Welcome to the Ecostamps web site (the "Web site"), a web site owned and operated by
Leaf Storm LLC ("Leaf Storm"), a limited liability company domiciled in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The terms and conditions stated below, along with the Privacy Policy, Security Statement, and
other guidelines (collectively, "Terms of Use") located throughout the Web site,
the Ecostamps for Editors console (the "Editors Console")
the Ecostamps for Writers console (the "Writers Console"), and
the Ecostamps submission form (the "Form") identify what users (each a "User") of the
Web site, Writers Console and Editors Console (the "Consoles"), and Form
(collectively, "Ecostamps") can expect from Ecostamps
and by visiting ecostamps.org. By visiting any area on Ecostamps,
a User is deemed to have accepted the Terms of Use.
User Conduct Online
User agrees to use Ecostamps only for lawful purposes.
User is prohibited from posting on or transmitting through Ecostamps
any unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory,
vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, profane, hateful, racially, ethnically, or
otherwise objectionable material of any kind, including but not limited to any
material that encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give
rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national,
or international law.
Leaf Storm reserves the right to investigate any content in Ecostamps
that is defamatory, damaging, illegal, or offensive, and determine in its sole
discretion whether to remove or request the removal of such content.
Leaf Storm may disclose any content or electronic communication of any kind (i) to satisfy
any law, regulation, or government request; (ii) if such disclosure is necessary or appropriate
to operate Ecostamps; or (iii) to protect the rights or property of Leaf Storm and its officers,
directors, employees, agents, third-party content providers, merchants, sponsors, and licensors
(collectively, "Leaf Storm Providers") and any other User.
Leaf Storm reserves the right to prohibit or restrict conduct, communication, or content that
Leaf Storm deems in its sole discretion to be harmful to Users, Leaf Storm, Leaf Storm affiliates,
Ecostamps, or any third party, or violates any applicable law.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Leaf Storm cannot ensure prompt removal of questionable content
posted on Ecostamps. Accordingly, Leaf Storm shall not assume liability for any action or inaction
with respect to conduct, communication, or content of any third party on or through Ecostamps.
Licenses and Restrictions
Leaf Storm grants User a limited, nonexclusive, revocable license to access and make personal,
non-commercial use (unless User has a business relationship with Leaf Storm) of Ecostamps.
Leaf Storm further grants User a limited, nonexclusive, and revocable right to create a
hyperlink to the Form so long as the link does not portray Leaf Storm, its affiliates,
or their respective products or services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive matter.
The foregoing licenses do not include any rights to:
- modify, download (other than page caching), reproduce, copy, or resell Ecostamps or any portion or derivative thereof;
- commercially use Ecostamps or any portion derivative thereof (unless User has a business relationship with Leaf Storm);
- copy or download any User's account information for the benefit of any third party;
- enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that apply to Ecostamps or any other Leaf Storm system;
- use any robot, spider, data miner, scraper or other automated means to access Ecostamps or any other Leaf Storm system for any purpose;
- interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of Ecostamps or any other Leaf Storm system;
- bypass any measures Leaf Storm has employed to prevent or restrict access to any portion of Ecostamps or any other Leaf Storm system;
- frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of Ecostamps or any other Leaf Storm system;
- use the Leaf Storm or Ecostamps name, trademarks, services marks, or logos in any meta tags or any other "hidden text", or
- compile, repackage, disseminate, or otherwise use data extracted from Ecostamps or any other Leaf Storm system;
Content
Proprietary Rights.
User acknowledges that Ecostamps and other Leaf Storm systems contain
content that are protected by copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights,
and that these rights are valid and protected in all forms, media, and technologies existing now
or hereinafter developed. All content is copyrighted as a collective work under the U.S. copyright
laws, and Leaf Storm owns a copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement, and enhancement
of such content. User may not modify, remove, delete, augment, add to, publish, transmit,
participate in the transfer or sale of, create derivative works from, or in any way exploit
any of the content, in whole or in part. Except as permitted by the fair use privilege under
the U.S. copyright laws (see, e.g., 17 U.S.C. Section 107), User may not upload, post, reproduce,
or distribute in any way content protected by copyright, or other proprietary right, without
obtaining permission of the owner of the copyright or other propriety right. In addition to the
foregoing, use of any software content shall be governed by the software license agreement
accompanying such software.
Submission of Third-Party Content.
Except as set forth in the paragraph headed "Proprietary Rights" above, User may upload to or
otherwise submit to the Console for distribution on the Form only (i) content that is
not subject to any copyright or other proprietary rights restrictions; (ii) content in which
the owner or licensor has given express authorization to distribute over the
Internet; or (iii) content that does not contain any viruses, scripts, Trojan horses, worms,
time bombs, cancelbots, easter eggs, or other computer programming routines that may damage,
detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system, data, or
personal information ("Harmful Content"). Any copyrighted or other proprietary content
distributed with the consent of a copyright owner should be clearly identified and include
a phrase such as "Copyright, owned by [name of owner]; used by permission." Leaf Storm is
entitled to presume that all submitted content conforms with the foregoing requirements.
