Disclaimers and Terms of Use

Thank you for utilizing the Climate Steps™ (CS) websites, and perhaps also some of our social media platforms:  Facebook (www.fb.com/ClimateSteps); Linked In (linkedin.com/company/climatesteps); Instagram (@climate_steps); and Twitter (@ClimateStepsUS), called herein the CS Platforms. We hope the content and tools provided by the CS Platforms will help inspire you to take climate action through the many opportunities provided and help provide encouragement as well.

CS has been an all-volunteer group since early 2017 and in late 2020 became a nonprofit.  We seek to provide the best information we can at this time regarding types of actions that individuals can take – personal, social, political, and industry-related – to help you reduce your carbon emissions, but primarily to increase your social impact towards changing our culture towards protecting the Earth.

We have the following disclaimers regarding the CS platforms and content, followed by terms of use for any material you may download.

We reserve the right to modify these Disclaimers and Terms of Service from time to time. We will make reasonable efforts to publish such changes here. We will alert you about any changes by updating the “Last updated” date of these Terms of Service and it is your responsibility to periodically review these Terms of Service to stay informed of updates. Your continued use of the CS Platforms constitutes your acceptance of this Terms of Use. Please check this Terms of Service section for any such updates.

Disclaimers

1. Availability: CS reserves the right at its own discretion to perform maintenance procedures on its platforms or to perform other actions that might impact service availability. CS is not legally liable for any damages, monetary or otherwise, that may result from service unavailability.
2. Content Accuracy and Completeness: CS does not warrant against nor accepts legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any data, information, or media resources (called “content” hereon) available through any of its platforms. Climate science regarding the carbon emissions mitigation of actions and recommended actions in general is a rapidly improving field, and further science is needed on many aspects. Also, any added views or opinions of the volunteer authors expressed in CS content do not necessarily state or reflect those of CS. Users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the content before using it to make decisions that concern personal or public health and safety or for the conduct of business that involves monetary or operational consequences.
   • Corrections: There may be information on the CS platforms that contain typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions that may relate to the platforms, including descriptions, external links, and various other information. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update the information on the Platform at any time, without prior notice.
   • External Links Liability: Some content may provide links to other Internet sites that belong to government agencies or private groups, for the convenience of the user. CS is not responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, nor does CS endorse, warrant, or guarantee any products, services, or information described or offered at these other Internet sites. Further, users cannot assume that the external sites will abide by the same privacy policy (#6) to which CS adheres. It is the responsibility of the user to examine the copyright and licensing restrictions and other terms of use of linked websites and to secure all necessary permissions.
   • Responsibility and Liability for Created Content: Conclusions drawn from or actions undertaken on the basis of the content created for and provided on CS platforms are the sole responsibility of the user. CS does not warrant, does not accept legal responsibility, and will be held harmless for any and all out-of-pocket costs arising from use of the CS content on its platforms, following U.S. Federal and international laws.
   • Responsibility and Liability for Social Media Content:  We have a moderation system that removes obviously inaccurate information, hate speech, and non-constructive posts (defined as not including a concrete action to take on climate change or not encouraging climate action) and blocks users when necessary; however, we do not provide 24-hour surveillance of social media content, we make no effort to review all Social Media Content placed on our platforms for any purpose, including but not limited to, for accuracy, legality, or non-infringement, and we are not responsible or warranted for any Social Network Content.
3. Copyright Infringements. We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that any material available on or through the Platform infringes upon any copyright you own or control, please notify us immediately using the contact information provided below (a “Notification”). A copy of your Notification will be sent to the person who posted or stored the material addressed in the Notification. Please be advised that pursuant to federal law you may be held liable for damages if you make material misrepresentations in a Notification. Thus, if you are not sure that material located on or linked to by the Platform infringes your copyright, you should consider first contacting an attorney. All Notifications should meet the requirements of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) Notice and Policy 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) and include the following information:
   • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
   • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works on the CS Platform are covered by the Notification, a representative list of such works on the Platform;
   • 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 us to locate the material;
   • Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address;
   • A statement that the complaining party has 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;
   • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed upon.

