Welcome, EarthTechling! PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE.  All users of this Website agree that access to and use this site are subject to the following terms and conditions (“Terms”) and other applicable laws.  If you do not agree to these Terms please do not use this site.

Acceptance of Terms

By registering with or using www.earthtechling.com (the “Service” or “Website”) you (“you” or “your”) acknowledge that you have read, understand and agree to be legally bound by the Terms set forth or referenced below.  If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use or access the Service offered by EarthTechling, LLC (“EarthTechling,” “us,” “we,” or “ET”).

Permitted Use

The Service is for your personal and non-commercial use. Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by EarthTechling, you agree that you will not use the Service or duplicate, download, publish, modify or otherwise distribute or use any content included in the Service for any purpose, except to review the information included in the Service, to discuss and participate in communications regarding the Service or its subject matter, or purchase products offered by third party vendors.  Use of the Service or the materials or content contained in the Service for any purpose not set forth in these Terms is prohibited.

Registration, Accounts and Passwords

If you register with our Service, you will provide us with certain true, current, and accurate information.  You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, and you are solely responsible for all use of your password, whether authorized by you or not. You agree to notify us immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of your password or any other breach of security. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that may result if you fail to comply with these requirements, or if you fail to exit from your online sessions.

If you choose a username that, in our sole discretion, is obscene, indecent, abusive or that might otherwise subject ET to public disparagement, we reserve the right, without prior notice to you, to automatically change your username, delete your posts from our site, deny you access to our site, or any combination of these options.

Privacy Policy

Your use of the Service is governed by the EarthTechling privacy policy which is incorporated by this reference. You agree to our collection and use of your information as set forth in the Privacy Policy.

Content

The content and information on this Website is proprietary to us. You agree not to otherwise modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell or re-sell any information, software, products, or services obtained from or through this Website.

Additionally, you agree not to:

(a)  use this Website or its contents for any commercial purpose;

(b)  access, monitor or copy any content or information of this Website using any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means or any manual process for any purpose without our express written permission;

(c)  use the Website to defame, abuse, threaten, harass or otherwise violate the legal rights of others;

(d)  use this Website to transmit files that contain viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files;

(e)  manipulate identifiers or other data in order to disguise the origin of any content transmitted through our Website or to manipulate your presence on our site;

(f)  post content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party;

(g)  deep-link to any portion of this Website for any purpose without our express written permission; or

(h) “frame”, “mirror” or otherwise incorporate any part of this Website into any other website without our prior written authorization.

Copyright

The Service includes content that we create, and content that third parties create, including perhaps even you.   All materials published on our Website, including, but not limited to, written content, photographs, graphics, images, illustrations, marks, logos, sound or video clips, and Flash animation, are protected by our copyrights or trademarks or those of you or other third party content providers.  You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or in any way exploit any of the materials or content on our Website in whole or in part.

Forums

You agree to use our forums, and/or message facilities (collectively, the “Forums”) only to send and receive messages and material that are proper and related to that particular Forum.

We do not guarantee the accuracy, the integrity, or the quality of the content of the Service, and you may not rely on any of its content. Without limitation, we are not responsible for postings by users in the user opinion, message board, or feedback sections of our Website.

EarthTechling takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted, stored or uploaded by you or any third party, or for any loss or damage thereto, nor is EarthTechling liable for any mistakes, defamation, slander, libel, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography or profanity you may encounter.  You agree that we are not liable for any statements, representations or content provided by third party users of our Services in any Forum or any other area of our Website.  EarthTechling has no obligation to screen, edit or monitor any of the content posted on our Website by third parties, but we reserve the right, and possess absolute discretion, to remove, screen or edit without notice any content posted or stored on the Website at any time and for any reason.

License Grant

By contributing to or participating in our Forum, or submitting product reviews, message board postings, product photographs, or any other content, you automatically grant (or warrant that the owner of such rights has expressly granted) EarthTechling an irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable and worldwide right and license to use, copy, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and sell and distribute such materials or incorporate such materials into any form, medium or technology without compensation to you. In addition, you warrant that all so-called moral rights in those materials have been waived. None of the materials shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of EarthTechling.

Third-party sites, products, and Services

The Service contains links to other Internet sites owned by third parties.  You will be subject to the terms and conditions of each third party site if you visit such sites.   Third party sites are beyond our control: we are not responsible for any changes to or content on them. Our inclusion of any third-party content or a link to a third-party site is expressly NOT an endorsement of such content, third-party site, third-party products and/or services, or third party itself.

