SHIFT Terms of Use

Last updated: November 9, 2016

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE.

Acceptance of the Terms of Use

Welcome to the website of SHIFT, a special project of the Sustainability Initiative at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. These Terms of Use govern your use of the SHIFT website at http://shift.tools and all pages within the site owned or operated by MIT that are accessible with or without a username and password, including but not limited to text, content, photographs, video, audio, graphics and services (collectively, this “Site”). Please read these Terms of Use carefully before you start to use the Site. By using the Site or participating in any of SHIFT’s programs, you signify your acceptance of these Terms of Use and the terms of our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you should not visit the Site.

Changes to the Terms of Use

MIT reserves the right to change these Terms of Use at any time at its sole discretion by posting revisions on the Site. Such revisions will be effective immediately upon posting them to the Site. Your use of the Site after such changes have been posted shall constitute your acceptance of the revised Terms of Use.

Accessing this Site and Account Security

  1. By using this Site, you represent and warrant that you are 13 years or older. If you are under the age of 13 years, you agree not to visit the Site.
  2. MIT reserves the right to withdraw or amend the Site, and any service or material we provide on the Site, in our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Site is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the Site, or the entire Site, to users, including registered users.
  3. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Site.
  4. You are responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the Site through your Internet connection are aware of these Terms of Use, and that they comply with them.
  5. To access the Site or some of the resources it offers, you may be asked to provide certain registration details or other information. It is a condition of your use of the Site that all the information you provide on the Site is correct, current and complete. You may use an alias to identify yourself, but not to impersonate another individual or entity. You must provide a valid email address.
  6. If you choose, or you are provided with, a user name, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. You agree to immediately notify MIT via info@shift.tools of any unauthorized use of your user name or password or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.
  7. MIT has the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time in our sole discretion for any or no reason, including if, in our opinion, you have failed to comply with any provision of these Terms of Use.

Prohibited Uses

  1. You may use the Site only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree to use the information contained in personal profiles for lawful and legitimate purposes, such as networking or obtaining member contact information for your own lawful uses. You agree not to use the Site:
    1. In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local and international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the import or export of data or software into and from the United States or other countries);
    2. For the purpose of exploiting, harming or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information or otherwise;
    3. To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with these Terms of Use;
    4. To gather or attempt to gather personal information belonging to members, users, or member organizations for the purposes of spamming, marketing, selling to third parties, or otherwise sharing beyond the reasonable uses of the Site;
    5. To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail”, “chain letter” or “spam” or any other similar solicitation;
    6. To impersonate or attempt to impersonate SHIFT or an MIT employee, another user, or person or entity (including, without limitation, the use of names or email addresses associated with any of the foregoing); or
    7. To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Site, or which, as determined by us, may harm MIT, SHIFT or users of the Site or expose them to liability.
  2. Additionally, you agree not to:
    1. Use the Site in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the Site or interfere with any other party’s use of the Site, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Site;
    2. Use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means to access the Site for any purpose, including to monitor or copy any of the material on the Site;
    3. Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Site or for any other unauthorized purpose without the prior written consent of MIT;
    4. Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Site;
    5. Introduce any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful;
    6. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage or disrupt any part of the Site, the server on which any part of the Site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Site;
    7. Attack the Site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack; or
    8. Access or search or attempt to access or search the Site by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces provided by MIT; or
    9. Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site.

Intellectual Property Rights

  1. The Site and its entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement thereof), are owned by MIT, its licensors or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. SHIFT and MIT, and each of their logos, are trademarks of MIT. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of MIT. All other trademarks appearing on the Site are the property of their respective owners.
  2. Some of the content on the Site is not available for downloading, such as our copyrighted works that we do not distribute or works of others that we are not permitted to distribute. Selected content may be downloaded by you pursuant to these Terms of Use (“Available Content”) except where expressly indicated. Users are granted a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to Available Content conditioned on the user's continued compliance with these terms. YOU MAY REVIEW, DOWNLOAD, COPY, DISTRIBUTE AND USE THE AVAILABLE CONTENT SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF FURTHERING YOUR MISSION IN THE ORDINARY COURSE OF YOUR GOVERNMENTAL, CHARITABLE OR SOCIAL PURPOSE AND ATTENDANT OPERATIONS, PROVIDED THAT YOU PROPERLY ATTRIBUTE SUCH CONTENT TO MIT. FOR THE SAKE OF CLARITY, PROPER ATTRIBUTION INCLUDES THE REPRODUCTION OF ALL COPYRIGHT NOTICES. YOU MAY NOT SELL THE AVAILABLE CONTENT OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTE IT FOR A FEE. YOU WILL NOT USE OR DISCLOSE IT OR THE SITE TO ANY THIRD PARTIES EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PERMITTED BY THESE TERMS. ANY PERMISSION TO USE AVAILABLE CONTENT IS REVOCABLE BY MIT AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION AT ANY TIME UPON NOTICE FROM MIT.
  3. You must not:
    1. Modify copies of any materials from the Site;
    2. Use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from the accompanying text; or
    3. Delete or alter any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices from copies of materials from the Site.
  4. You must not reproduce, sell or exploit for any commercial purposes any part of the Site, access to the Site or use of the Site or any services or materials available through the Site.
  5. No right, title or interest in or to the Site or any content on the Site is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by MIT. Any use of the Site not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate copyright, trademark and other laws.