Counter Notification:  If you believe your own copyrighted material has been removed from the Platform as a result of a mistake or misidentification, you may submit a written counter notification to [us/our Designated Copyright Agent] using the contact information provided below (a “Counter Notification”). To be an effective Counter Notification under the DMCA, your Counter Notification must include substantially the following:

1. Identification of the material that has been removed or disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled;
2. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court in which your address is located, or if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which we are located;
3. A statement that you will accept service of process from the party that filed the Notification or the party’s agent;
4. Your name, address, and telephone number;
5. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material in question was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and
6. Your physical or electronic signature.

If you send us a valid, written Counter Notification meeting the requirements described above, we will restore your removed or disabled material, unless we first receive notice from the party filing the Notification informing us that such party has filed a court action to restrain you from engaging in infringing activity related to the material in question.

Please note that if you materially misrepresent that the disabled or removed content was removed by mistake or misidentification, you may be liable for damages, including costs and attorney’s fees. Filing a false Counter Notification constitutes perjury.

Designated Copyright Contact – climatesteps@gmail.com.

4. Local Compliance: Persons who choose to access the CS platforms from other locations outside of the United States do so on their own initiative and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.
5. Media Liability: If you download any media and use in a manner inconsistent with the rights and licenses provided, via this document and U.S. and international laws, CS will be held harmless and will not be legally responsible for any and all out-of-pocket costs arising from any resulting violations(s) of property rights, privacy rights and copyright rights including, but not limited to judgments, settlements and attorneys’ fees.
6. Privacy: CS does not collect personal data for general users and instead only accesses basic user metrics that are available through the WordPress.com and Google Analytics platforms. For subscribers, CS only has access to, through WordPress.com, a list of subscriber emails, and does not copy or maintain this list in other locations.
7. Responsibility and Liability for the System:  CS does not assume responsibility nor will be held liable for any damage to or data corruption and malicious code that may infect your computer equipment or other property on account of your use of any CS platforms (currently based on third-party platforms, including WordPress.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter) or from your downloading of any text, images or content from any CS platform.