EarthTechling does not sell, resell, or license any of the products or the services that we review, list, or advertise on our Website, and we disclaim any responsibility for or liability related to them.  By using the Service, you agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any of your transactions with third parties.  Your activities with third parties, including payment transactions, are solely between you and each individual third party.  Any claims, complaints, or questions regarding a third party product or service should be directed to the appropriate third party provider or vendor.

Term: Termination

These Terms are applicable to you upon your accessing the site and/or completing the registration process. These Terms, or any part of them, may be terminated by ET without notice at any time, for any reason. The provisions relating to Copyrights, Disclaimers, Arbitration, Indemnification and Miscellaneous, shall survive any termination.

Revisions to these Terms and Conditions. These Terms may be revised at any time and from time to time by updating this posting. You should visit this page from time to time to review the then current Terms because they are binding on you. Certain provisions of these Terms may be superseded by legal notices or terms located on particular pages of this Website.

Termination of Use. We may suspend or terminate your account or your use of this Website at any time, for any or no reason. We reserve the right to change, suspend, or discontinue all or any aspects of this Web Site at any time without notice.

Inappropriate Material. You are prohibited from posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, libelous, obscene, pornographic or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense or give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law. In addition to any remedies that we may have at law or in equity, if we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated or are likely to violate the foregoing prohibitions, we will take any action we deem necessary to cure or prevent the violation, including without limitation, the immediate removal of the related materials from this Website. We will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order or subpoena requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone, posting such materials.  Such disclosure may include, without limitation, such user’s IP addressing and traffic information, usage history, and posted content.




Participation Disclaimer

EarthTechling  does not and cannot review all communications and materials posted to or created by users accessing the Website, and is not in any manner responsible for the content of these communications and materials. You acknowledge that by providing you with the ability to view and distribute ET and user-generated content on the Website, we are merely acting as a passive conduit for such distribution and are not undertaking any obligation or liability relating to any contents or activities on the Website. However, ET reserves the right to block or remove communications or materials that it determines to be (a) abusive, defamatory, or obscene, (b) fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading, (c) in violation of a copyright, trademark or; other intellectual property right of another or (d) offensive or otherwise unacceptable to us in our sole discretion.

Requests to remove certain content from our sites

If you believe that content you own has been copied and made accessible in a manner that violates your intellectual property rights, please notify our Editorial Department.

Indemnification

You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold EarthTechling and all of our officers, directors, employees, agents, information providers, affiliates, partners, and licensors (collectively, the “EarthTechling Beings”) harmless from and against any and all liability, losses, costs, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by any EarthTechling Being in connection with any claim, including, but not limited to, claims for defamation, violation of rights of publicity and/or privacy, copyright infringement, or trademark infringement arising out of:

1.   Your use of our Service;

2.   Any use or alleged use of your accounts or your passwords by any person, whether or not authorized by you;

3.   The content, the quality, or the performance of content that you submit to the Earthtechling web site;

4.   Your connection to our Website;

5.   Your violation of these Terms; or

6.   Your violation of the rights of any other person or entity.

We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims.

Disclaimers

WE DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE CONTENT ON OUR SITE. OUR SITES AND THEIR CONTENT ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS, AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. ANY PRODUCTS THAT YOU USE OR OBTAIN AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF OUR SITE ARE USED OR OBTAINED AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY RESULTING DAMAGES.  WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT (i) OUR SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) OUR SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF OUR SITE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL THAT YOU PURCHASE OR OBTAIN FROM THE USE OUR SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND (v) ANY ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED.  WE EXPRESSLY DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO OUR SITE, ANY CONTENT THEREIN.  YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOU WILL ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR SITE AND THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ITS CONTENT.

WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE OUR SITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY AND THAT OF OUR THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AGENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

IN THE EVENT OF ANY PROBLEM WITH THIS WEBSITE OR ANY CONTENT, YOU AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO CEASE USING THIS WEBSITE.

Arbitration

EarthTechling may elect to resolve any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or our Service by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the US Arbitration Service of Portland, Oregon. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Portland, Oregon, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Either you or we may seek any interim or preliminary relief from a court of competent jurisdiction in Portland, Oregon, necessary to protect the rights or the property of you or EarthTechling, Inc. (or its agents, suppliers, and subcontractors), pending the completion of arbitration.

Miscellaneous

These Terms, including all terms, conditions, and policies that are incorporated into these terms by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and EarthTechling, and govern your use of our Website, superceding any prior agreements that you may have with us.

Your use of the Service shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of Oregon, U.S.A., without regard to choice of law provisions. You agree that jurisdiction over and venue in any legal proceeding directly or indirectly arising out of or relating to this Website shall be in the state or federal courts located in Multnomah County, Oregon. Any cause of action or claim you may have with respect to the site must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises. ET’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these terms and conditions shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.  Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any of these Terms. ET may assign its rights and duties under this Agreement to any party at any time without notice to you.

