PD ONLINE RESEARCH
SERVICE USER AGREEMENT
Terms and Conditions
of Use
Please read this
User Agreement before using this Service.
1. Welcome
to the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s PD Online Research Service
(“PD Online,” “Service,” or “we”).
Please
carefully review these terms of use. By using PD Online, you agree to
be bound by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement (the “User
Agreement”) and any published policies.
If
you do not agree to abide by all of the provisions contained in this
Agreement and the published policies, you must not use or access this
Service.
We
reserve the right to change the terms of this User Agreement or to modify
any features of this Service (including our published policies) at any
time without notice to you, and you agree to be bound by such changes.
Any changes to this User Agreement or published policies shall become
a part of this User Agreement and shall apply as soon as they are posted.
Any new features or functionality that augment or enhance the Service,
shall be subject to this User Agreement upon activation.
The most current version
of the User Agreement can be viewed at any time at: www.pdonlineresearch.org. This Agreement and its policies were last
updated May 28, 2009.
2. In General
PD Online hosts discussion
and commentary on technical issues related to:
- the value and significance
of published scientific research;
- the conduct of scientific
research;
- obtaining and directing
research funding and investment; and,
- legal, governmental regulatory,
or business issues as they relate to scientific research or therapeutics
development.
We
will not host discussion, commentary, or questions about best practices
of medical treatment or appropriateness of care in general or in the
case of specific patients. Nothing on this Service should be used
to suggest a course of treatment for any patient. This Service
cannot substitute for treatment by a physician or other health care
provider.
The
information provided on PD Online is provided “as is” with no representations
or warranties of any kind and is subject to change without notice.
The information is intended to provoke scientific discussion relating
to the subject matter and may not be appropriate for use in a human
clinical trial. Neither the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) nor
any contributor to the Service shall be liable to you or any third party
for any loss or damage (including, without limitation, damage or loss
of business or loss of profits) arising directly or indirectly from
your use of or inability to use the information.
We
will only publish contributions by individuals professionally involved
in patient care, scientific research, or the funding of or investment
in scientific research, as per our requirements for registered membership.
Any individual who obtains membership in error without meeting PD Online’s
delineated membership requirements will have his or her membership immediately
canceled. Other visitors may submit questions or comments to the
editors via email, which we may or may not publish on PD Online, at
our discretion.
Content,
submissions, and discussion on the Service will be restricted to those
addressing Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s disease related topics.
Content will be monitored by and subject to the discretion of the Michael
J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and PD Online. However,
the Foundation and PD Online shall not be liable to anyone for any loss
or damage related to such content, submissions or discussion, including,
without limitation, information about clinical trials appearing on the
Service.
3. Visiting Users
And Registered Members
Visitors
to this Service may use the public areas of this Service for informational
purposes and are subject to these Terms and Conditions of Use. Visitors
may submit questions or comments to the editors via email, which we
may or may not publish on PD Online, at our discretion. In addition,
certain areas of this Service, including but not limited to content
posting functionality, are intended only for Registered Members. Accordingly,
PD Online reserves the right to limit access to certain areas of this
Service to those who register and meet the required qualifications.
Membership is awarded at our discretion based upon eligibility requirements.
To register, a prospective Member must provide us with certain personal
information, including his or her name, profession, email address, postal
address, title and employment or other affiliation. If you do not qualify,
please do not attempt to register.
Upon
our review and acceptance of your registration information, PD Online
will provide you with a User ID and password. The information you provide
must be accurate and complete, and it is your responsibility to inform
us of any changes to that information by emailing us at admin@pdonlineresearch.org. We reserve the right to discontinue access
to any restricted area of this Service at any time, without notice to
you, for any reason. If you are or become a Registered Member, you
are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your User ID
and password. Only a Registered Member may use the User ID to post
content. If you become aware of unauthorized use of your User ID and
password, you agree to immediately notify PD Online. The personal information
provided by you is subject to our Privacy Policy, which can be found
at www.pdonlineresearch.org.
4. Registered Member
Eligibility Requirements
PD
Online Registered Membership will be granted if the individual applicant:
- Conducts scientific research
(clinical or basic science). This category includes graduate students;
post-doctoral fellows; and junior and senior scientists employed in
academia, industry, government or other research institutes;
- Is a grant-maker or an investor
involved in decisions regarding funding for PD research Treats Parkinson’s
disease as a clinician or is an allied healthcare professional directly
engaged in clinical research. Is invited to be a Member.*
*Certain
“Trusted Members” will be given the opportunity to invite other
Members. Trusted Members are permitted to invite individuals who meet
our eligibility requirements as outlined above, and only such individuals,
to join PD Online.