User-Provided Information – Content Standards

  1. You hereby grant to MIT and its affiliates a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license (with a right to grant sublicenses) to make any use of information you provide to MIT through the Site ("User-Provided Information"), consistent with the terms of our Privacy Policy.
  2. You represent and warrant that you own or control sufficient rights in User-Provided Information to grant MIT and its affiliates the license granted above. You represent and warrant that the User-Provided Information does and will comply with these Terms of Use, and you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless MIT and its affiliates and licensors for any breach of that representation and warranty. You understand and acknowledge that you, not MIT nor SHIFT, have full responsibility for the content of the User-Provided Information, including its legality, reliability, accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness, on the Site. You agree that MIT, its affiliates, and any of its or their officers, directors, agents or employees are not responsible for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by you or any other user of the Site.
  3. In addition to the foregoing, all User-Provided Information must comply with all applicable federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User-Provided Information must not:
    1. Contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable;
    2. Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;
    3. Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property rights of any other person or entity;
    4. Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy;
    5. Be likely to deceive any person;
    6. Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act;
    7. Cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person;
    8. Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization;
    9. Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes and other sales promotions, barter or advertising; and
    10. Give the impression that they emanate from MIT, SHIFT or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.

Monitoring and Enforcement

  1. MIT has the right to:
    1. Remove or refuse to post any User-Provided Information for any or no reason in our sole discretion;
    2. Take any action with respect to any user contribution that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion if we believe that such user contribution violates these Terms of Use, infringes any intellectual property right or other right, threatens the personal safety of users of the Site and the public or could create liability for MIT;
    3. Disclose your identity to any third party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy;
    4. Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Site; and
    5. Terminate your access to all or part of the Site for any or no reason, including without limitation any violation of these Terms of Use.
  2. Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity of anyone posting any materials on or through the Site. YOU WAIVE ANY CLAIM AGAINST MIT AND HOLD MIT HARMLESS FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY MIT DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER MIT OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
  3. We cannot review all material before it is posted on the Site, and we cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. MIT assumes no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or content provided by any user or third party. MIT has no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this paragraph.

Reliance on Information Posted

The information presented on or through the Site is made available solely for general informational purposes. MIT does not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Site, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

Changes to the Site

We may update the Site from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Any of the material provided by the Site may be out of date at any given time, and MIT is under no obligation to update such material. We may change the Site at any time with or without notice. We may suspend access to the Site, or close it indefinitely.

Information About You and Your Use of the Site

All information MIT collects through this Site is subject to our Privacy Policy. By using the Site, you consent to all actions taken by us with respect to your information in compliance with the Privacy Policy. You represent and warrant that all data provided by you is accurate. Links from the Site If the Site contains links to other websites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. MIT has no control over the contents of those websites or resources and accepts no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to the Site, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.

Geographic Restrictions

The Site is operated by MIT from Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States of America. You may not use or export the Site content in violation of applicable export laws and regulations. Site content is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject MIT to any registration or other requirement within such jurisdiction or country. MIT reserves the right to limit access or availability of the Site to any person, geographic region or jurisdiction.

Disclaimer of Warranties

  1. You understand that MIT cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the Internet or the Site will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to the Site for any reconstruction of any lost data. MIT WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
  2. YOUR USE OF THE SITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER MIT NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH MIT OR SHIFT MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR AVAILABILITY OF THE SITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER MIT, SHIFT NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH EITHER OF THEM REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE SITE, ITS CONTENT OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE SITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
  3. MIT HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
  4. THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

Limitation on Liability

  1. IN NO EVENT WILL MIT, ITS AFFILIATES OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT OF THE SITE OR SUCH WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE OR SUCH WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORSEEABLE.
  2. THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you shall indemnify MIT and all of its officers, employees, directors, owners, agents, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all losses and liabilities, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising from or related to your breach of these Terms of Use, your use of the Site, any content provided by you, any misrepresentation or breach of representation or warranty made by you contained herein or any breach of any covenant or agreement to be performed by you hereunder. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim.

Dispute Resolution By Arbitration

The parties shall settle any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or your use of the Site by arbitration in city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in accordance with the applicable rules of the American Arbitration Association then in effect. The arbitrator’s award shall be final and may be confirmed by the judgment of a state or federal court in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

Governing Law

These Terms of Use and all disputes or controversies arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use and your use of the Site shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without regard to conflicts of laws provisions that would require the laws of another jurisdiction to apply.

Limitation on Time to File Claims

ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE SITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES, OTHERWISE SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

Waiver and Severability

  1. No waiver of these Terms of Use by MIT shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition, and any failure of MIT to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
  2. If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.

Comments and Concerns.

  1. The Site is operated by the Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan School of Management.
  2. If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide MIT’s Copyright Agent the following information in writing, as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512 (“DMCA”):
    1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
    2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online website are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that website;
    3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit MIT to locate the material;
    4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit MIT to contact you, including at least your name, address and telephone number.
    5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
    6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
  3. ​Our agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on the Site can be reached at copyright@mit.edu
  4. ​All other feedback, comments, requests for technical support and other communications relating to the Site should be directed to: info@shift.tools.

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