As part of its educational mission, Southwestern Law School (Southwestern) maintains computers, computer systems, networks
and this website. These computing resources are intended for
institutionally-related purposes, including direct and indirect support
of the law school's instruction, scholarship and service missions;
administrative functions; student and campus life activities; and
the free exchange of ideas within the law school community and among
the law school community and the wider local, national and world
communities.
These Terms of Use (terms) govern the use of
the Southwestern website, and apply to all users of this site whether
affiliated with the law school or not, and to all use of this resource
whether on campus or from remote locations. By using and
participating in this website, you signify that you have read these
terms and agree to be bound by and comply with them. If you do
not agree to be bound by these terms, please promptly exit this
site. Southwestern reserves the right to modify these terms at
any time; by continuing to access this website after the posting of
changes to these terms, you signify your acceptance and agreement to be
bound by them.
Acceptable Use
In consideration
for your agreement to the terms and conditions contained herein,
Southwestern grants you permission to access and use this
website. Law school computing resources are provided to support
the instructional, research and administrative activities of the law
school. Resources should not be used for personal or private activities
not related to appropriate law school functions, except in an
incidental manner.
Limitations on Use
Access
to Southwestern's computing resources is a privilege. The law school
may revoke this privilege without notice and/or take other disciplinary
action against any individual who fails to comply with these
terms. Activities which violate these terms include, but are not
limited to, the activities on the following list:
1. Any use that violates local, state or federal law;
2. Any use that violates any policy, procedure or rule contained in Southwestern's Student Handbook;
3. Using the law school network to gain unauthorized access to any computer system;
4. Connecting unauthorized equipment to the law school network or network component;
5.
Attempting to circumvent data protection schemes or uncover security
loopholes. This includes creating and/or running programs that are
designed to identify security loopholes and/or decrypt intentionally
secure
data;
6. Performing an act that will interfere with the normal
operation of computers, terminals, peripherals, or
networks;
7.
Running or installing on any computer or network a program intended to
damage, interfere with, or place excessive load on the computer system
or network. This includes, but is not limited to, programs known as
"computer viruses," "Trojan Horses," and "worms;"
8. Violating terms of applicable software licensing agreements or copyright laws;
9. Violating copyright laws and their fair use provisions through inappropriate reproduction of copyrighted text, images, etc.;
10. Using law school resources for any commercial activity or personal financial gain;
11.
Using electronic mail to harass or threaten others. This includes
sending repeated, unwanted e-mail to others. The term "others" is not
restricted to Southwestern students, faculty and staff, but also
includes persons not registered at, affiliated with or employed by the
law school;
12. Initiating or propagating electronic chain letters;
13.
Initiating mass mailings. This includes multiple mailings to news
groups, mailing lists, or individuals, e.g. "spamming," "flooding," or
"bombing;"
14. Forging the identity of another person or machine in an electronic communication;
15.
Transmitting or reproducing materials that are defamatory in nature, or
that otherwise violate existing local, state or federal laws or law
school policies, rules or regulations;
16. Creating an
intimidating, hostile or offensive educational environment by
displaying images or text where it can be viewed by others with the
intent, or having the effect of unreasonably interfering with another's
educational or work performance. Law School computing facilities may
not be used as instruments for harassment based on race, color, gender,
disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or age;
17.
Attempting to monitor or tamper with another's electronic
communications, or reading, copying, changing or deleting another's
files or software without the explicit agreement of the owner;
18. Disclosing your password to another person or permitting another person to use your account;
19.
Using the Southwestern name, logo or copyrights in a way that suggests
or implies institutional authorization or endorsement.
Sanctions
Southwestern
may, immediately and in its sole discretion, suspend or modify, without
notice, network access for actual or suspected violations of these
terms. Possible actions include halting a program running on law
school equipment; disconnecting remote systems from the network;
removing offending files from the system or rendering them
inaccessible; and disabling user
accounts.
Violations of these terms may result in the loss of computing
privileges, administrative disciplinary action, and/or referral to the
Student Faculty Relations Committee. Activity which is illegal under
local, state or federal law also will be referred to the appropriate
law enforcement
authorities.
Trademarks
The
logo, names and all graphics on this website are trademarks of
Southwestern. Use, reproduction, copying or redistribution of
trademarks without the written permission of Southwestern is
prohibited. All other trademarks or servicemarks appearing on
this website are the marks of their respective owners.
Content Filtering/Control Provision
In
accordance with 47 U.S.C. section 230(d), Southwestern is here
notifying you that parental control protections (such as computer
hardware, software, or filtering services) are commercially available
that may assist you in limiting access to material that could be
harmful to minors. Information identifying current providers of
such protections can be found at: http://www.software4parents.com/ or
http://www.protectkids.org/.
Privacy and Confidentiality
The
law school reserves the right to inspect, examine, or monitor any law
school-owned or operated communication system, computing resource
and/or information contained therein at any time. Southwestern
does not routinely screen or monitor content posted by users to this
website, but the law school reserves the right to remove content which
violates any of these terms of
which it becomes aware, but is under no obligation to do so.