5. Submitting Content
By posting or submitting
content on or to this Service (regardless of the form or medium with
respect to such content, whether text, videos, photographs, audio or
otherwise), including submission of comments or questions to the editors,
you are giving PD Online, and its affiliates, agents and third party
contractors the right to display or publish such content on this Service
and its affiliated publications (either in the form submitted or in
a derivative form), to store such content, and to distribute such content
through PD Online. PD Online reserves the right without prior notice
to remove or not publish submissions.
You shall be solely
responsible for your own submissions and the consequences of posting
or publishing them. In connection with each of your submissions, you
affirm, represent, and/or warrant that you own or have the necessary
licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and publish any and
all such submissions and authorize PD Online to enable inclusion and
use of such submissions in the manner contemplated by PD Online and
this User Agreement. You agree that you will not submit material that
is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third
party proprietary rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or
have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to
grant PD Online all of the rights granted herein. We strongly encourage
all participants to appropriately protect their respective rights.
You
will not publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage
PD Online or any third party. You will not submit material that is
unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic,
harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages
conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil
liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate. You will
not post advertisements or solicitations of business.
Any
contributions of the nature specified in the preceding paragraph will
be immediately deleted and/or the user’s membership account will be
terminated at the discretion of PD Online. PD Online reserves the right
to remove or not publish submissions without prior notice.
6. Intellectual Property
If you are a copyright
owner or agent thereof and believe that User Content infringes upon
your copyright, please submit notice, pursuant to the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)) to our designated Copyright Agent
with the following information: (i) an electronic or physical signature
of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright;
(ii) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
(iii) the URL of the location containing the material that you claim
is infringing; (iv) your address, telephone number, and email address;
(v) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed
use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
(vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above
information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright
owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
Our
Copyright Agent can be reached as follows: By mail: The Michael J. Fox
Foundation for Parkinson’s Research / Attn: Sohini Chowdhury / PO
Box 780, Church Street Station / New York, NY 10004
By phone: (212) 509-0995
By fax: (212) 509-2390
By email: schowdhury@michaeljfox.org
Please
note that attachments cannot be accepted at the email address for security
reasons. Accordingly, any notification of infringement submitted electronically
with an attachment will not be received or processed.
. The content on this
Service is subject to a Creative Commons License. All users are free
to share, copy, distribute, or display the work. You must attribute
the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not
in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the content).
You may not use the work for commercial purposes. You may not alter,
transform, or build upon the work. For any reuse or distribution, you
must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Nothing in
this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.
You
may excerpt and use materials set forth in this Service, provided, that
you must give the original author credit and such use must be for a
non-commercial purpose only and not, for example, for re-sale.
Notice that User Content
may violate any other intellectual property right may also be sent to
our Copyright Agent as provided above.
7. Liability
You agree to indemnify
and hold harmless the Michael J. Fox Foundation, PD Online, their affiliates,
and their respective members, directors, officers, managers, employees,
agents, and licensors, from and against all losses, expenses, damages
and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from any
violation by you of this Agreement. We reserve the right to assume
the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification
under this Section. In such event, you shall provide us with such cooperation
as is reasonably requested by us.
The
Michael J. Fox Foundation, PD Online, their affiliates, and their respective
members, directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents
and licensors are not liable for incidental, indirect, consequential,
special, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind, including, without
limitation, lost revenues or profits, loss of business or loss of data,
in any way related to this Service or for any claim, loss or injury
based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies in this
Service (including, without limitation, as a result of breach of any
warranty or other term of this Agreement).
8. Miscellaneous
. We do not warrant
that this Service will be uninterrupted or error-free. There may be
omissions and inaccuracies in the posted content, information or other
materials available through this Service. We reserve the right to correct
any errors or omissions in this Service. While we will make a good faith
effort to correct any errors, we do not make any warranties, express
or implied, with respect to this Service or any information that is
through this Service. We do not make any representations, nor do we
endorse the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or reliability of any
comment, advice, opinion, statement or other material or data displayed,
uploaded or distributed through this Service or available through links
in this service. Although we intend to and will take all reasonable
steps to prevent the introduction of viruses, worms, “trojan horses”
or other destructive materials to this Service, we do not guarantee
or warrant that this Service or materials that may be downloaded from
this Service do not contain such destructive features. We are not liable
for any damages or harm attributable to such features.
You
may not use any device, software or routine to interfere with the proper
working of the Site. You may not take any action that imposes an unreasonable
burden upon the infrastructure used to support the efficient operation
of the Site.
This Service may provide
links to web sites operated by third parties. Please refer to the separate
terms of use, privacy policies, and other rules posted on these linked
sites before you use them. Third party links are provided merely as
a convenience to you, and the inclusion of any link does not imply affiliation
or endorsement by PD Online. PD Online does not review, monitor or check
the accuracy of content published on third party sites, and is not responsible
for the availability of, and content provided on, third party sites.
