STATELINE.ORG WEB SITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This web site (the “Site”) is owned and operated by Stateline.org, a project of the Pew Research Center (collectively referred to herein as “Stateline.org”). This User Agreement (“Agreement”) contains the terms, covenants, conditions, and provisions (the “Terms and Conditions”) upon which you (also referred to herein as “User”) may access and use this Site and the content displayed on the Site. This Agreement is current as of January 15, 2006.

Terms and Conditions

By accessing and using the Site, you indicate that you understand and intend these Terms and Conditions to be the legal equivalent of a signed, written contract and equally binding, and that you accept such Terms and Conditions and agree to be legally bound by them.

1. Grant of License. This Agreement provides you with a personal, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to use this Site conditioned on your continued compliance with the Terms and Conditions. In furtherance of its mission to further the public debate on important state-level issues, the content available on the Site may be accessed, printed, downloaded and distributed for personal, noncommercial, educational, news reporting, governmental, lobbying or other public policy advocacy purposes, provided that all copies contain all copyright and other applicable notices contained in such materials and information. Except for permitted fair uses or as otherwise permitted under this Agreement, however, you may not copy, reproduce, create derivatives of, modify, distribute, broadcast, transmit, publish, license, transfer, sell, or otherwise commercially exploit the information or material obtained from or through this Site. Under no circumstances may the content on this Site be reproduced in principal part, mirrored, catalogued, framed, displayed simultaneously with another site or otherwise republished in its entirety or in principal part without the express written permission of Stateline.org. You represent and warrant to Stateline.org that you will not use this Site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms and Conditions, including but not limited to attempting or actually (a) disrupting, impairing or interfering with the Site; (b) collecting any information about other users of the Site; or (c) systematically extracting data contained in the Site to populate databases for internal or external use.

2. Intellectual Property Rights. All material contained on this Site, unless otherwise indicated, is protected by law including, but not limited to, United States copyright, trade secret, and trademark law, as well as other state, national, and international laws and regulations and is owned by Stateline.org and/or third parties. Unless otherwise specified, the contents of this Site are © 1999-2007, Stateline.org. All rights reserved. Except as expressly provided herein, Stateline.org does not grant any express or implied right to you. STATELINE.ORG is a service mark of Stateline.org. The Site may also include the trade and/or service marks of other parties. Such third-party designations may not be used without the prior written permission of their respective owners.

3. User Comments. Stateline.org permits registered users to comment on certain content made available on the Site. All statements and materials posted on the Site by users reflect the views of such individual contributors and do not reflect the views of Stateline.org. We reserve the right to monitor the material placed on this site and to remove any posting that we deem inappropriate. Moreover, by posting comments on the Site, you grant to Stateline.org a worldwide, perpetual and irrevocable license to reproduce, distribute and publicly display your contribution in whole or in part, and to grant those rights to third parties. You represent that your contribution is in the public domain or original to you; does not infringe the intellectual property, contractual or proprietary rights of any third parties; and is not otherwise defamatory or violative of the law.

If you have reason to believe that material in which you (or any person or entity for which you are an authorized agent) hold the copyright has been posted in the user comment sections of the Site without Appropriate authorization, please contact Stateline.org's Designated Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement, Tiffany Shackelford: 1615 L St NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 419-4476 / Editor@Stateline.org. Stateline.org fully complies with the notice and take-down provisions of Sections 512(c) and (g) of the United States Copyright Act. We also enforce a policy that provides for the termination of access to the Site to contributors [or subscribers] who are found to be repeat infringers or who otherwise violate the policies governing use of the Site.

4. Privacy Policy. Please see Stateline.org’s privacy policy for a summary of Stateline.org’s personal data collection and use practices with respect to the Site. By using this Site, you consent to Stateline.org’s collection and use of personal data as outlined therein.

5. Assumption of Risk. You use the Internet solely at your own risk and subject to all applicable local, state, national, and international laws and regulations. While Stateline.org has endeavored to create a secure and reliable Site, please be advised that the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from this Site over the Internet cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, Stateline.org is not responsible for the security of any information transmitted via the Internet, the accuracy of the information contained on the Site, or for the consequences of any reliance on such information. Stateline.org shall have no liability for interruptions or omissions in Internet, network or hosting services. You assume the sole and complete risk of using this Site.