Users
acknowledge and agree that Southwestern has the right, but not the
obligation or responsibility, to monitor this website and site-related
services, and to disclose any information to any third party in order
to operate this site properly; to protect itself, its sponsors and
users of this website; to comply with legal obligations or government
requests; or to respond to any circumstance that Southwestern deems to
be an emergency. The law school reserves the right to refuse to
post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part,
that are unacceptable or in violation of these terms, in the sole
determination of Southwestern.
In cases of suspected violations
of Southwestern policies or these terms, especially unauthorized access
to computing systems, the system administrator may take such measures
as are necessary including authorizing detailed session logging. This may involve capturing and retaining a complete keystroke log of
an entire session. In addition, the system administrator may
authorize limited searching of user files on individual or networked
computers to gather evidence on a suspected violation.
If
inspection or examination of any law school-owned or operated
communication system, computing resource and/or file or information
contained therein is requested by a source outside the law school, the
law school will treat the information as confidential unless any one of
the following conditions exists:
- When authorized by the owner of the information;
- When required by local, state, or federal law;
- When required by a valid subpoena or court order;
- When authorized by the Dean or the Dean's designate.
Disclaimer
The
law school attempts to maintain an error-free hardware and software
environment for its students and to ensure that computing staff is
properly trained. Nevertheless, it is impossible to ensure that
hardware or system software errors will not occur, or that staff will
always give correct advice. The law school presents no warranty, either
express or implied, for the services
provided. Damages or loss
resulting directly or indirectly from the use of these resources are
the sole responsibility of the user.
As part of the services
available through the Southwestern network, a large number of lists,
newsgroups and other Internet information sources can be accessed.
These materials are not affiliated with, endorsed by, edited by, or
reviewed by the law school, and the law school takes no responsibility
for the truth or accuracy of the content found within these information
sources. Moreover, some of these sources may contain material that is
offensive or objectionable to some users. Users assume total
responsibility and risk for their use of this website and site-related
services.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold
Southwestern harmless from any and all claims, losses, damages, or
other expenses, including legal fees, resulting directly or indirectly
from your violation of these Terms of Use, your use of the website, or
your placement of any content onto the website, and to fully cooperate
in Southwestern's defense against any such claims.
Choice of Law/Forum Selection
This
website is hosted by Southwestern on computing resources located at the
Southwestern campus or elsewhere in Los Angeles County,
California. You agree that any dispute arising out of or
relating to these terms or any content posted to this website,
including copies and republication of such content, whether the
conflict is based in contract, tort, statutory or any other
law,
will be governed by the laws of the State of California, excluding any
conflicts of law provisions. You further consent to the personal
jurisdiction of and exclusive venue in the federal and state courts
located in and serving Los Angeles County, California as the legal
forum for any such dispute.
Disclaimer of Warranty/Limitation of Liability
This
site and any information, products or services associated with this
site is provided on an "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind,
either express or implied, including (without limitation) the implied
warranties of merchantability, fitness for use for a particular
purpose, or noninfringement.
Southwestern does not warrant,
and hereby disclaims any warranties, either express or implied, the
accuracy or completeness of any aspect of this website, information
obtained from this site, or in regard to a link to another site.
Southwestern does not warrant that this website will operate in an
error-free or uninterrupted manner, or that this site is free of
viruses or other electronic risks of harm or damage. Use of this site and of information obtained through this site is fully at your own risk.
You
agree that Southwestern will not be liable to you for any loss or
damages, either actual or consequential, arising out of or relating to
these terms, or to your (or any third party's) use or inability to use
this site, or to your placement of content on this site, or to your
reliance upon information obtained from or through this site. In
particular, Southwestern will have no liability for any consequential,
indirect, punitive, special or incidental damages, whether foreseeable
or unforeseeable (including, but not limited to, claims for defamation,
errors, loss of data, or interruption in the availability of data),
arising out of or relating to these terms, your use of or inability
to use this site, any purchases on this site, your placement of content
on this site, or to your reliance upon information obtained from or
through this site, whether based in contract, tort, statutory or other
law [except in the case of death or personal injury where and only to the extent that applicable law requires such liability].
Southwestern
makes no representation regarding your ability to transmit and receive
information from or through this website and you agree and acknowledge
that your ability to access this site may be impaired. Southwestern disclaims any and all liability resulting from or related to such events.
Users
specifically acknowledge that Southwestern is not liable for the
defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users or third
parties, and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely
with the user. The sole remedy for dissatisfaction with this
website, site-related services, and content or information contained
within this site is for the user to stop using this site and these services.
Further Terms
In
the event that any of the foregoing terms shall be held by a court of
competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, such terms or provisions
shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that
the body of these Terms of Use shall otherwise remain in full force and
effect and be thereby enforceable.
These Terms of Use comprise
the full set of terms governing the use of this website, and any and
all other terms, written or oral, are hereby expressly canceled.
No waiver by Southwestern of any breach or default of these terms shall
be deemed to be a waiver of any preceeding or subsequent breach or
default. Any heading, caption, or paragraph title contained in
these terms is inserted only as a matter of convenience and in no way
defines, explains or limits any paragraph or provision herein.