You acknowledge and agree that PD Online 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 the use of or reliance on any
content, goods or services available on or through this Service or any
third party links.
We
make no claim that this Service or its contents conforms with laws outside
the United States. Your use of this Service and/or download of
information from it outside the United States is at your own risk.
You are responsible for complying with any applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
This User Agreement
may be terminated by either party for any reason at any time. The terms
and conditions of this Agreement shall survive such termination for
any disputes relating to it. Any portion of this Agreement or
published policy found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable
shall be severable and all other portions of this Agreement and published
policies shall remain in effect.
This User Agreement
shall be governed by the laws of the United States and the State of
New York, applicable to agreements made and to be performed therein
without regard to conflict of laws principles, and you agree that the
federal or state courts in New York, New York shall have exclusive jurisdiction
over any dispute relating to this Agreement. BY CONTINUING TO USE THIS
SERVICE, YOU AGREE TO ABIDE BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
Privacy
Policy for PD Online
Thank
you for visiting the PD Online Website and reviewing our privacy policy.
Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal identifiable
information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to
provide that information to us. Personally identifiable information
(Personal Information) is information that can be used to identify or
contact you, such as your name, email address, telephone number or similar
information.
Information Collection
and Use
MJFF
maintains control of the Persona Information collected by the PD Online
Website. MJFF collects additional non-personally identifiable information
from our users at several different points on the PD Online Website.
Content posted to this Service by registered members is governed by
the Creative Commons Public License, discussed below.
Registered
Members: If you are eligible to be a Member, in order to register,
you must provide us with certain Personal Information, including your
name, profession, email address, postal mail address, title and clinical
or other relevant affiliation. We will use this Personal Information
to review and verify your registration information and your eligibility
for Membership. Any information you provide to PD Online must be true,
accurate, current, non-misleading, and consistent and relevant for the
purpose for which you are providing the information. If you are a Registered
Member, you must have the authority to provide the information submitted
to and through this Service, and understand and agree that we may from
time to time verify such authority.
Registered
Member Information: MJFF maintains a separate electronic database
of Members which includes membership number, name, contact information
and research interests. This information is stored securely and separately
from our website. Personal information you provide will be used only
in connection with PD Online or for such other purposes as are described
at the point of collection.
Visiting
Users who submit email comments:
We require all Visiting Users who submit
email comments to the editors to provide us with a valid email
address. MJFF maintains a separate electronic database of Visiting
Users, which includes email addresses and other identifying information
provided to us when email submissions are made. This information is
stored securely and separately from our website. MJFF may contact
Visiting Usersregarding PD Online and MJFF. Such contact may be
for the purpose of verifying the identity of a Visiting User submitting
comments to us.
Additional
Information Automatically Collected and Stored for
Visiting Users and Registered Members: We automatically collect
and store the following information when you visit PD Online:
- The Internet domain (for
example, “xcompany.com” if you use a private Internet access account,
or “yourschool.edu” if you connect from a university's domain)
and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned
to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access
our website;
- The type of browser and
operating system used to access this Service;
- The date and time you access
this Service;
- The pages you visit; and
- If you linked to the PD
Online website from another website, the address of that website.
Cookies
and clear gifs: PD Online uses both "session" and "persistent"
cookies on this Service. A cookie is a small piece of information that
is sent to your browser and stored in your computer's hard drive. The
purpose of a cookie is to remember certain user inputs on this Service.
Session
cookies are temporary bits of information that are erased once you exit
your web browser or turn off your computer. Persistent cookies are
more permanent bits of information that are placed on the hard drive
of your computer and stay there unless you delete the cookie. They store
information on your computer for a number of reasons, such as retrieving
certain information you have previously provided (i.e., username and
password), helping to determine what areas of this Service you find
most valuable, and customizing this Service based on your preferences
on an ongoing basis. Persistent cookies placed on your computer by
this Service may hold Personal Information, but only if you are a Registered
Member or have otherwise consented to the provision of Personal Information
in accordance with the terms of this Policy. In addition to customization,
persistent cookies will be used to provide you with better service on
this Service, to compile and analyze statistics and trends, and to otherwise
administer and improve this Service for your use.
This
Service may also use clear gifs (also known as web beacons) in combination
with cookies, in order to help Service operators understand how visitors
interact with this Service. A clear gif is typically a transparent
graphic image (usually 1 pixel by 1 pixel in size) that is placed on
this Service, which allows this Service to measure the actions of a
visitor who opens the page that contains the clear gif. PD Online uses
clear gifs to measure traffic and related behavior, and to improve your
experience when visiting this Service. We also use clear gifs to manage
the content available on this Service.