The unauthorized submission of copyrighted or other proprietary content is illegal and
could subject User to personal liability for damages in a civil suit as well as criminal
prosecution. User will be liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights
or proprietary rights or from any other harm arising from an unauthorized submission or
submission of Harmful Content. Leaf Storm and Leaf Storm Providers will not assume any liability for any
damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights or proprietary rights or from any
other harm arising from any User submission including without limitation the submission of
Harmful Content. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, any User or other
person can report an infringement of these terms to Leaf Storm at
info@ecostamps.org.
Third-Party Content.
Leaf Storm is a distributor of content supplied by third parties and Users through Ecostamps.
Leaf Storm has no editorial control over such content. Any opinions, advice, statements,
services, offers, or other information that constitutes part of content expressed or
made available by third parties, including any other User, are those of the respective
authors or distributors and not of Leaf Storm or any Leaf Storm Provider, unless expressly
stated otherwise. Neither Leaf Storm nor any Leaf Storm Provider makes any representation,
warranty, or guarantee on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any third party
content unless otherwise expressly stated. In many instances, the content available through
Ecostamps represents the opinions and judgments of the third party that provides such
content. Under no circumstance shall either Leaf Storm or any Leaf Storm Provider be liable
for any loss, damage, or harm caused by a User's reliance on information obtained through
Ecostamps. It is the responsibility of User to evaluate the
accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information, opinion, advice, or content available
through Ecostamps.
Export Restrictions
The United States export control laws regulate the export and re-export of technology originating in the United States.
These regulations encompass the electronic transmission of information and software to foreign countries and to certain
foreign nationals. User agrees to abide by these laws and their regulations—including but not limited
to the Export Administration Act and the Arms Export Control Act—and not to transfer, by electronic
transmission or otherwise, any content derived from Ecostamps, Leaf Storm, or any other
Leaf Storm system or derivative to either a foreign national or a foreign destination in violation of such laws and regulations.
Termination of Usage and Accounts
Leaf Storm may issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend, or terminate any User's right to use or
access all or any part of Ecostamps, Leaf Storm, and any other Leaf Storm system or derivative including any account
thereon, without notice, for any reason in Leaf Storm's sole discretion, including without limitation
Leaf Storm's belief that such access would violate any applicable law or would be harmful to the interests of,
or potentially cause financial loss or legal liability to Leaf Storm, any Leaf Storm or Ecostamps Provider, or another User.
REFUND POLICY
LEAF STORM DOES NOT PROCESS ANY REFUNDS. ECOSTAMPS FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
ECOSTAMPS FEES, CONTEST FEES, AND OTHER REVENUES
All Ecostamps fees, contest fees, and other revenues ("fees") will be paid by Leaf Storm on a monthly
basis, typically, within ten (10) business days of the last day of the month. Payment will be made to the
Payee registered in the Writers Console. Payment will be sent to the Payment Address registered in the Writers Console.
It is the sole responsibility of the User to ensure that the Payee and Payment Address are correct. To qualify to earn
Ecostamps fees, the organization must evaluate an Enhanced Submission on a minimum of six (6) criteria.
Payment of Ecostamps fees is at the discretion of Leaf Storm.
Indemnity
User agrees to indemnify and hold Leaf Storm and Leaf Storm Providers harmless from any claim or demand,
including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of such User's breach of the
Terms of Use or User's violation of any law or the rights of a third party.
User agrees to indemnify and hold Leaf Storm and Leaf Storm Providers harmless from any claim or demand,
including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of such User's breach of the
Terms of Use or User's violation of any law or the rights of a third party.
User Password, Security Question, and Account Security
Every User is responsible for (i) keeping his or her account password confidential and secured,
(ii) restricting access to such User's computer; and (iii) keeping the email address associated
with that account current (User acknowledges that it is important to keep the email address associated
with his or her account current because although the User may be able to log into his or her account using
an old email address, such User will not be able to retrieve his/her password and/or receive messages to
activate his or her account if the account is temporarily deactivated).
User accepts full responsibility for all activities that
occur within such User's account.
DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
ECOSTAMPS AND ALL OTHER LEAF STORM SYSTEMS AND DERIVATIVES ARE PROVIDED BY LEAF STORM ON AN
"AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, LEAF STORM DISCLAIMS
ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, LEAF STORM DOES NOT MAKE ANY
REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED: (I) AS TO THE OPERATION OF ECOSTAMPS
OR ANY OTHER LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE, OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT,
MATERIALS, OR PRODUCTS INCLUDED THEREON; (II) THAT ACCESS TO ECOSTAMPS OR ANY OTHER
LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT CONTENT ON ECOSTAMPS OR ANY OTHER
LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE WILL BE ERROR-FREE; (III) AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR CURRENCY OF ANY INFORMATION,
CONTENT, SERVICE, OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH ECOSTAMPS OR ANY OTHER
LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE; OR (IV) THAT ECOSTAMPS AND ANY OTHER LEAF STORM SYSTEM AND DERIVATIVE,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO SERVERS AND EMAILS SENT FROM OR ON BEHALF OF LEAF STORM ARE FREE OF
VIRUSES, SCRIPTS, TROJAN HORSES, WORMS, OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. LEAF STORM DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE
CONTINUOUS, UNINTERRUPTED, OR SECURE ACCESS TO ECOSTAMPS OR ANY OTHER LEAF STORM
SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO RELATED SERVICES. THE OPERATION OF ECOSTAMPS AND OTHER LEAF STORM
SYSTEMS AND DERIVATIVES MAY BE INTERFERED WITH BY NUMEROUS FACTORS OUTSIDE THE CONTROL OF LEAF STORM.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL LEAF STORM BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY
TO USE ECOSTAMPS OR ANY OTHER LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
RELIANCE BY A USER ON ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM ECOSTAMPS OR THAT RESULT
FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DELETION OF FILES OR EMAIL, ERRORS, DEFECTS, VIRUSES, DELAYS IN
OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, WHETHER OR NOT RESULTING FROM ACTS OF GOD,
COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE, THEFT, DESTRUCTION, OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO LEAF STORM'S RECORDS, PROGRAMS,
OR SERVICES. USER HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL APPLY TO ALL CONTENT, MERCHANDISE, AND
SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH ECOSTAMPS, LEAF STORM, DERIVATIVES, AND RELATED SERVICES.
LEAF STORM WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OF ECOSTAMPS OR ANY OTHER
LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE OR THE PURCHASE OF ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE THEREFROM, EVEN IF LEAF STORM HAS BEEN ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR
THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO A USER, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE
DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO SUCH USER, AND SUCH USER MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.
Severability
The provisions of these Terms of Use are intended to be severable. If for any reason any provision of these
Terms of Use shall be held invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part in any applicable jurisdiction,
such provision shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity or
unenforceability without in any manner affecting the validity or enforceability thereof in any other
jurisdiction or the remaining provisions hereof in any jurisdiction.
Applicable Law and Jurisdiction
The laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia will govern the Terms of Use, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws.
Each Leaf Storm and Ecostamps User agrees to submit to the nonexclusive personal jurisdiction of the courts located within
Albemarle County, Virginia and waives any objection to the laying of venue of any litigation in said courts.
Dispute Resolution
For any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of the Terms of Use, Ecostamps, Leaf Storm, Leaf Storm system
or derivative, or any Leaf Storm service ("Claim") where the total amount of the award sought is less than $10,000
(excluding Claims for injunctive or other equitable relief), User or Leaf Storm may elect to resolve the dispute through
binding arbitration conducted by telephone, online, or based solely upon written submissions where no in-person appearance
is required. In such cases, the arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its
Commercial Arbitration Rules (including without limitation the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes,
if applicable), and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Alternatively, any Claim (including Claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) may be adjudicated by a court of
competent jurisdiction located in Albemarle County, Virginia or in the United States county where the defendant is
located (in the case of Leaf Storm, Albemarle County, Virginia, and in User's case, either in the county of
such User's home address or principal place of business, or if such address is not located in the United States,
then in Albemarle County, Virginia). Any Claim shall be arbitrated or litigated, as the case may be, on an individual
basis and shall not be consolidated with any Claim of any other party whether through class action proceedings,
class arbitration proceedings, or otherwise.
Additional Terms and Conditions
The following policies are incorporated into the Terms of Use:
Privacy Policy and
Security Statement
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
THE TERMS OF USE, INCLUDING ALL DOCUMENTS REFERENCED HEREIN, REPRESENTS THE ENTIRE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN USER AND LEAF STORM
REGARDING USER'S RELATIONSHIP WITH LEAF STORM AND SUPERSEDES ANY PRIOR STATEMENTS OR REPRESENTATIONS. HEADINGS USED IN THE
TERMS OF USE ARE FOR REFERENCE ONLY AND SHALL NOT AFFECT THE MEANING OF ANY TERMS. BY VISITING OR ACCESSING ANY AREA ON
ECOSTAMPS, LEAF STORM, OR LEAF STORM SYSTEM OR DERIVATIVE, A USER IS DEEMED TO HAVE ACCEPTED THE TERMS OF USE.
Modification
Leaf Storm reserves the right to make changes to Ecostamps, Leaf Storm and all other Leaf Storm systems,
posted policies, and Terms of Use at any time without notice.
LAST UPDATED AND EFFECTIVE DATE: September 11, 2008