, any products or services that may be offered through such a sites, or the consequences of your use of any such site.
MPU may not have reviewed some or all of the sites linked to or from this Site, or some or all of the pages, subpages and/or the materials on those sites. Regardless, MPU is not responsible for the contents of any website that is linked to or from this Site, and your use of any such site is at your own risk. The inclusion of a link on this Site does not express or imply MPU's endorsement of the linked site, the content on the linked site, or the individual or organization to whom or which it belongs.
We provide the Services for use only by persons located in the United States of America. We make no claims that the Services or any of its content are accessible or appropriate outside of the United States. Access to the Services may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Services from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that content available for downloading from the Internet or the Site will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and for maintaining a means external to our Site for any reconstruction of any lost data. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY SITE LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY FEATURES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SERVICES, THEIR CONTENT, AND ANY FEATURES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY. NEITHER MPU NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH MPU MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE SERVICES, CONTENT, OR ANY FEATURES. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER MPU NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH MPU REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE SERVICES, THEIR CONTENT, OR ANY FEATURES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE SERVICES OR ANY FEATURES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
MPU AND ALL PARTIES ASSOCIATED WITH MPU HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
IN NO EVENT WILL MPU, ITS AFFILIATES OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS (INCLUDING ORGANIZATIONS AND EXPERTS PROVIDING PROPOSALS VIA THE SITE AND ADVERTISERS), EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, ADVISORS, OFFICERS OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICES, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO SITE, OR ANY CONTENT ON THE SITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless MPU, its affiliates, service providers (including organizations and experts providing Proposals via the Site and advertisers), and licensors and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, advisors, licensors, and suppliers from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees) resulting from your violation of these Terms or your use of the Services, including, without limitation, any use of the content, services, and products of the Services other than as expressly authorized in these Terms or your use of any information obtained from the Site.
These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of, or related to, them, their subject matter or their formation (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with State of New York law except for its conflicts of laws principles. All claims arising out of or relating to these terms or the Services must be litigated exclusively in the federal or state courts of New York, and both parties consent to venue and personal jurisdiction there.
No waiver of these Terms by MPU shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition, and any failure of MPU to assert a right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.
MPU may make certain mobile applications available to you. The use of mobile applications either alone or in connection with the Services is governed by these Terms. In addition, you must comply with all applicable third party terms of agreement when using the mobile applications (for example, any agreement with a wireless service or wireless data provider). You agree that these Terms and the Privacy Policy are between you and MPU, and that even if you receive access to MPU through Apple, Inc.'s App Store, Google's Google Play Store or any other source (collectively, the "Distributor") for use on a mobile device, the Distributor has no liability or responsibility whatsoever to you related to MPU, whether by contract, warranty or otherwise, and you will look only to MPU for any support relating to the Services. You may use the MPU mobile application on a product that you own or control and as permitted by the usage rules set forth by the Distributor. The Distributor is not responsible for addressing any claims of any sort related to MPU, and you must address any claims directly with MPU. The Distributor and its subsidiaries have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third party beneficiary hereof.
These Terms and our Privacy Policy, and, to the extent applicable, the terms for any mobile application or software download, constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and MPU with respect to the Services and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Services.
You may not assign any of your rights in these Terms, and any such attempt is void, but MPU may assign its rights to any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, or to any successor in interest of any business associated with the Services. MPU and you are not legal partners or agents; instead, our relationship is that of independent contractors.
All feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications relating to the Services should be directed to: [email protected].
Updated: December 13, 2016