TERMS OF USE & PRIVACY POLICY
VIS Terms of Use
1. Introduction
Voices In Space (“VIS”) is an online forum for those who want their voices heard, felt, analyzed. It is a democratic medium for the open exchange of all forms of literature and the commentary it inspires.
VIS allows users to submit their own work on their own terms, critique the work of others, or just plain admire. If you are a writer seeking feedback and constructive criticism, submit pieces as anonymous, or under your nom de plume. If you are seeking to put yourself out there, use VIS to create a public “archive” of your literature and accrue insights from others. VIS is built to inspire and connect both writers and the larger community. And always, it is the community—you and other users who contribute to this site—who collectively decides the quality of each piece.
2. The Agreement
This Terms of Use Agreement (the “Agreement”) is a contract between you and VIS that governs your use of the VIS website (the “Website”) and all associated services and transactions between you and VIS. By using the Website, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, whether or not you create a user account for the site.
VIS may change the Agreement from time to time at its sole discretion. Your continued use of this Website following the posting of such changes will constitute your assent to all such changes. Please periodically visit this section of the Website to review the current version of the Agreement.
3. Accounts
A user account is not required to merely browse Website content. However, in order to upload content, users will be required to register and establish a password-protected account (an “Account”) by providing at least a name and a valid email address. You represent and warrant that all information provided by you in the Account is current, accurate, and complete, and that you will maintain the accuracy and completeness of this information during the account’s existence.
You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your password(s) and Account(s). You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for all actions and postings made from your Account. You agree to notify VIS immediately if you become aware of any unauthorized use of your Account.
VIS reserves the right to terminate or restrict access to a user’s account, and to delete any content posted through it with or without notice, for any or for no reason, and without any liability to you.
VIS respects the privacy of all our users. Please see the privacy policy for more information.
4. Content
Users have the right to upload and download written works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on the Website. However, by doing so, you acknowledge and agree to the following:
(a) You have the legal right to copy, distribute, and display any content that you upload, download, and otherwise copy, distribute and display. Please see the copyright policy for further details.
(b) The content may not be illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy, or otherwise injurious or objectionable. Under any of these circumstances, VIS reserves the right to delete the offending material at its discretion. However, VIS does not actively monitor all content on the Website and therefore cannot guarantee that it is free from the above offenses.
(c) The content available on the Website is the result of user effort and does not represent the views of VIS. VIS does not and cannot review all content made available on the Website by its users. Therefore, VIS assumes no responsibility for, and makes no claims as to, the accuracy, suitability, or completeness of the content.
(d) VIS does not and cannot review all content made available through third-party websites linked on the Website or linking to any part of the Website. Therefore, such linking does not imply in any way that VIS endorses or is affiliated with any third-party websites. VIS bears no responsibility or liability for any content accessed or harm caused from any third-party website.
5. Community Participation and Conduct
By participating in VIS or otherwise using this Website, you hereby acknowledge and agree that:
(a) You will not use VIS, the Website, and any associated services for any unlawful purpose.
(b) You will not use VIS, the Website, and any associated services to harm minors in any way, including, but not limited to, submitting any personally identifying information about any child under the age of 13.
(c) You will not upload or transmit any material that is likely to cause harm to or otherwise disrupt or interfere with the functioning of VIS, the Website, and any of its associated services and computer systems, including the computer systems of any users of the Website. These potentially harmful materials include, but are not limited to, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and any other code, program, software, data, or files.
(d) You will not use any manual or automated software, devices, scripts, robots, or other means or processes to access, “scrape,” “crawl,” or “spider” any material contained on the Website.
(e) You will not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise try to derive the source code of any underlying intellectual property used to provide the Website or any associated services. Additionally, you will not engage in “framing,” “mirroring,” or otherwise simulating the appearance or function of the Website.
(f) You will not impersonate or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or entity, nor cause, allow, or assist any other person to impersonate you. Additionally, you will not share your account password with any other person.
(g) You will not use any information obtained from the Website in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any user without their prior explicit consent.
6. Ratings (“Snaps”) & Comments
VIS welcomes and encourages users to “be a critic” by contributing ratings (or “snaps”) and comments to submitted Website content. VIS intends for comments sections to be used as a place for civil, thought-provoking, and high-quality public discussion. In order to achieve this, VIS requires that all commenters create an account in order to rate content or post comments. Please note that VIS respects the privacy of all our users (see the privacy policy for more details).
VIS reserves the right to remove postings that include the use of foul language, personal attacks, or the use of language that may be libelous or interpreted as inciting hate or sexual harassment; however, VIS is under no obligation to do so. In addition, all of the above restrictions applicable to Content (Section 4) and Community Participation (Section 5) also apply to user comments. Comments may be reviewed by moderators and may be included or excluded at the moderators’ discretion.
7. Disputes With VIS And Jury Trial Waiver
If there is any dispute about or involving VIS, the Website or the Program, by using the Website or partaking in its services in any way, you agree that the dispute will be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You agree to personal jurisdiction by and venue in the state and federal courts located in the city of New York, NY.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU HEREBY WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL OF ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR BASED UPON THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY CONTEMPLATED USE HEREIN, INCLUDING CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF DUTY, AND ALL OTHER CLAIMS. THIS WAIVER IS A MATERIAL INDUCEMENT FOR THE PARTIES TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT.
