Terms of Use

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

BaffledBull provides a collection of online resources, including files, forums, and various email services (referred to hereafter as "the Service") subject to the following Terms of Use ("TOU"). By using the Service in any way, you are agreeing to comply with the TOU. In addition, when using particular BaffledBull services, you agree to abide by any applicable posted guidelines for all BaffledBull services, which may change from time to time.  Should you object to any term or condition of the TOU, any guidelines, or any subsequent modifications thereto or become dissatisfied with BaffledBull in any way, your only recourse is to immediately discontinue use of BaffledBull.  BaffledBull has the right, but is not obligated, to strictly enforce the TOU through self-help, community moderation, active investigation, litigation and prosecution.

2. MODIFICATIONS TO THIS AGREEMENT

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter these terms and conditions at any time.  Such modifications shall become effective immediately upon the posting thereof. You must review this agreement on a regular basis to keep yourself apprised of any changes.

3. CONTENT

You understand that all postings, messages, texts, files, images, photos, PDFs or other materials ("Content") posted on, transmitted through, or linked from the Service, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. More specifically, you are entirely responsible for each individual item ("Item") of Content that you post, email or otherwise make available via the Service. You understand that BaffledBull does not control, and is not responsible for Content made available through the Service, and that by using the Service, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable. Furthermore, the BaffledBull site and Content available through the Service may contain links to other websites, which are completely independent of BaffledBull.  BaffledBull makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site.  Your linking to any other websites is at your own risk. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with the use of any Content; that you may not rely on said Content, and that, under no circumstances, will BaffledBull be liable, in any way, for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the Service. You acknowledge that BaffledBull does not pre-screen or approve Content, but that BaffledBull shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any Content that is available via the Service, for violating the letter or spirit of the TOU or for any other reason.

4.  NOTIFICATION OF CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please notify BaffledBull for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement, at abuse@BaffledBull.com

Please provide us with the following Notice:

a) Identify the material on the BaffledBull site that you claim is infringing, with enough detail so that we may locate it on the website;

b) A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;

c) A statement by you declaring under penalty of perjury that (1) the above information in your Notice is accurate, and (2) that you are the owner of the copyright interest involved or that you are authorized to act on behalf of that owner;

d) Your address, telephone number, and email address; and

e) Your physical or electronic signature.

BaffledBull will remove the infringing posting(s), subject to the procedures outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

5. PRIVACY AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE

BaffledBull has established a Privacy Policy to explain to users how their information is collected and used, which can be viewed here.

Your use of the BaffledBull website or the Service signifies acknowledgement of and agreement to our Privacy Policy. You further acknowledge and agree that BaffledBull may, in its sole discretion, preserve or disclose your Content, as well as your information, such as email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and other user information, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce the TOU; respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; respond to claims that contact information (e.g. phone number, street address) of a third-party has been posted or transmitted without their consent or as a form of harassment; protect the rights, property, or personal safety of BaffledBull, its users or the general public.

6. CONDUCT

You agree not to post, email, or otherwise make available Content:

a) that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, or is harmful to minors in any way;

b) that is pornographic or depicts a human being engaged in actual sexual conduct including but not limited to (i) sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, or (ii) bestiality, or (iii) masturbation, or (iv) sadistic or masochistic abuse, or (v) lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person;

c) that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;

d) that impersonates any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a BaffledBull employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity (this provision does not apply to Content that constitutes lawful non-deceptive parody of public figures.);

e) that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent;

f) that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, or misinformative;

g) that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;

h) that constitutes or contains  "affiliate marketing," "link referral code," "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or unsolicited commercial advertisement;

i) that includes links to commercial services or web sites, except as allowed in "services";

j) that advertises any illegal service or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by any applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by US law.

k) that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

l) that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive amount of Content (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users' ability to use the Service; or

m) that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of Content transmitted through the Service.

Additionally, you agree not to:

n) contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted, or make unsolicited contact with anyone for any commercial purpose;

o) "stalk" or otherwise harass anyone;

p) collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes;

q) use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service - unless expressly permitted by BaffledBull;

r) post non-local or otherwise irrelevant Content, repeatedly post the same or similar Content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;

s) attempt to gain unauthorized access to BaffledBull's computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the Service or the BaffledBull website; or

t) use any form of automated device or computer program ("flagging tool")
that enables the use of BaffledBull's "flagging system" or other community
moderation systems without each flag being manually entered by the person
that initiates the flag (an "automated flagging device"),  or to remove posts without a
good faith belief that the post being flagged violates these TOU.

