Terms of Use

Last Updated: September 25, 2023

 

 

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE

PRIVACY AND SECURITY STATEMENT

REGISTRATION

MEMBER ACCOUNT, PASSWORD AND SECURITY

PUBLIC DISPLAY OF MEMBER DATA WITHIN THE SERVICE

RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTENT

RIGHTS TO CONTENT

USER CONDUCT

PRIVACY

INDEMNIFICATION

GENERAL PRACTICES REGARDING USE AND STORAGE

MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE

TERMINATION

DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS

LINKS

E4C’S PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

TRADEMARKS

NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

NO THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES

COPYRIGHT OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT

GENERAL PROVISIONS

VIOLATIONS

 

 

 

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

Engineering for Change, LLC (“E4C”) provides its services to you subject to the following Terms of Use (“TOU”), which include our Privacy and Security Statement and any other terms, guidelines, or rules incorporated herein by reference. E4C reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to update the TOU at any time. You can review the most current version of the TOU at any time at the URL for this page. In addition, when using E4C owned or operated services, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such services. Notice of modified additional guidelines or rules will be posted in the applicable Service.

 

These Terms do not apply to websites not directly operated by E4C, including: (1) websites operated by individual E4C members or users; (2) websites operated by third-party E4C affiliates; (3) our advertisers’ websites; or (4) any third-party websites referred or linked to in the Service. You should review those sites’ terms of use before using them.

 

PLEASE REVIEW THESE TERMS CAREFULLY. BY USING THE SERVICE (AS DEFINED BELOW) OR REGISTERING TO USE THE SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TOU, INCLUDING ANY POSTED REVISIONS THERETO.

 

 

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE

E4C offers a collaboration environment at https://www.engineeringforchange.org/ that provides, among other features: (a) searchable knowledgebase of technical solutions; (b) news and insights; (c) webinars and online courses; and (d) community forums and resources (the “Service”).

 

 

PRIVACY AND SECURITY STATEMENT

Please review our Privacy and Security Statement, which is a part of these Terms and describes what information we collect when you use the Service, how we collect it, how we use it, and the steps we take to protect it.

 

 

REGISTRATION

In consideration of your use of the Service, you represent that you are of legal age to form a binding contract and are not a person barred from accessing the Service under the laws of the United States or any other applicable jurisdiction.

 

You may browse the Service without registration, but you understand that some features of the Service may not be accessible to you unless you register. In registering for the Service, you become an E4C Member (“Member”) and agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service’s registration form, including a certification that you are over the age of 13 (the “Registration Data”); and (b) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or E4C has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, E4C has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof).

 

MEMBER ACCOUNT, PASSWORD AND SECURITY

You will create and receive a password and account designation during the Service’s registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to: (a) notify E4C immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security; and (b) ensure that you exit from or log out of your account at the end of each session.

 

 

PUBLIC DISPLAY OF MEMBER DATA WITHIN THE SERVICE

In September 27, 2023, E4C launched a new feature within the community forum portion of the Service called “Meet the Change Makers” that enables selected members of the Service (“Super Users”) who have opted in to participate and have basic profile information displayed to be publicly identified and recognized based within the Service. Basic profile information includes Name, Title, Photo, Social Handles (if opted in to share), and the ability of Members to follow the Super User within the Service.  Selection for public display as a “Super User” is determined by the Service automatically based on the pool of Members who have opted in to have their information displayed on the Service.  Any algorithms or criteria for displaying a Super User within the Service, or future changes to the algorithms or criteria for display based on level of participation or other engagement, are at the sole discretion of E4C. “Super Users” will have the opportunity opt in prior to the display of their information and may withdraw consent at any time. For additional information on how Super User data is used, see our Privacy and Security Statement.

 

A Super User is a voluntary contributor to the Service to share experiences and information to other Users.  Super Users may assist by contributing material or answering questions for other Users. Unless specifically identified as an employee of E4C, Super Users are not E4C employees or agents for any purposes whatsoever, and Users should not rely on Super Users as agents or representatives of E4C. Each User, including each Super User, participates on the Service in that User’s individual capacity, and not as a representative of E4C. If you serve as a Super User, you are solely responsible for all of your activities in that capacity.

 

 

RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTENT

You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, tags and/or other materials accessible through the Service, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Content”), are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. This means that you, and not E4C, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available through the Service (“Your Content”), and other users of the Service, and not E4C, are similarly responsible for all Content they upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available through the Service (“User Content”).

