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Introduction
These terms of service (the "Terms") cover your access and use of Server Operator's ("Administrator", "we", or "us") instance, located at %{domain} (the "Instance"). These Terms apply solely to your use of the Instance as operated by the Administrator. Please note that we have no affiliation with Mastodon gGmbH (“Mastodon”) and these Terms do not contain any representations or warranties or other promises from Mastodon about your use of the Instance. If you would like to contact us for any reason, please direct all questions, comments, concerns and notices to us by following the instructions provided in the Notice section below.
Please read these Terms carefully before using the Instance as they contain important information about your interactions with the Instance. We may have other policies that apply to your use of the Instance and that are incorporated into these Terms. You should also read these policies before using the Instance.
Age Requirements and Responsibility of Parents and Legal Guardians
By accessing the Instance, you signify that you are at least thirteen years old and that you meet the minimum age required by the laws in your country. If you are old enough to access the Instance in your country, but are not old enough to have the legal authority to consent to our Terms, please ask your parent or legal guardian to read these Terms with you, as they must agree to the Terms on your behalf. If you are a parent or legal guardian who has accepted these terms on your child's behalf, these terms apply to you and you are responsible for your child's activities on the Instance.
Prohibited Uses
You are fully responsible for your activities while using the Instance, including any content, information or other materials you post or upload to the Instance, and you bear all risks associated with use of the Instance. By agreeing to these Terms, you agree to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations in connection with your use of the Instance. You also agree not to use the Instance to engage in any prohibited conduct, or to assist any other person or entity in engaging in any prohibited conduct.
We reserve the right (but do not have the obligation) in our sole discretion to: (1) monitor the Instance for violations of these Terms; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who uses or accesses the Instance in a manner that we believe violates the law or these Terms, including without limitation, reporting such user to law enforcement authorities; (3) deny access to the Instance or any features of the Instance to anyone who violates these Terms or who we believe interferes with the ability of others to enjoy our Instance or infringes the rights of others; and (4) otherwise manage the Instance in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Instance.
You are prohibited from using the Instance for the commission of harmful or illegal activities. Accordingly, you may not, or assist any other person to (or attempt to):
- Violate these Terms or other policies and terms posted on, or otherwise applicable to, the Instance;
- Upload any material, program, or software that contains any virus, worm, spyware, Trojan horse or other program or code designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of the Instance, launch a denial of service attack, or in any other way attempt to interfere with the functioning and availability of the Instance;
- Except as may be the result of standard search engine or Internet browser usage, use, launch, develop, or distribute any automated system, including without limitation, any spider, robot, cheat utility, scraper, offline reader, or any data mining or similar data gathering extraction tools to access the Instance, or use or launch any unauthorized script or other software;
- Interfere with, disable, vandalize or disrupt the Instance or servers or networks connected to the Instance;
- Hack into, penetrate, disable, or otherwise circumvent the security measures of the Instance or servers or networks connected to the Instance;
- or otherwise use the Instance in any way that violates any applicable national, federal, state, local or international law or regulation.
Intellectual Property
The Instance contains content provided by its users, including you, such as text, photos, videos, audio, links, and streams (“Content”). When you submit Content to the Instance, you represent and warrant that you have all of the rights, power, and authority necessary to grant the rights to the Content contained within these Terms. Because you alone are responsible for the Content that you submit to the Instance, you may expose yourself to liability from third parties if you post or share such Content without all necessary rights.
You retain all ownership rights you have in the Content that you submit to the Instance, but you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, royalty-free, perpetual license to use, copy, store, display, share, distribute, communicate and transfer the Content in ways that are consistent with your use of the Instance. To the fullest extent possible, you agree to waive or promise not to assert against the Administrator all moral rights you may have in the Content to the extent those rights are necessary for the Administrator to host the Content on the Instance.
DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice
We have implemented the procedures described in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"), 17 U.S.C. § 512 , regarding the reporting of alleged copyright infringement and the removal of or disabling access to infringing material. If you have a good faith belief that copyrighted material on the Instance is being used in a way that infringes a copyright over which you are authorized to act, you may make a Notice of Infringing Material. If you have a good faith belief that copyrighted material that was removed or access to which was disabled was a result of a mistake or misidentification, then you may make a Notice of Counter-Notification.
Before serving a Notice of Infringing Material or Counter-Notification, you may wish to contact a lawyer to better understand your rights and obligations under the DMCA and other applicable laws. For example, if your Notice or Counter-Notifications fails to comply with all requirements of sections 512(c)(3) or 512(g)(3), respectively, your Notice or Counter-Notification may not be effective.
Termination of Repeat Infringers
We will terminate or disable your use of the Instance in appropriate circumstances if you are deemed by us to be a repeat copyright infringer.
Notices and Counter-Notifications must be sent to:
DMCA Agent: Copyright Manager
Address: %{dmca_address}
Email: %{dmca_email}
Disclaimer
Administrator reserves the right in our sole discretion to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Instance (or any part thereof) with or without notice to you. You agree that Administrator will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification or discontinuance of the Instance, except as set forth in the "Limitation of Liability" section below.
