Terms of Use

WEBSITE USER AGREEMENT

The Center for Brains, Minds and Machines (“CBMM”) is a National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Center focused on the interdisciplinary study of intelligence. This effort is a multi-institutional collaboration headquartered at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, with managing partners at Harvard University.  The CBMM website is hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

CBMM reserves the right to change the terms of the User Agreement or to modify its features at any time.  The Site will post changes to the terms of this User Agreement at http://cbmm.mit.edu/terms and by accessing the Site after modifications to this User Agreement have been posted, you agree to be bound by all the modified terms.

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

By accessing content on the CBMM website (the “Site,” which includes all pages within the cbmm.mit.edu host directory and any CBMM publications, code, and data sets outside the host directory but linked from a cbmm.mit.edu webpage):

  1. You accept and agree to be bound by all of the terms of this User Agreement; and
  2. You affirm that you are either 18 years of age or older or, if you are younger than 18, that you possess legal parental or guardian consent to accept the terms of this User Agreement. 

You must be (a) 17 years or over or (b) 13 years or over and have obtained legal parental or guardian consent to access registration-only features on this Site.  If we discover or have any reason to suspect that you have not met either of these conditions, then we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your registration to this Site immediately and without notice.

USE OF SITE CONTENT AND SITE SOFTWARE

For the purposes of this User Agreement, the term “Site Content” shall include all content posted to the Site by CBMM authors and freelancers, as well as User-Generated Content.  “Site Software” means all software integrated into and downloadable from the Site.

You may engage in only noncommercial uses of Site Content.  In addition, without first obtaining our permission, you may not otherwise reproduce, retransmit, distribute, display, publish, commercially exploit or otherwise make available any Site Content.  You shall not modify, adapt, sub-license, translate, sell, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble any portion of the Site or the Site Software.  The use restrictions in this paragraph do not apply to User-Generated Content that you personally submitted to the Site for publication.

USE OF THIRD-PARTY CONTENT

To the extent the Site incorporates the copyrighted material of third parties (“Third-Party Content”), you shall make only such uses of said Third Party Content as are consistent with applicable copyright law.  MIT does not warrant that any use of Third Party Content will not infringe the rights of the content owners.

If you believe that any content on the Site infringes your copyrights, please click here.

USER-GENERATED CONTENT

The Site includes features that support and publish User-Generated Content.  For purposes of this User Agreement, the term “User-Generated Content” means any copyrightable content that users submit to the Site.  The Site may solicit and publish User-Generated Content through its “Views + Review” articles, among other forums we may introduce.  You shall not make use of these features:

  • To make comments that are threatening, knowingly false, or unlawful; to use foul language; or to engage in personal attacks;
  • To impersonate any person or entity or create a false identity on the Site;
  • To harass, threaten, stalk, embarrass or cause distress, unwanted attention or discomfort to any user of the Site;
  • To disseminate or transmit “spam,” unsolicited messages, chain letters, advertisements, solicitations, or other unsolicited commercial communications, including (but not limited to) communications describing investment opportunities; 
  • To post material that infringes a copyright, trademark or patent right, trade secret or other legal right of any person, corporation or institution, including MIT;
  • To collect, print out, reproduce, distribute, or otherwise make available or use any personally-identifiable information about other users;
  • To disseminate or transmit viruses, Trojan horses, worms, defects, date bombs, time bombs, malware, spyware, or other items of a destructive nature or any other malicious code or program; or
  • To carry out any action with the intent or effect of disrupting other users’ experience of the Site.

By submitting User-Generated Content for publication on the Site, you grant MIT an irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free, sublicensable and non-exclusive license to reproduce, publicly perform, publicly display, create derivative works of, and distribute said content.

By submitting User-Generated Content, you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to your content, including without limitation, all the rights necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input or submit the content and for MIT to post, upload, cross-post, or cross-upload the content.

You may request through the Site’s Contact Form edits or removal of content you have posted on the Site at any time.  When you request to delete content from the Site, such deleted content, while not available to the viewing public and other Site users, will remain on the Site server until such time as you make a specific request to CBMM for permanent deletion of such content from the Site server.  Such requests must be made in writing, via email, to the Site’s Editor at the following address: cbmm-web@mit.edu.