 

You acknowledge that E4C has no obligation to pre-screen Content (including, but not limited to, Your Content and User Content), although E4C reserves the right in its sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse or remove any Content that is accessible through the Service. In the event that E4C pre-screens, refuses or removes any Content, you acknowledge that E4C will do so for E4C’s benefit, not yours. Without limiting the foregoing, E4C shall have the right to remove any Content that violates the TOU or is otherwise objectionable at any time.

 

You agree that you must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any Content, including, but not limited to, any reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such Content.

 

RIGHTS TO CONTENT

E4C does not claim ownership of Your Content or User Content. However, you grant E4C and other users of the Service the rights set forth in this Section 6 with respect to Your Content.

 

If Your Content consists of information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, tags and/or other copyrightable works, you hereby grant E4C and other users of the Service a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display Your Content in whole or in part in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA), accessible at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode.

 

To the extent that you believe that the use or implementation of any of Your Content would necessarily read on, infringe or otherwise implicate a patent held by you or any other person, you agree to disclose that position prominently when you upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available such Content via the Service.

 

USER CONDUCT

In connection with the Service, you agree not to:

(1) upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

(2) harm minors in any way;

(3) impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, an E4C official, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

(4) forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Service;

(5) upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available 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);

(6) upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;

(7) upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;

(8) upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available 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 or telecommunications equipment;

(9) disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, cause a screen to scroll faster than other users of the Service are able to type, or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users’ ability to engage in real-time exchanges;

(10) interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service;

(11) intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation;

(12) provide material support or resources (or conceal or disguise the nature, location, source or ownership of material support or resources) to any organization designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(13) stalk or otherwise harass another person or entity;

(14) use spiders, crawlers, robots or any other means to access the Service or substantially download, reproduce or archive any portion of the Service;

(15) reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell or exploit any Content or the Service, or use the Service or your Service account for any commercial purpose.

 

You acknowledge, consent and agree that E4C may access, preserve and disclose your account information and Your Content if required to do so by law or in a good-faith belief that such access, preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce the TOU; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property or personal safety of E4C, its users and the public.

 

You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Service, including Your Content, may involve: (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform or adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices.

 

 

PRIVACY

E4C collects personal information when you register for the Service and when you use the Service. E4C automatically receives and records information from your computer and browser, including, but not limited to, your IP address, cookie information, software and hardware attributes and the pages that you request. E4C will collect, use or share such information in accordance with the E4C Privacy and Security Statement .

 

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to release and hold E4C and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, partners and licensors harmless from and defend and indemnify them against any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, due to or arising out of: (a) Content you submit, post, transmit or otherwise make available through the Service; (b) your use of the Service; (c) your connection to the Service; (d) your violation of the TOU; or (e) your violation of any rights of another party.

 

 

GENERAL PRACTICES REGARDING USE AND STORAGE

You acknowledge that E4C may establish general practices and limits concerning use of the Service, including, without limitation, the maximum number of days that e-mail messages, message board postings or other Content will be retained by the Service; the maximum number of e-mail messages that may be sent from or received by an account on the Service; the maximum size of any e-mail message that may be sent from or received by an account on the Service; the maximum disk space that will be allotted on E4C’s servers on your behalf; and the maximum number of times (and the maximum duration for which) you may access the Service in a given period of time. You agree that E4C has no responsibility or liability for the deletion of or failure to store any messages and other communications or other Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that E4C reserves the right to terminate, suspend, or log off accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time. You further acknowledge that E4C reserves the right to modify these general practices and limits from time to time.

 

 

MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE

E4C reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that E4C shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

 

 

TERMINATION

You agree that E4C may, without cause and without prior notice, immediately terminate your Service account and access to the Service. Cause for such termination shall include, but not be limited to: (1) breaches or violations of the TOU or other incorporated agreements, guidelines or rules; (2) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies; (3) a request by you (e.g., self-initiated account deletions); (4) discontinuance or material modification to the Service (or any part thereof); (5) unexpected technical or security issues or problems; (6) extended periods of inactivity; or (7) engagement by you in fraudulent or illegal activities.

 

Termination of your Service account may include, but not be limited to: (1) removal of access to all offerings within the Service: (2) deletion of your password and all related information, files and Content associated with or inside your account (or any part thereof); or (3) barring your further use of the Service.

