Terms of Service and Online Code of Conduct

Overview

In our efforts to support a broad community of individuals interested in historical issues cooperation and  conflict, we have created these Terms of Use and Online Code of Conduct. Our intent is to support collaborative and productive interaction, while protecting community members’ privacy, inalienable rights, and online safety. Questions regarding these policies should be directed to info@revealingcooperationandconflict.com.

Terms of Use

PLEASE READ THIS TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT (THE “TERMS OF USE”) CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR PARTICIPATING IN ANY DISCUSSION GROUP, MAILING LIST, WEBSITE, TRANSACTION OR OTHER ON-LINE FORUM, OR SERVICE MADE AVAILABLE BY THE REVEALING COOPERATION AND CONFLICT PROJECT (“RCCP”) AT ENTRY-POINT URL (http://www.revealingcooperationandconflict.com) AND ITS RELATED WEBSITES, http://www.decipheringsecrets.net, (“SITE” OR “SITES”). BY USING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE SITES, YOU SIGNIFY AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THE TERMS OF USE AND AGREE THAT THE TERMS OF USE CONSTITUTES A BINDING LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND RCCP, AND THAT YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY AND COMPLY WITH THE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS THE SITES.

(RCCP’s Terms of Service adapted from Coursera.org’s policies.)

 Age Restrictions

Registration and participation on the Sites is restricted to those individuals over 18 years of age, emancipated minors, or those who possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties herein. By registering or participating in services or functions on the Sites, you hereby represent that you are over 18 years of age, an emancipated minor or in possession of consent by a legal parent or guardian and have the authority to enter into the terms herein. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 13 as the Site is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, do not use the Sites. In addition, those who wish to register and participate must meet the minimum requirements laid out in the Terms of Use (this document) herein. If you do not qualify or do not agree to these terms, you may not use the Site.

(RCCP’s Age Restrictions adapted from Coursera.org’s policies.)

Right of Modification

We reserve the right to change or modify the Terms of Use at our sole discretion at any time. Any change or modification to the Terms of Use will be effective immediately upon posting by us. For any material changes to the Terms, we will take reasonable steps to notify you of such changes. In all cases, your continued use of the Sites after publication of such modifications, with or without notification, constitutes binding acceptance of these modified Terms of Use.

(RCCP’s Right of Modification adapted from Coursera.org’s policies.)

Disclaimer

Sites may include forums containing the personal opinions and other expressions of the persons who post entries on a wide range of topics. Neither the User Content (as defined below) on these Sites, nor any links to other websites, are screened, moderated, approved, reviewed or endorsed by RCCP. By posting to or viewing such forums, you agree that RCCP are not responsible or liable for the content of any postings therein. RCCP reserves the right (but not the obligation) to remove any content from such forums in its discretion.

(RCCP’s Disclaimer adapted from Coursera.org’s policies.)

Online Code of Conduct

RCCP is a community that is composed of academics, citizen scholars, students, and other interested persons from all over the world, working on every aspect of our endeavors to promote the study and dissemination of information on historical cases of cooperation and conflict.

Diversity is key to our success, but it can also lead to communication issues and unhappiness. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask people to adhere to when they’re participating within this community and project. These rules apply equally to all participants. Below we list those types of behaviors, actions, and interactions that are not permissible. Our list is not exhaustive, rather take it in the spirit in which it is intended – a guide to make it easier to enrich our collaboration.

This code of conduct applies to all communication on our Sites; this includes RCCP Discussion Boards, mailing list, and other forums such as Skype, Google+ Hangouts, etc.

  • Be welcoming, friendly, and patient.
  • Be considerate. Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you make will affect all collaborators and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions.
  • Be respectful. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Our community should be respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside our collaboration.
  • Be careful in the words that you choose. Remember that sexist, racist, and other exclusionary jokes can be offensive to those around you.
  • Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants.
  • Act professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for the community.
    When we disagree, we try to understand why.
  • Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and our community is no exception. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively.
  • Remember that we are different and respect those differences. The strength of our collaboration comes from its varied community, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint does not mean that they are wrong.
  • Do not forget that it is human to err and blaming each other does not resolve conflict. Rather, offer to help resolve issues and to help us learn from our collective mistakes.
  • De-escalate conflicts and disagreements. Remain open-minded to others’ points of view and acknowledge others’ right to their own beliefs.

(RCCP’s Online Code of Conduct adapated from Speak Up! Code of Conduct and the Django.com Code of Conduct).

Prohibited Content

You agree not to e-mail or post any of the following content (“Prohibited Content”) anywhere on the Site, or on any other collaborative computing resources:

  • Content that defames, harasses or threatens others.
  • Content that discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit such activities, or encourages others to commit such activities.
  • Content that infringes or misappropriates another’s intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks or trade secrets.
  • Content that you do not have the right to disclose under contractual confidentiality obligations or fiduciary duties
  • Material that contains obscene (i.e., pornographic) language or images.
  • Advertising, promotional materials, or any form of commercial solicitation.
  • Content that otherwise harms other users or visitors to the Sites
  • Content that is otherwise unlawful or that violates any applicable local, state, national or international law.
  • Content that probes, scans, or tests the vulnerability of any system or network.
  • Content that breaches or otherwise circumvents any security measures.
  • Content that interferes with or disrupts any user, host, or network, for example by sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, or mail-bombing any other user or part of the Sites.
  • Content that plants malware or otherwise uses the Sites to distribute malware

(RCCP’s Prohibited Content adapted from Coursera.org’s policies.)

Read more: The Fine Print – Additional Elements of our Terms of Service