WITHOUT INTENDING IN ANY WAY TO LIMIT YOUR AGREEMENT TO WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY, if the above waiver of the right to a trial by jury is not enforceable, you agree that any and all disputes or controversies of any nature between you, VIS or any other user arising at any time shall be decided by a reference to a private judge, mutually selected by you, and as applicable, by VIS.
8. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold VIS harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees, made or incurred by any third party due to or arising (directly or indirectly) out of your use of the Website or arising from a breach of this Agreement.
9. Termination of Service
VIS disclaims all responsibility and liability for the availability, timeliness, security, or reliability of the Website. VIS reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Website without any notice at any time and without any liability to you.
10. No Waiver of Terms
Failure of VIS to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision in any instance.
Privacy Policy
VIS highly values the privacy of its users. The following paragraphs describe the information collected by VIS through the VIS website (the "Website") as well as how this information is used. VIS reserves the right to modify this policy statement at any time without prior notice. Please check this page periodically for changes.
This Privacy Policy only applies to the Website. It does not apply to any third-party websites linking to or linked from VIS nor to any individuals or entities not under the direct control of VIS. Please review the respective privacy policies of third-party websites to learn more about their information practices.
YOUR USE OF THE SITE CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO THESE TERMS AND ANY SUBSEQUENT CHANGES TO THESE TERMS; DO NOT USE THE SITE OR PROVIDE INFORMATION TO VIS IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ALL OF THE TERMS.
Information Collected During Browsing
Like many websites, VIS records information on users of its Website, even when those users are not logged in. The information collected includes user IP address, browser type, URL requests, and date and time of the URL request. The data are analyzed using a service called Google Analytics. (Google Analytics is subject to the privacy policy of Google.)
This information is only collected in aggregate (for example, the total number of visits to a particular page). VIS does not record personal information such as the pages visited by an individual user, nor does it collect any other personal data without users’ knowledge and permission.
VIS uses this aggregate data to improve the usefulness and performance of the Site to all visitors. In addition, VIS shares this anonymous aggregate information with advertisers and others interested the service.
Information Provided By Users
When registering and creating an account on the Website, VIS requires certain personally identifiable information, including name, email address, and password. A user may optionally provide further identifying information, such as nom de plume, location, favorite authors, and other biographical information in his/her account’s “about” section.
VIS may use this personal to perform research, improve usability of the site, administer mailing lists or forums, or other activities related to internal VIS services. VIS may also share this information with third parties that provide services to the Website, such as payment processing. However, VIS will only share the minimum amount of personal information required by the third party to provide its service and will forbid the third party from using the information for any other purpose.
Disclosure By Law
VIS will disclose any information (including aggregate user data, personal account information, and any other information stored on VIS servers) when required by law, such as in order to comply with a court order, subpoena, or other legal process served on VIS. VIS may also disclose such information in order to establish or exercise its legal rights, defend against legal claims, or protect the property or interests of its agents and employees.
In the event that disclosure is required by law, and unless prohibited, VIS will provide any affected users with notice that a request for their personal information has been made so that users may object to the disclosure. VIS will send this notice by email to the address listed on the account. A failure to challenge the disclosure request may result in automatic disclosure of the information.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files that the Website can send to a user’s browser for storage on the user’s local computer. They make use of the Site easier by saving status and preferences and are refreshed on every visit. On the VIS website, cookies allow the Website to recognize when a user returns to it. They also allow storage of the user’s password during a single browsing session (i.e., all browsing performed before shutting down the browser) so that the user can return to the site without logging in again. Most browsers are initially set to automatically accept cookies, but if others will be using your computer, VIS recommends that you log out of your account, clear your cookies, or refuse to accept cookies altogether so that your account information is not compromised. (Please access your browser’s settings in order to perform the latter two actions.)
Children's Privacy
The Website's content is intended for adults. VIS will not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child under age 13 who you believe has submitted personal information to the Website, please contact us immediately.
Public Posting & Archiving
Any information posted to the Website’s forums, comment sections, or user pages is publicly available to the internet at large. Literary works may be submitted anonymously, but may only be submitted by registered users. Similarly, only registered users can post comments, which are attributed to each user by his/her name or nom de plume.
All content may be retained for restorative, archival, or research purposes by VIS. Editing or deleting content may alter the displayed state of the content, but may not permanently delete the content from the Website’s servers.
Security
All information on the Website and under VIS’s control, including user logs, submitted content, and personal identity information, is protected by firewalls and other security measures designed to prevent unauthorized access. While this information is highly unlikely to be compromised, VIS cannot provide a perfect guarantee of confidentiality and thus, shall not be responsible for harm suffered as a result of security breaches with respect to information transmitted to and stored on the Site.
Please use passwords that are hard to guess in order to maximize your account’s security.
Third Party Websites
Content on the Website may link to or be linked from other websites that are not under the control of VIS. VIS is not responsible for the privacy practices of such third party websites and recommends that users review the privacy policies of all such sites.
Effective Date of the Agreement is February 1, 2013.