 

You agree that all terminations shall be made in E4C’s sole discretion and that E4C shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your account or access to the Service.

 

DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS

Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers found on or through the Service, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser. You agree that E4C shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Service.

 

 

LINKS

The Service or third parties may provide links to other websites or resources. Because E4C has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that E4C is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any Content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that E4C shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such Content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

 

 

E4C’S PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

You acknowledge and agree that the Service and any necessary software used in connection with the Service (“Software”) contain proprietary and/or confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You further acknowledge and agree that Content contained in sponsor advertisements or information presented to you through the Service or by advertisers is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly permitted by applicable law or authorized by E4C or advertisers, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Service or the Software, advertiser Content or other information presented to you, in whole or in part.

E4C grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the object code of its Software as necessary to access the Service on a single computer at a time; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work from, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Software. You agree not to modify the Software in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Service. You agree not to access the Service by any means other than through the interface provided by E4C for use in accessing the Service.

 

 

TRADEMARKS

The Engineering for Change and E4C names and logos are trademarks and service marks of E4C (the “E4C Marks”). You agree not to display or use in any manner any E4C Marks without E4C’s prior written consent.

 

 

NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY

You understand that the Service is an online open-content collaborative system; that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The Service may also include some Content selected for inclusion by E4C, but you understand that such inclusion in no way constitutes E4C’s endorsement or approval of that Content. Please be advised that nothing found within the Service has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information. E4C does not control User Content posted via the Service, and E4C does not guarantee the completeness, accuracy or reliability of any Content, regardless of whether it has been pre-screened, reviewed or selected by E4C.

 

All information within the Service is provided for informational purposes only. By no means is any information presented within the Service intended to substitute for the advice that may be provided to you by a professional. If you need specific advice (e.g., scientific, medical, legal, financial or risk management), please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area.

 

 

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. E4C AND ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

 

E4C AND ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT: (1) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (2) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE; (3) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE COMPLETE, ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR (4) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED.

 

ANY MATERIAL (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY CONTENT) DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS ACCESSED AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PERSON OR PROPERTY, AND THOSE OF OTHERS, THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR USE OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL, EVEN IF SUCH DAMAGE RESULTS FROM ANY NEGLIGENT ACT OR OMISSION OF E4C.

 

NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM E4C OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TOU.

 

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT E4C AND ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF E4C HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (1) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE; (2) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS, DATA, INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE; (3) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (4) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICE; OR (5) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE.

 

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BY USING THE SERVICE, YOU MAY BE EXPOSED TO CONTENT THAT IS INACCURATE, INCOMPLETE, UNRELIABLE, OFFENSIVE, INDECENT OR OBJECTIONABLE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL E4C AND ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT, OR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, E-MAILED, TRANSMITTED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND THAT E4C AND ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TIMELINESS, DELETION, MIS-DELIVERY OR FAILURE TO STORE ANY USER COMMUNICATIONS OR PERSONALIZATION SETTINGS.

 

NO THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES

You agree that, except as otherwise expressly provided in this TOU, there shall be no third-party beneficiaries to this agreement.

 

 

COPYRIGHT OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT

E4C respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. E4C may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, disable or terminate the accounts of users who may be repeat infringers.

If you believe that your work has been made available on the Service in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated in connection with the Service, please provide E4C’s Agent for Notice of Claims the following information:

 

(1) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;

(2) a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;

(3) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located within the Service;

(4) your address, telephone number and/or e-mail address;

(5) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright or intellectual property owner, its agent or the law; and

(6) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf.

 

E4C’s Agent for Notice of Claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows:

Agent for Notice of Claims
c/o John Delli Venneri
Engineering for Change, LLC
Two Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 591-7110
E-mail: copyright@engineeringforchange.org

 

GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

Entire Agreement. The TOU constitutes the entire agreement between you and E4C and governs your use of the Service, superseding any prior or contemporaneous agreements between you and E4C with respect to the Service.

Choice of Law and Forum. The TOU and the relationship between you and E4C shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict of law principles. You agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the County of New York in the State of New York with respect to any claims arising from the TOU or your use of the Service.

 

Waiver and Severability. The failure of E4C to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOU shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the TOU is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOU shall remain in full force and effect.

 

VIOLATIONS

Please report any violations of the TOU to admin@engineeringforchange.org.