Terms and Conditions

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Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines

Astronomers Without Borders ("AWB", "we", or "us")
Terms of Use
As of March 2021

Thank you for being part of the online community of AWB (the “AWB community platform"). To ensure the best possible experience for all AWB members (the “community”), we have established some basic rules and guidelines for participation in the community.

By joining this community and using the AWB community platform, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions, shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. The AWB community platform is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation.

Please take some time to carefully read through these important rules and guidelines. If you have questions, contact our member services department via the Contact Us page. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both polite and productive dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these rules and/or guidelines.

The Rules 

The core values of Astronomers Without Borders are community; diversity, equity, access and inclusion; evidence; empathy; stewardship; improvement, and empowerment. Additional information on these values can be found on the Vision, Mission and Goals page. All conduct on the AWB community platform, participation in AWB activities or events, or actions taken as a member representing AWB in any capacity must reflect these values.

Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way.

Creating a post that focuses on a product or service you have successfully used to perform a task or event is acceptable. However, commercial advertisements of goods and services are not permitted.

Promoting events that are free to the public or activities requiring a small fee to recoup expenses for the event are permitted.

Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups or lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. 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.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.  Any such materials are strictly prohibited.

Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner.

When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. Contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.

Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate discussion threads. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response.

Please mark any posts that do not follow the rules as “inappropriate.” We are all responsible for keeping our community respectful to all who contribute.

To post anything on this site, you must be 13 years of age or older.


Discussion Group and List Etiquette

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.

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 in every message.

Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to receive fewer emails about a discussion. 

 

The Legal Stuff

This site and its affiliated sites (including but not limited to https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/, https://awb.connectedcommunity.org/) are provided as a service for the members of Astronomers Without Borders.  We do not have legal voting members of our corporation.  The term “members” as used herein shall mean, collectively, (a) any visitors to or users of this site or individuals with a free login account to this site or who otherwise access, visit, engage in, or participate in the online activity and other activities of AWB without paying a fee (collectively, “Free Members”); (b) Contributing Members (as such term is defined on the Join AWB page); (c) Student Members (as such term is defined on the Join AWB page); (d) Sustaining Members (as such term is defined on the Join AWB page); and (e) individuals paying Global Rates (as such term is defined on the Join AWB page) or any other rates.

Astronomers Without Borders is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by Astronomers Without Borders or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Astronomers Without Borders be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

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, or that such material is in the public domain. In addition, the posting party grants Astronomers Without Borders and its members the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material unless such material is in the public domain.

Astronomers Without Borders does not actively monitor the site for prohibited or inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any prohibited or inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of Astronomers Without Borders  we will take all appropriate action.

 

Intellectual Property of AWB

Unless otherwise indicated, all of the content information, design, text, articles, graphics, illustrations, photographs, images, data, video, moving images, sounds, audio, music, software, applications, artwork, user interfaces, trademarks, logos (including, but not limited to, the logos set forth on the AWB Logos page (the “AWB Logos”), computer code, and/or features contained or displayed on the main AWS website (https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/) and any products and services (collectively “Site Content”), including, but not limited to, the design, structure, expression, “look and feel,” selection and arrangement of such Site Content is owned and/or controlled by AWB, its licensors or third-party partners, or used with permission and is legally protected, without limitation, under U.S. federal and state, and foreign laws, regulations, and treaties, including copyright, trademark, patent, moral rights, trade dress and other laws relating to the protection of intellectual property and unfair competition.

The AWB Logos and AWB’s name, icons, and other trademarks, whether registered or common law (unregistered) trademarks (collectively, the “AWB Marks”), are the sole and exclusive intellectual property of AWB and may only be used in accordance with the Trademark Policy below.

 

Trademark Policy

Subject to this Trademark Policy and the other terms herein, AWB grants its members a worldwide, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to use the AWB Marks solely for personal and/or non-commercial social purposes. All commercial use of the AWB Marks is exclusively reserved for AWB.

The AWB Marks may be used only by (i) AWB members in good standing while promoting AWB programs or (ii) with AWB’s prior written consent.

The AWB Marks are a reflection of our values (as set forth on the Vision, Mission and Goals page).  Any use of the AWB Marks must be reflective of our vision, mission and values.

The AWB Marks may not be revised or altered in any way, and must be displayed in the same form as produced by AWB.  The AWB Marks may never be used independent of the term(s) "ACCREDITED", "AFFILIATE," and/or "PARTNER," as applicable. The AWB Marks may not be used in any manner that discredits AWB or tarnishes its reputation and goodwill; is false or misleading; violates the rights of others, any law, regulation, or other public policy; or mischaracterizes your relationship with AWB or the relationship between AWB and any third party, including but not limited to any use of the Logos that might be interpreted as an endorsement, approval, sponsorship, or certification by AWB of you, your business or organization, your products or services, or any third party; or that might be interpreted as support or encouragement to purchase or utilize your products or services or those of any third party.

Without further notice, AWB reserves the right to revoke the limited and revocable license granted herein or to otherwise prohibit any use of the AWB Marks, if AWB determines that your usage, whether willful or negligent, is not in strict accordance with any of the terms and conditions herein.

Termination of Astronomers Without Borders Members

Astronomers Without Borders reserves the right to terminate the membership of anyone who not abide by these rules and guidelines.  Immediately upon such termination (in accordance with the procedures set forth below), the former member shall no longer have access to the AWB community platform and/or the benefits of AWB membership and shall be prohibited from using the AWB Marks or any of the materials on this site or otherwise provided by Astronomers Without Borders. 

 

Membership Termination Procedures

In the case of proposed termination of a membership the following procedures will apply:

Notice: AWB will send a written notice to the member indicating the reason for termination with an effective date of termination.

Response: The member shall be given an opportunity to be heard, in writing, not less than five days before the effective date of the proposed termination. The member’s response can be addressed to the National Coordinator of the applicable country, and to our member services department or other AWB staff. If the member does not respond within the time allotted, then the termination will be effective on the proposed date of termination.

Determination: Following the hearing date, AWB staff (or National Coordinator in conjunction with AWB staff) will decide whether or not the member should in fact be terminated, suspended, or sanctioned in some other way (for instance, moderation of all posts on the AWB community platform or exclusion from AWB activities or events).  That decision shall be final, and the member shall be promptly notified.  If a member is terminated, all membership benefits will cease on the effective date of the termination stated.

Refund: In the case of paid membership, AWB will reimburse a prorated balance of the remainder for the period of dues.

 

Privacy Policy

Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.

With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:

Our Service Providers

We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers

Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures

We may disclose the personal information we collect through this site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our terms and conditions (including these Terms of Use) or other agreements that govern your use of this site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

 

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

 

Cookies

A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc.). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by third party content providers such as news-feeds.

 

Remember the Risks Whenever You Use the Internet

While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition, other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information, please contact us using the Contact Us page.