Terms of Use

1. Age: The CS platforms are intended for users who are at least 12 years of age. All users who are minors in the jurisdiction in which they reside (generally under the age of 18) should have the permission of and be directly supervised by their parent or guardian to use the CS platforms, especially the social media platforms listed above, and should have their parent or guardian read these Disclaimers and Terms of Use.
2. Copyrights/Creative Commons Licenses: Unless otherwise noted, all data and textual descriptions provided by CS for actions and content within the CS platforms are created by authors, contributors, and other volunteers and are held under a license of CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); in other words, you are free to use as long as you provide with attribution to CS and the author where stated. See the license for more detail; for media, see below (#4). All persons reproducing, redistributing, or making commercial use of these data and information resources are expected to adhere to the terms and conditions asserted by the copyright holder and provided with each resource. Please note that there are some fully copyrighted media within the CS Platforms and transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that a CC-BY 4.0 or beyond that allowed by fair use as defined by U.S. copyright law requires the written permission of the copyright owners.
3. Credit/Citation: When possible, please utilize the following credit line:
   • For shareable media:  “CC-BY 4.0 [name, if available], courtesy of www.ClimateSteps.org”;
   • For articles:  “CC-BY 4.0 [name, if available], www.ClimateSteps.org.” or other standardized citations.
4. Media. The media on CS platforms were generously made available for free or were directly contributed by various artists (referred here further as “Contributors”). Most media that we display are within the public domain or are copyrighted with an associated Creative Commons (CC) license (www.creativecommons.org); however some is fully copyrighted. This information is provided with each media resource, along with acknowledgements for the contributions.
   • Media Liability: Please see Disclaimers above.
   • Media Privacy and Publicity Rights: Unless noted specifically with an image, CS does not know of the existence of a model release statement or other agreements for any person featured in a photograph in the CS platforms, and thus does not know whether the person has in any way agreed to have their photograph used for nonprofit use, publicity campaigns, or commercial uses. Please contact the original source for permission.
5. Prohibited Activities: You may not access or use the Platform for any purpose other than that for which we make the Platform available. The Platform may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by us.  As a user of the Platform, you agree not to
   • Systematically retrieve data or other content from the Platform to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database, or directory without written permission from us.
   • Make any unauthorized use of the Platform, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of users by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email or FOR creating user accounts by automated means or under false pretenses.
   • Use the Platform to advertise or offer to sell goods and services.
   • Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Platform, including features that prevent or restrict the use or copying of any Content or enforce limitations on the use of the Platform and/or the Content contained therein.
   • Engage in unauthorized framing of or linking to the Platform.
   • Trick, defraud, or mislead us and other users, especially in any attempt to learn sensitive account information such as user passwords;
   • Make improper use of our support services or submit false reports of abuse or misconduct.
   • Engage in any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to send comments or messages, or using any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.
   • Interfere with, disrupt, or create an undue burden on the Platform or the networks or services connected to the Platform.
   • Attempt to impersonate another user or person or use the username of another user.
   • Sell or otherwise transfer your profile.
   • Use any information obtained from the Platform in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person.
   • Use the Platform as part of any effort to compete with us or otherwise use the Platform and/or the Content for any revenue-generating endeavor or commercial enterprise.
   • Decipher, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any of the software comprising or in any way making up a part of the Platform.
   • Attempt to bypass any measures of the Platform designed to prevent or restrict access to the Platform or any portion of the Platform.
   • Harass, annoy, intimidate, or threaten any of our employees or agents engaged in providing any portion of the Platform to you.
   • Delete the copyright or other proprietary rights notice from any Content.
   • Copy or adapt the Platform’s software, including but not limited to Flash, PHP, HTML, JavaScript, or other code.
   • Upload or transmit (or attempt to upload or to transmit) viruses, Trojan horses, or other material, including excessive use of capital letters and spamming (continuous posting of repetitive text), that interferes with any party’s uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the Platform or modifies, impairs, disrupts, alters, or interferes with the use, features, functions, operation, or maintenance of the Platform.
   • Upload or transmit (or attempt to upload or to transmit) any material that acts as a passive or active information collection or transmission mechanism, including without limitation, clear graphics interchange formats (“gifs”), 1×1 pixels, web bugs, cookies, or other similar devices (sometimes referred to as “spyware” or “passive collection mechanisms” or “pcms”).
   • 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, or offline reader that accesses the Platform, or using or launching any unauthorized script or other software.
   • Disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Platform.
   • Use the Platform in a manner inconsistent with any applicable laws or regulations.
6. Third–Party Platforms. Depending on the Third-Party Accounts to access CS Platforms with (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.),
   • You choose and are subject to the privacy settings that you have set in such Third-Party Accounts, and personally identifiable information that you post to your Third-Party Accounts may be available on and through your account on the Platform.
   • Please note that if a Third-Party Account or associated service becomes unavailable or our access to such Third-Party Account is terminated by the third-party service provider, then Social Network Content may no longer be available on and through the Platform. You will have the ability to disable the connection between your account on the Platform and your Third-Party Accounts at any time.
   • PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR THIRD-PARTY ACCOUNTS IS GOVERNED SOLELY BY YOUR AGREEMENT(S) WITH SUCH THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS.
   • The CS Platform may contain (or you may be sent via the Platform) links to other websites (“Third-Party Websites”) as well as articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video, information, applications, software, and other content or items belonging to or originating from third parties (“Third-Party Content”). Such Third-Party Websites and Third-Party Content are not investigated, monitored, or fully checked for accuracy, appropriateness, or completeness by us, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Websites accessed through the Platform or any Third-Party Content posted on, available through, or installed from the Platform, including the content, accuracy, offensiveness, opinions, reliability, privacy practices, or other policies of or contained in the Third-Party Websites or the Third-Party Content.
   • Inclusion of, linking to, or permitting the use or installation of any Third-Party Websites or any Third-Party Content does not imply approval or endorsement thereof by us. If you decide to leave the CS Platform and access the Third-Party Websites or to use or install any Third-Party Content, you do so at your own risk, and you should be aware these Terms of Service no longer govern.
   • You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any website to which you navigate from the CS Platform or relating to any applications you use or install from the Platform. Any purchases you make through Third-Party Websites will be through other websites and from other companies, and we take no responsibility whatsoever in relation to such purchases which are exclusively between you and the applicable third party.
   • You agree and acknowledge that we do not endorse the products or services offered on Third-Party Websites and you shall hold us harmless from any harm caused by your purchase of such products or services. Additionally, you shall hold us harmless from any losses sustained by you or harm caused to you relating to or resulting in any way from any Third-Party Content or any contact with Third-Party Websites.
7. Unauthorized Access: Any unauthorized access to or use of the CS platforms and underlying systems is prohibited and is subject to criminal and civil penalties under U.S. Federal Laws. Further, you will not access or otherwise place content on the CS platforms through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script, or otherwise; you will not use the CS platforms for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and your use of the CS platforms will not violate any applicable law or regulation. These three latter situations would consist of additional unauthorized access to the CS platforms.
8. User Responsibility: It is the sole responsibility of you, the user of this site, to:
   • Carefully examine the content provided for copyright restrictions and to secure all necessary permissions for each resource.
   • Not provide any information on any platform that is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete.
   • Not conduct hate speech or make other false and/or deliberately degrading statements to other users of the site.