7. NO SPAM POLICY

You understand and agree that sending unsolicited email advertisements to BaffledBull email addresses or through BaffledBull computer systems, which is expressly prohibited by these Terms, will use, or cause to be used, servers located in California.  Any unauthorized use of BaffledBull computer systems is a violation of these Terms and certain federal and state laws, including without limitation the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq.), Section 502 of the California Penal Code and Section 17538.45 of the California Business and Professions Code.  Such violations may subject the sender and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.

8. LIMITATIONS ON SERVICE

You acknowledge that BaffledBull may establish limits concerning use of the Service, including the maximum number of days that Content will be retained by the Service, the maximum number and size of postings, email messages, or other Content that may be transmitted or stored by the Service, and the frequency with which you may access the Service. You agree that BaffledBull has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that BaffledBull reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice, and that BaffledBull shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

9. TERMINATION OF SERVICE

You agree that BaffledBull, in its sole discretion, has the right (but not the obligation) to delete or deactivate your account, block your email or IP address, or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service (or any part thereof), immediately and without notice, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, if BaffledBull believes that you have acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOU. Further, you agree that BaffledBull shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Service.  Further, you agree not to attempt to use the Service after said termination. 

10. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

Although BaffledBull does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to BaffledBull an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing.

Furthermore, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant BaffledBull all rights necessary to prohibit any subsequent aggregation, display, copying, duplication, reproduction, or exploitation of the Content on the Service by any party for any purpose.

Furthermore, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant any BaffledBull user all rights necessary to display, copy, duplicate, or reproduce the Content on the Service by any party for any purpose, subservient to BaffledBull's right to revoke said rights.

11. DISCLAIMER OF VALIDITY OF POSTED

11. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND THE VALIDITY OF POSTED ITEMS

YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE AND THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" OR "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, AND WITHOUT ANY GUARANTY OF ACADEMIC VALIDITY OF ITEMS POSTED.  ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.  TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BAFFLEDBULL DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE AND THE SERVICE.  TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BAFFLEDBULL DISCLAIMS ANY GUARANTY FOR THE ACADEMIC ACCURACY, VALIDITY AND CORRECTNESS OF THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE, THE SERVICE AND ITEMS POSTED THEREIN. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BAFFLEDBULL DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SITES OR SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINKS ON THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE.  TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BAFFLEDBULL DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE.  Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties.  In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.

12. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL BAFFLEDBULL BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF BAFFLEDBULL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE.  SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE BAFFLEDBULL SITE.  THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In some jurisdictions, limitations of liability are not permitted.  In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.

13. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify and hold BaffledBull, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post or make available through the Service, your use of the Service, your violation of the TOU, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.

14. GENERAL INFORMATION

The TOU constitute the entire agreement between you and BaffledBull and govern your use of the Service, superceding any prior agreements between you and BaffledBull. The TOU and the relationship between you and BaffledBull shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and BaffledBull agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of San Francisco, California. The failure of BaffledBull to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOU shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the TOU is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOU remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Service or the TOU must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

15. VIOLATION OF TERMS AND LIQUIDATED DAMAGES

Please report any violations of the TOU, by flagging the posting(s) for review, or by emailing to:

Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.

You understand and agree that, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if it becomes necessary for BaffledBull to pursue legal action to enforce these Terms, you will be liable to pay BaffledBull the following amounts as liquidated damages, which you accept as reasonable estimates of BaffledBulls' damages for the specified breaches of these Terms:

If you post a message that (1) impersonates any person or entity; (2) falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity; or (3) that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent; or (4) contains academic information that is intentionally erroneous, or intentionally misleading, you agree to pay BaffledBull one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each such message.  This provision does not apply to Content that constitutes lawful non-deceptive parody of public figures.

Otherwise, you agree to pay BaffledBull's actual damages, to the extent such actual damages can be reasonably calculated. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, BaffledBull retains the right to seek the remedy of specific performance of any term contained in these Terms, or a preliminary or permanent injunction against the breach of any such term or in aid of the exercise of any power granted in these Terms, or any combination thereof.

16. FEEDBACK

We welcome your questions and comments on this document in the BaffledBull feedback forum: