Terms of Use


General Purpose of Site


The contents of the GOVERNINGWorks Web site (‘site’) are made available to the public for purposes of general information only. GOVERNINGWorks MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY OR CURRENCY OF THIS INFORMATION NOR ITS SUITABILITY FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Disclaimer


THIS SITE MAY CONTAIN LINKS TO WEB SITES CREATED AND CONTROLLED BY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. THESE LINKS ARE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE AND ARE NOT INTENDED AS AN ENDORSEMENT BY THE ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING THESE SITES NOR AS A WARRANTY OF THE INFORMATION THEY CONTAIN.

By accessing the information on this site, you agree that GOVERNINGWorks shall not be liable for any loss or injury caused in procuring, compiling or delivering the information. In no event will GOVERNINGWorks be liable for any action taken by you in reliance on information or for any consequential, special or similar damages.

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold GOVERNINGWorks and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors and assigns and any of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, representatives, advertisers, operational service providers and suppliers harmless from and against any and all claims, actions, losses, expenses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), resulting from any breach or violation of this Agreement by you, or public posting of your postings. 

GOVERNINGWorks reserves the right to assume, at its sole expense, the exclusive defense and control of any such claim or action and all negotiations for settlement or compromise, and you agree to cooperate with GOVERNINGWorks in the defense of any such claim, action, settlement or compromise negotiations, as requested by GOVERNINGWorks.

Copyright, Trademark & Use Restrictions


Copyright in the text materials contained in this site is owned by GOVERNINGWorks. These materials may be used, downloaded, reproduced, publicly displayed or reprinted for personal or non-commercial purposes only. This site may offer graphic images, data and other non-text based materials. All rights to these materials are reserved to GOVERNINGWorks. GOVERNINGWorks is an unregistered trademark.

GOVERNINGWorks responds to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement. The form of notice specified below is consistent with the form suggested by the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act. GOVERNINGWorks will respond to notices of this form from other jurisdictions.

Whether GOVERNINGWorks may be liable for such infringement under local country law or United States law, the GOVERNINGWorks response to a Notice of Infringement may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity. If GOVERNINGWorks removes or disable access in response to such a notice, GOVERNINGWorks will make a good-faith attempt to contact the owner or administrator of the affected site or content so that they may make a Counter Notification. GOVERNINGWorks may also document notices of alleged infringement on which GOVERNINGWorks acts. Please note that in addition to being forwarded to the person who provided the allegedly infringing content, a copy of this legal notice may be sent to a third-party which may publish and/or annotate it. As such, your Notice of Infringement (with personal information removed) may be forwarded to Chilling Effects for publication.

To file a Notice of Infringement with GOVERNINGWorks, you must provide a written communication (by regular mail or fax—not by e-mail unless by prior agreement) that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. If you are unsure if material available online infringes your copyright, GOVERNINGWorks suggests that you contact an attorney before sending a Notice of Infringement. You may visit the Chilling Effects website to see an example of a Notice of Infringement.

For a Notice of Infringement, please use the following format (including section numbers):
  1. Detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed on. Detail must include identification of a specific post, as opposed to an entire site. Any post must be identified by its permalink. For example: “The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.example.com/example/example.html.”
  2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above. Detail must include identification of a specific post, as opposed to an entire site. Any post must be identified by its permalink. For example, “The site on which my copyrighted work is published is http://www.example.com/example/example.html”.
  3. Provide the mailing address and e-mail address GOVERNINGWorks should use to contact you.
  4. Include the following statement: “I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.”
  5. Include the following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the Notice of Infringement is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”
  6. Sign the Notice of Infringement.
  7. Send an e-mail entitled “DCMA Complaints” containing a Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the Notice of Infringement to: info AT governingworks DOT org
The administrator of an affected site or the provider of affected content may make a Counter Notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When GOVERNINGWorks receives a Counter Notification, GOVERNINGWorks may reinstate the material in question.

To file a Counter Notification with GOVERNINGWorks, you must provide a written communication (by regular mail or fax—not by e-mail, except by prior agreement) that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is not infringing the copyrights of others. If you are unsure if material available online infringes the copyrights of another, GOVERNINGWorks suggests that you contact an attorney before sending a Counter Notification. You may visit the Chilling Effects website to see an example of a Counter Notification.

For a Counter Notification, please use the following format (including section numbers):
  1. Identify the specific URL or other unique identifying information of material that GOVERNINGWorks has removed or to which GOVERNINGWorks has disabled access.
  2. Provide your name, address, telephone number, email address and a statement that you (a) consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in New York County, New York and (b) will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.
  3. Include the following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that each search result, message, or other item of content identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled, or that the material identified by the complainant has been removed or disabled at the URL identified and will no longer be shown.”
  4. Sign the Counter Notification.
  5. Send an e-mail entitled “DCMA Counter Notification” containing a Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the Counter Notification Infringement to: info AT governingworks DOT org
For additional questions about the DMCA process, please contact GOVERNINGWorks.

Comments, References & Suggestions


GOVERNINGWorks welcomes relevant correspondence from interested readers so long as the content is not illegal, obscene, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, infringing of intellectual property rights or otherwise injurious and does not consist of or contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any form of “spam.” You may not use a false e-mail address, impersonate any person or entity or otherwise mislead about the origin of content you provide to GOVERNINGWorks. 

All information communicated to GOVERNINGWorks will be deemed, and will remain, the exclusive property of GOVERNINGWorks. Submission of information to GOVERNINGWorks does not guarantee its publication by GOVERNINGWorks. GOVERNINGWorks reserves the right to edit, remove from its Web site or decline to publish content.

Privacy


GOVERNINGWorks only uses information you provide to contact you with information that GOVERNINGWorks thinks will be of interest to you. By sending us your information, you consent to the collection and use of this information by GOVERNINGWorks. Our mailing of information to you does not, in and of itself, create a professional relationship between GOVERNINGWorks and you. GOVERNINGWorks reserves the right to discontinue any such mailings at any time.

GOVERNINGWorks will not sell, share or otherwise disclose any of the information it collects online except for disclosures to third parties who monitor the web site and to third parties who assist or cooperate in preparing GOVERNINGWorks mailings. GOVERNINGWorks tracks use of this site and prepares and maintains reports on usage. Except as otherwise provided herein, these reports do not include a user’s personal information.

Notwithstanding its privacy policy, GOVERNINGWorks may disclose personal information in special cases:

  1. When GOVERNINGWorks has reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who (intentionally or not) may be injuring or interfering with the rights of GOVERNINGWorks or property or anyone that could be harmed by such activities;
  2. When GOVERNINGWorks believes in good faith that the law requires it; and
  3. In situations involving threats to the physical safety of any person.

If GOVERNINGWorks changes its privacy policy, GOVERNINGWorks will post those changes on this page.

Applicable Laws & Jurisdictional Issues


By accessing the site, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement which is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any conflict of laws principles. All activity occurring in connection with the site is presumed to occur in the State of New York. Users of this site will abide by all applicable laws.

Other Terms


If any provision of this Terms of Use Agreement shall be unlawful, void or unenforceable for any reason, the other provisions (and any partially enforceable provision) shall not be affected thereby and shall remain valid and enforceable to the maximum possible extent. You agree that this Terms of Use Agreement and any other agreements referenced herein may be assigned by GOVERNINGWorks, in its sole discretion, to a third party in the event of a merger or acquisition. This Terms of Use Agreement shall apply in addition to, and shall not be superseded by, any other written agreement between GOVERNINGWorks and you in relation to your use of this site.