If these responsibilities are not followed, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the CS platforms or any portion thereof.

9. User Generated Contributions: The CS Platform, including other CS members, may invite you to chat, contribute to, or participate in articles, message boards, online forums, and other functionality, and they may provide you with the opportunity to create, submit, post, display, transmit, perform, publish, distribute, or broadcast content and materials to us or on the Platform, including but not limited to text, writings, video, audio, photographs, graphics, comments, suggestions, or personal information or other material (collectively, “Contributions”). These contributions may be viewable by other users of the Platform and through third-party websites. As such, any Contributions you transmit may be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. When you create or make available any Contributions, you thereby represent and warrant that:
   • The creation, distribution, transmission, public display, or performance, and the accessing, downloading, or copying of your Contributions do not and will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or moral rights of any third party.
   • You are the creator and owner of or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, releases, and permissions to use and to authorize us, the Platform, and other users of the Platform to use your Contributions in any manner contemplated by the Platform and these Terms of Service.
   • You have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in your Contributions to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use of your Contributions in any manner contemplated by the Platform and these Terms of Service.
   • Your Contributions are not false, inaccurate, or misleading.
   • Your Contributions are not unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, pyramid schemes, chain letters, spam, mass mailings, or other forms of solicitation.
   • Your Contributions are not obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing, libelous, slanderous, or otherwise objectionable (as determined by us).
   • Your Contributions do not ridicule, mock, disparage, intimidate, or abuse anyone.
   • Your Contributions do not advocate the violent overthrow of any government or incite, encourage, or threaten physical harm against another.
   • Your Contributions do not violate any applicable law, regulation, or rule.
   • Your Contributions do not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party.
   • Your Contributions do not contain any material that solicits personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner.
   • Your Contributions do not violate any federal, state, or international law concerning child pornography or are otherwise intended to disturb and/or injure the health or well-being of minors.
   • Your Contributions do not include any offensive comments that are connected to race, national origin, gender, sexual preference, or physical handicap.
   • Your Contributions do not otherwise violate, or link to material that violates, any provision of these Terms of Service, or any applicable law or regulation.

Any use of the Platform in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms of Service and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Platform.

10. User Contribution License. Further, by posting your Contributions to any part of the Platform, or by making Contributions accessible to the Platform by linking your account from the Platform to any of your social networking accounts, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to us an unrestricted, unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, fully-paid, worldwide right, and license to host, use, copy, reproduce, disclose, publish, broadcast, re-title, archive, store, cache, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, transmit, excerpt (in whole or in part), and distribute such Contributions (including, without limitation, your image) for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise – except for profit, and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such Contributions, and grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. The use and distribution may occur in any media formats and through any media channels.
    • This license will apply to any form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed, and includes our use of your name, company name, and/or franchise name, as applicable, and any of the trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, and personal and commercial images you provide.
    • We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions.
    • Permission will be sought to sell or resell your work, when necessary for fund-raising.
    • We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions provided by you in any area on the Platform. You are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Platform and you expressly agree to exonerate us from any and all responsibility and to refrain from any legal action against us regarding your Contributions.
    • We have the right, in our sole and absolute discretion, (1) to edit, redact, or otherwise change any Contributions; (2) to re-categorize any Contributions to place them in more appropriate locations on the Platform; and (3) to pre-screen or delete any Contributions at any time and for any reason, without notice. We have no obligation to monitor your Contributions.

Thank you very much for using our site; and we hope that providing you with climate action information and making it shareable with attribution, via the CS Platforms following the Terms of Use above, helps forward climate action.

If you encounter technical problems or have questions, please contact us at climatesteps@gmail.com.

Last Updated: Sunday, September 06, 2020