If any part of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superceded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision, and the remainder of the Terms shall continue in effect.

EarthTechling.com Sweepstakes Official Rules

1. How to Enter: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN A PRIZE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.  These Official Rules apply to all sweepstake events (the “Sweepstakes”) (each unique Sweepstakes being an “Event”) sponsored from time to time by Earthtechling (“Sponsor”).  You may enter an Earthtechling Sweepstakes Event by visiting the Sponsor website, www.earthtechling.com (the “Earthtechling Website”) and signing up for the Earthtechling weekly newsletter or in any other manner specified in the Event announcement.  Limit one (1) entry per person per Event.  Submitting multiple email addresses per person per Event at the sole and absolute discretion of the Sponsor shall be considered a disqualifying act.  Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means are void.  All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned.   These Official Rules also apply to Sponsor Events that require an entrant to comment on an existing article or product review on the Earthtechling Website, wherein the comment itself is the method of entry, and a comment selected at random is chosen as representing the winning entry.

2. Eligibility: Sweepstakes are open only to legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older unless local law provides otherwise. Void outside the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia and where prohibited. Employees of Sponsor, its parent companies, affiliates and subsidiaries, all participating sponsors, prize suppliers, advertising and promotion agencies, and those involved in the production, development and handling of Sweepstakes (collectively, the “Sweepstakes Entities”), and members of their immediate families (parents, children, siblings, spouses and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and/or persons living in the same households as such persons, whether related or not, are ineligible to enter Sweepstakes and cannot win prizes. This Sweepstakes is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

3. Drawing and Notification: One (1) potential winner (the “Product Winner”) will be selected as indicated in the Event announcement in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received by Sponsor and will be contacted by email within approximately five (5) days of date of the drawing.  The odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. Potential Product Winner may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability and, unless prohibited by law, publicity, and return same, fully-executed, within ten (10) days of date of issuance of prize notification.  If Sponsor is unable to contact the potential Product Winner, if the potential Product Winner fails to return all forms fully-executed by the specified date or if potential Product Winner fails to comply with these Official Rules, or if any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, such potential Product Winner will be disqualified and, at Sponsor’s discretion, an alternate Product Winner shall be selected. By accepting prize, Product Winner consents to the use by Sponsor and its designees of his/her name, city and state of residence, likeness, biography, voice and/or video for advertising and promotional purposes, in any and all media now or hereafter known, including online announcements, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission, except where prohibited by law.

4. Costs and Taxes; Warranty: All costs, taxes, fees, and expenses associated with the acceptance and use of any prize are the sole responsibility of the Product Winner. For U.S. residents, the Product Winner will be issued a 1099 tax form for the approximate retail value (ARV) of the prize if the prize’s ARV exceeds $600. The specifics of all aforementioned elements of any prize in the Sweepstakes shall be solely determined by Sponsor. Some restrictions may apply. Any and all warranties and/or guarantees on any prize (if any) are subject to the manufacturer’s terms therof, and Product Winner agrees to look solely to such manufacturer for any such warranty and/or guarantee.

5. Release of Liability: By entering a Sweepstakes Event, all entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sweepstakes Entities and all of their respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees and agents and any and all Internet servers and access provider(s) (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all actions, claims, and/or liability with respect to or in any way arising from participation in the Sweepstakes and/or acceptance or use of the prize (including any injury or harm resulting from use of the prize), including liability for personal injury, death, damages, or loss. Released Parties are not responsible for: any incorrect or inaccurate entry information; failures, interruption, deletion, or defect of any telephone network, computer online systems, computer equipment, server providers, or software, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participation in this Sweepstakes; inability to access the Sponsor’s Website; or for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind relating to or in connection with the Sweepstakes, whether computer, network, technical, printing, typographical, human or otherwise, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions which may occur in connection with the administration of the sweepstakes, the processing of entries, the announcement of the prize(s) or in any Sweepstakes-related materials; and any entries which are late, lost, incomplete, misdirected, undelivered, delayed, or any combination thereof.

6. Winner’s Name: You may obtain the name of the prize winners by mailing a SASE to: “Earthtechling.com Sweepstakes” 1631 N.E. Broadway #109, Portland, OR 97323. Specify the newsletter issue date or product description of the specific sweepstakes’ winner’s name being requested.  Requests received more than three (3) weeks after the end of a drawing will not be honored.

7. Sponsor: Earthtechling LLC , 1631 N.E. Broadway #109, Portland, Or 97232.