6. Links to Other Sites. Stateline.org provides links, in its sole discretion, to other sites on the World Wide Web for your convenience in locating related information and content. These sites have not necessarily been reviewed by Stateline.org and are maintained by third parties over which Stateline.org exercises no control. Accordingly, Stateline.org expressly disclaims any responsibility for the content, the accuracy of the information, and/or quality of products or services provided by or advertised on these third-party web sites.

7. Events Beyond Stateline.org’s Control. You expressly absolve and release Stateline.org from any claim of harm resulting from a cause beyond its control including, but not limited to, the failure of electronic or mechanical equipment or communication lines, telephone or other interconnect problems, computer viruses or software failures, unauthorized access, theft, operator errors, severe weather, earthquakes, or natural disasters, strikes or other labor problems, wars, terrorism or governmental restrictions.

8. DISCLAIMERS. THE SITE AND ALL OF ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND ARE MADE AVAILABLE WITHOUT REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. STATELINE.ORG MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY AS TO THE ACCURACY, RESULTS, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE OR ANY OF ITS CONTENT. FURTHER, THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THIS SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. STATELINE.ORG MAY MAKE MODIFICATIONS AND/OR CHANGES IN THIS SITE OR IN ITS CONTENT AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY REASON. YOU ASSUME THE SOLE RISK OF MAKING USE OF THIS SITE AND THE CONTENT PROVIDED HEREIN.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL STATELINE.ORG BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THIS SITE OR THE CONTENT PROVIDED HEREIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COMPENSATION, REIMBURSEMENT OR DAMAGES ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF PRESENT OR PROSPECTIVE PROFITS, EXPENDITURES, INVESTMENTS OR COMMITMENTS, WHETHER MADE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT, DEVELOPMENT OR MAINTENANCE OF BUSINESS REPUTATION OR GOODWILL, FOR LOSS OF DATA, COST OF SUBSTITUTE MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES OR INFORMATION, COST OF CAPITAL, AND THE CLAIMS OF ANY THIRD PARTY, OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF STATELINE.ORG HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES.

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, STATELINE.ORG DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES BASED ON YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT.

IN ANY EVENT, THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF STATELINE.ORG FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER RELATED TO USE OF THIS SITE AND ITS CONTENT SHALL NOT EXCEED $50.00.

9. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Stateline.org, its affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, employees, legal representatives, agents, successors and assigns, from and against any damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ and professionals’ fees and court costs) arising out of any third-party claims based on or related to your use of this Site or any breach by you of these Terms and Conditions.

10. Submissions. Stateline.org also welcomes your feedback and suggestions about how to improve this Site. Any ideas, suggestions, information, know-how, material, or any other content (collectively, “Submissions”) received through this Site, however, will be deemed to include a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive right and license for Stateline.org to adopt, publish, reproduce, disseminate, transmit, distribute, copy, use, create derivative works of, display (in whole or part) worldwide, or act on such Submissions without additional approval or consideration, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such Submissions. You hereby waive any claim to the contrary.

11. Governing Law. This policy shall be governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, without regard to conflicts of law rules, and the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for any dispute shall be in Washington, D.C.

12. Term, Termination, Amendments. Stateline.org reserves the right at any time and for any reason to deny you access to the Site or any portion thereof, and to terminate this Agreement. Termination will be effective without notice. Please note that Stateline.org reserves the right to change the Terms and Conditions under which this Site is made available to you, upon notice, which may be given by Stateline.org posting such modifications on the Site, by e-mail, or any other reasonable way. Your continued use of this Site following notice of such modifications will be conclusively deemed acceptance of any changes to these Terms and Conditions. You agree that notice of changes to this Agreement on the Site, delivered by email, or provided in any other reasonable way, constitutes reasonable and sufficient notice.

13. Waiver. Failure to insist on strict performance of any of the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement will not operate as a waiver of any subsequent default or failure of performance. No waiver by Stateline.org of any right under these Terms and Conditions will be deemed to be either a waiver of any other right or provision or a waiver of that same right or provision at any other time.

14. Nature of Relationship/Severability. No joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and Stateline.org as a result of this Agreement or your use of this Site. If any provision of this Agreement is held unenforceable by a court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to effect the intent of the parties, and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.

15. Entire Agreement/Reservation of Rights. These Terms and Conditions and Stateline.org’s Privacy Policy represent the entire agreement between you and Stateline.org with respect to your use of and material available on or through this Site, and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral, or written between you and Stateline.org with respect to this Site. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.