We
use this information to help us make this Service more useful to visitors.
We may use your Usage Data with or without your Personal Information,
in order to measure this Service's performance and improve this Service’s
design and functionality.
Sharing Information
In
General: Posted content may be seen by various people. We may enter
the information you send into our electronic database. You may be contacted
by MJFF or PD Online about the content that you post. Posted content
(“the work”) is governed by a Creative Commons Public License.
All Registered Members are free to share, copy, distribute, or
display the work. You must attribute the work in the manner specified
by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they
endorse you or your use of the content). You may not use the work for
commercial purposes. You may not alter, transform, or build upon the
work. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others
the license terms of the work. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts
the author's moral rights.
Information
may also be collected for statistical purposes. MJFF and PD Online sometimes
perform analyses of user behavior in order to measure user interest
in the various areas of this Service. We will disclose this information
to third parties only in aggregate form.
In
other limited circumstances, we may be required by law to disclose information
you submit. Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we
may need to disclose Personal Information when required by law wherein
we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply
with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served
on this Service.
Consent
to Disclosure: By using this Service, posting content or providing
information to PD Online, you understand and unambiguously consent to
the collection, processing, transfer and use of information in the United
States and other countries and territories, for the purposes set forth
by PD Online. You hereby consent to the collection, processing and
disclosure by PD Online of your Personal Information and posted content
as described under this Policy, including but not limited to the transfer
of your name, occupation, and posted content between PD Online/ MJFF
and the Parkinson’s research community. For further certainty, any
consent relating to a right to transfer information referred to in this
paragraph shall be deemed to include your consent to the transfer of
the applicable information to a jurisdiction which may have a different
level of privacy protection than that available in your own country.
Links:
This Service contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we,
MJFF, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites
or the content of those sites. We encourage our users to be aware when
they leave this Service and to read the privacy statements of each and
every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This
privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Service.
“Opt-out”/Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating
Personal Information: If a user’s personally identifiable information
changes (such as zip code, phone, email or postal address), or if a
user no longer desires to use this Service, we provide a way to correct,
update or delete/deactivate it. With the exception of a Registered
Member’s name and place of employment, individual privacy settings
will be under the Registered Members’ control. To “opt-out” of
receiving communications from PD Online (except for communications necessary
for your use of this Service) or any other consent previously granted
for a specific purpose concerning your personally identifiable information,
send an e-mail to PD Online at admin@pdonlineresearch.org.
Updates to Privacy
Policy
PD
Online may, in its sole discretion, update this Policy at any time and
from time to time, by posting the amended Policy on this Service. The
amended Policy shall be effective upon posting and your access to or
use of this Service following an update shall be deemed consent to the
revised Policy. We urge each visitor to refer back to this page regularly
and especially prior to providing or updating any Personal Information.
This Policy may not be otherwise amended without the written consent
of PD Online.
Disclaimer
While
PD Online exercises all due caution to protect your privacy, we will
not be held responsible for parties who attempt to illegally access
this Service and intercept or access transmissions or private communications.
Agreement
By
visiting this Service you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions
of this Privacy Policy.
Financial Conflict
of Interest Disclosure Policy for PD Online
To
ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and rigorous scientific diligence
within the PD Online Research community, the Moderators and Editors
of the PD Online Research Service reserve the right and declare their
intention to monitor and evaluate any Relevant Financial Relationships
of the Membership.
“Relevant
Financial Relationship” will be defined as and limited to those relationships
and interests that, based upon the following recognized criteria, create
a presumption of conflict of interest with regards to specific PD Online
Research content.
In
determining whether a presumption of conflict of interest exists, PD
Online Research recognizes that Financial Interests (specifically, ties
to industry through employment, equity or stock ownership, honoraria,
research grants, etc.) are the most obvious sources of potential conflict.
Furthermore, PD Online Research recognizes that the likelihood for potential
conflict increases when the Financial Interests are held, at a minimum,
by the individual or his or her spouse, committed partner, or dependent
children. Finally, PD Online Research recognizes that the potential
for conflict is directly dependent upon the nature of the link between
the Financial Interests and the content on which the Member or Visiting
User desires to comment or contribute.
By
accepting these Terms and Conditions, each Member or Visiting User acknowledges
that failure to disclose a Relevant Financial Relationship may be grounds
for probationary action or revocation of my PD Online Research Membership,
or, in the case of a Visiting User, refusal to post comments.
By
accepting these Terms and Conditions, each Member and Visiting User
acknowledges that if a conflict exists regarding a piece of commentary
authored by the Member or Visiting User, the Member or Visiting User
shall be required to include the following text at the end of the commentary:
“Author recognized Relevant Financial Relationship in this Content.”