You acknowledge and accept that User-Generated Content posted to the Site may be made available for the public to access, view, and use, subject to the limited license set forth above (“Use of Site Content”).

CBMM monitors User-Generated Content on the Site, and CBMM reserves the right to modify, edit, or remove any of said content at its discretion, without notice, and for any reason.  CBMM may prescreen User-Generated Content and may decide, in its discretion, without notice, and for any reason, not to publish it.  CBMM assumes no responsibility for monitoring, modifying, removing, or declining to publish User-Generated Content on this Service. 

You acknowledge and accept that the views and opinions expressed by other users on the Site are theirs alone and should not be ascribed to CBMM, MIT, or any of their sponsors.  User-Generated Content and Third-Party Content are the sole responsibility of the users and third parties, and their accuracy and completeness are not endorsed or guaranteed by CBMM, MIT, or any of their sponsors.

PROHIBITED USES OF THE SITE

You may not to access or use the Site in any manner that could damage or overburden any MIT server, or any network connected to any MIT server. You may not use the Site in any manner that would interfere with any other party’s use of the Site.

USE OF NAMES

You may not use MIT’s names, trademarks, logos, or insignia, or any version, abbreviation or representation of them, in any advertising, publicity, promotional materials or other public announcement without the prior written consent of MIT’s Technology Licensing Office, which consent MIT may withhold in its sole discretion.

Registration, Privacy, and Termination of Access

Certain areas of the Site may require registration or may otherwise ask you to provide information in order to participate.  The decision to provide this information is optional; however if you elect not to provide such information, you may not be able to access certain content or features.  When you register, you must provide information to CBMM that is accurate, current and complete.  The Site’s Privacy Policy governs the use of the information you report.  CBMM reserves the right to terminate the registrations and otherwise deny Site access to any person for any reason.  The Site will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your password or account information.

SPONSOR DISCLAIMER

The Center for Minds, Brains and Machines (CBMM) supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), under a Science and Technology Centers (STCs): Integrative Partnerships award, Grant No. CCF-1231216.  Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Disclaimer of Warranty/ Limitation of Liability

Your use of the Site is at your own sole risk.  To the fullest extent permitted by the law, MIT disclaims all warranties, express or implied, in connection with the Site and your use thereof.  MIT makes no warranties or representations about the accuracy or completeness of the Site’s content (including User-Generated Content and Third-Party Content) or the content of any websites linked to this Site, and MIT assumes no liability or responsibility for any (1) errors, mistakes, or inaccuracies in content; (2) personal injury or property damage, of any nature whatsoever, resulting from your access to and use of the Site; (3) any unauthorized access to or use of MIT’s secure servers and/or any and all personal information and/or financial information stored therein; (4) any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the Site; (5) any bugs, viruses, Trojan horses, or the like that may be transmitted to or through the Site by any third party; and/ or (6) any errors or omissions in any content or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the Site.  You assume all risk as to the quality, function, and performance of the Site, and to all transactions you undertake on the Site, including without limitation submission of any User-Generated Content.

You agree that MIT will not be liable to you for any loss or damages, either actual or consequential, arising out of or relating to these terms, or your (or any third party’s) use or inability to use the Site, or your placement of User-Generated Content on the Site, or your reliance upon information obtained from or through the Site, or your communications with other users of the Site.  In particular, MIT will have no liability for any consequential, indirect, punitive, special or incidental damages, whether foreseeable or unforeseeable, (including, but not limited to, claims for defamation, errors, loss of data, or interruption in availability of data), arising out of or relating to these terms, your use or inability to use any website, your placement of content on the Site, your reliance upon information obtained from or through a Site, or your communications with other users of the Site, whether based in contract, tort, statutory or other law, except only in the case of death or personal injury where and only to the extent that applicable law requires such liability.

INDEMNIFICATION

You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and all its affiliates, employees, faculty members, fellows, students, members of their governing boards and agents (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of (1) your posting of User-Generated Content, and (2) any breach by you or any user of your account of this User Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants.  You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim.  MIT reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

CONTACTING THIS WEBSITE

If you have any questions about this User Agreement our Privacy Policy, the practices of the Site, or your dealings with this site, you can contact the Editor at cbmm-web@mit.edu.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF AGREEMENT

The effective date of this policy is February 1, 2015.