You understand that we are not responsible for any activities or legal consequences of your use of the Instance. Users are responsible for using the Instance in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which such users are domiciled, reside, or are located at the time of such access or use, as well as these Terms. Any violation of these Terms may result in the suspension or termination by us, in our sole discretion, of your access to and use of the Instance.
Limitation of Liability
In no event will Administrator's total liability to you for all damages, losses, or causes of action exceed one hundred dollars ($100). If you are dissatisfied with the Instance or with these Terms, your sole remedy is to discontinue your use of the Instance.
Links to and From Other Websites
You may gain access to other websites and Instances via links on the Instance. These Terms apply to the Instance only and do not apply to Mastodon, other Instances, or other parties' websites. Similarly, you may have come to the Instance via a link from another website or Instance. The terms of use of other websites and Instances do not apply to the Instance. Administrator assumes no responsibility for any terms of use or material outside of the Instance accessed via any link. You are free to establish a hypertext link to the Instance so long as the link does not state or imply any sponsorship of your website, instance or service by Administrator or the Instance. Unless expressly agreed to by us in writing, reference to any of our products, services, processes or other information, by trade name, trademark, logo, or otherwise by you or any third party does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof by us. You may not, without our prior written permission, scrape the Instance or incorporate into another website or other service any of our material, content or intellectual property, unless you are otherwise permitted by us to do so in accordance with a license or subject to separate terms.
Dispute Resolution by Binding Arbitration
Agreement to Arbitrate:
This Dispute Resolution by Binding Arbitration section is referred to in these Terms as the “Arbitration Agreement.” You and the Instance agree that any and all disputes, claims, demands, or causes of action (“Claims”) that have arisen or may arise between you and us, whether arising out of or relating to these Terms, the website, or any aspect of the relationship or transactions between us, will be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration before a neutral arbitrator, rather than in a court by a judge or jury, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that, where available, you or we may (but are not required to) assert individual Claims in small claims court if such Claims are within the scope of such court's jurisdiction. Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state/provincial, or local agencies, and such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. You agree that, by entering into these Terms, you and we are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action and that our respective rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury.
Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized
Relief
You and we agree that each of us may bring claims against the other only on an individual basis and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative action or proceeding.
Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution
Before commencing any arbitration (or suit in small claims court, if available), you agree to provide the Instance with a written notice of Claim, and the Instance agrees to provide you with a written notice of Claim to the extent reasonably possible based on the availability of your contact information to the Instance (“Notice”). The Notice to the Instance shall be sent to %{arbitration_website} with a paper copy to %{arbitration_address}. Where the Instance has your contact information, the Instance will send its Notice to you using the last email address we have on file for you if you have provided us with an email address (each, a “Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the Claim in sufficient detail to evaluate the merits of the claiming party's Claim and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought, including the amount of money (if any) that is demanded and the means by which the demanding party calculated the claimed amount. Both parties agree that they will attempt to resolve a Claim through informal negotiation within sixty (60) calendar days from the date the Notice is received. If the Claim is not resolved within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or we may commence an arbitration proceeding. Each party agrees that %{jurisdiction} courts may enter injunctive relief to enforce the pre-filing requirements of this paragraph, including an injunction to stay an arbitration that has been commenced in violation of this paragraph.
Arbitration Procedures
The relevant arbitration rules of %{jurisdiction} fully applies to the Arbitration Agreement. The arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with %{jurisdiction} rules (the “Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. If there is any inconsistency between any term of the Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Terms as a court would. Except as set forth above, all issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, threshold issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement and issues relating to (a) whether the terms of these Terms (or any aspect thereof) are enforceable, unconscionable, or illusory and (b) any defense to arbitration, including waiver, delay, laches, or estoppel. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator will issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees (collectively, the “Arbitration Fees”) will be governed by the Rules unless otherwise provided in this Arbitration Agreement.
Small Claims Court
Subject to applicable jurisdictional requirements, either party may elect to pursue a Claim in a local small claims court rather than through arbitration so long as the matter remains in a small claims court and proceeds only on an individual basis.
Choice of Law
Any and all claims related to or arising out of your use of, or access to the Instance shall be governed by internal substantive laws of New York in all respects, without regard for the jurisdiction or forum in which you are domiciled, reside, or located at the time of such access or use.
Waiver and Severability
If you do not comply with a portion of these Terms and we do not take action right away, this does not mean we are giving up any of our rights under these Terms. If any part of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitrator, the remainder of the Terms shall be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law.
Notices
All notices to Administrator under these Terms, unless otherwise specified shall be sent to %{admin_email}. Service of any notice will be deemed given on the date of receipt delivered by email.
Changes to these Terms
We may change or modify these Terms by posting a revised version on the Instance, or by otherwise providing notice to you, and will state at the top of the revised Terms the date they were last revised. Changes will not apply retroactively and will become effective no earlier than fourteen (14) calendar days after they are posted, except for changes addressing changes made for legal reasons, which will be effective immediately. Your continued use of the Instance after any change means you agree to the new Terms.