1. Introduction

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WELCOME to Iowa Pet Alert!   

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Iowa Pet Alert [“IPA”] is a web-based community sponsored by The Pet Project Midwest, an Iowa nonprofit organization. IPA’s mission is to access the power of the internet to help reunite lost or found pets with their owners.

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As a User of this Site, You can participate by listing a lost or found pet that will be available for other Users to view. The IPA Site has functions, features, applications, and content located thereon, as now exiting or that may be added in the future, used to carry out our mission of reuniting pets with their owners. We hope that Users of this Site will experience the joy that comes from reuniting a lost and found pet with the pet’s loving owner. 

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As a User, you will create a unique Pet Profile, that identifies the lost or found pet [e.g., photo, video, text], provides Your contact email and phone number, and discloses when and where the pet was lost or found, as the case may be. Such a Pet Profile, whether You lost a pet or found a pet, will be seen by all other Users – with the hope for match leading to a reunification.  

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These Terms of Use [“TOU”] are a written Agreement that is designed to address the terms and conditions that govern this Site and its access and use. We believe it is important that You become aware of both of our respective legal rights and obligations related to the Site; and that we both consent to this TOU agreement before You access and/or use the Site.

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2. Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Term of Use Agreement

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The Pet Project Midwest [“The Pet Project” or “we” “our” or “us”] acknowledges that this TOU agreement forms a binding legal agreement between us -- BUT ONLY IF You also consent to be bound by them. You must consent to bound by this TOU agreement in order to use Site.  

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The Site contains a click Block that states: "I AGREE TO THE TERMS OF USE.”  If You decide to consent to this TOU agreement then CLICK the Block, and by doing so, You expressly agree that You have fully read or have been given the opportunity to read this TOU agreement and You agree that You are legally bound by them as well as by all applicable laws, rules, and regulations that govern the Site.  This TOU agreement constitutes a written agreement signed by You and The Pet Project Midwest. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserve to The Pet Project Midwest. If You do not agree or wish not to be bound by this TOU agreement, do not Click the Block ‘I Agree’ or otherwise access or use the Site in any manner.  

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Just to be clear, If You select ‘I Agree’ then, for good and valuable consideration, this TOU agreement form a binding and enforceable written contract between You and The Pet Project Midwest. 

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3. Changes to or Discontinuance of the Site

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We reserve the right to change, remove, add, or suspend all Site related functions, features, applications, and/or content at any time without notice.  We reserve the right to discontinue the Site altogether at any time without notice and without any obligation to You or to provide You with access to any User Generated Content including Pet Profiles (see Section 8 below). You have no vested rights in the Site. 

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4. Changes to the Terms of Use Agreement.

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Also, we may change, modify, revise, and restate this TOU agreement from time to time and on successive occasions by providing You access to the newly revised version of this TOU agreement on through the Site with their new effective date.   If we do change or modify this TOU agreement, we will provide You with notice of the newly revised version by email or other electronic means.  In response, if You so choose, You will be permitted a reasonable opportunity to cease Your use of the Site and terminate this Agreement.  You are solely responsible for regularly reviewing this TOU agreement available on through the Site so that You will be apprised of the newest revised version. You further agree that notice by email or text to the email address or mobile phone associated with a Pet Profile sent no less than 20 days prior to the effective date of the newly revised TOU will constitute reasonable prior notice to You of the proposed changes or revisions.  Your continued use of the Site after having been afforded such reasonable prior notice constitutes Your continued and renewed acceptance of this TOU agreement as newly revised.

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5. Eligibility, Registration, User ID, and Passwords

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You must register through the Site in order to access and use the Site. You must not register if You are under 13 years of age and any person under the age of 13 years is strictly prohibited from doing so.  If You are under the age of majority in Your jurisdiction (typically 18 or 19 years of age), You may register and use the Site, only with the approval of your parent or guardian, and You warrant to us that You have such permission--if You are under the age of majority.  We may refuse to accept Your registration in our discretion.  An example for our refusal is if we previously revoked Your account for violating this TOU agreement or for some other reason.  If we are made aware of the fact that You are not eligible due to age or lack of permission, we will immediately terminate Your access to the Site.

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We recognize that it is possible for You to obtain access to the Site from any jurisdiction in the world, but we have no practical ability to prevent such access.  If the Site or any material on the Site, or Your registration or Your use of the Site is contrary to the laws of the place where you are located, then the Site is not intended for you, and we ask you not to use the Site or submit a registration.  You are responsible for informing yourself of the laws of Your jurisdiction and complying with them, and You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless for your failure to comply with this provision.

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As part of this registration process, You will create an account on the Site that we referred to as Your Pet Profile (as further described in Section 6, below).  You will select a User ID and password. 

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You are solely responsible for

• any and all uses of Your Pet Profile (whether by You or anyone using Your account and regardless of whether You gave Your consent to another to use Your account); and

• the confidentiality and security of Your User ID, password and log-in information.

You must notify us immediately of any actual or suspected breach of security or unauthorized use of Your Pet Profile. Should You forget Your password, then upon request, an e-mail containing your password will be forwarded to the e-mail address You entered during registration.

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6. Pet Profile Information—Basic Rules

The Pet Profile must identify the lost or found pet [e.g., photo, video, text], contain Your name, contact email and phone number, and disclose when and where the pet was lost or found, as the case may be.   Your Pet Profile information must be true, accurate, and complete and You promise to keep Your Pet Profile information as true, accurate and complete at all times.

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Your Pet Profile must describe

• a real pet, that either has been lost or found and is not a made-up pet; and

• You, an individual person, and is not an impersonation or made-up identity;

We may use various details provided by You in Your registration to verify the authenticity of You and the described pet.  

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We may refuse to accept Your registration (or later deny You access to the Site) if we are made aware that You have violated this provision or if the registration contains content that is protected by trademark or proprietary rights law, or is vulgar, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate, as we may determine in our sole discretion.

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7. Pet Profile Information—Use by The Pet Project

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We may use descriptive information identifying for You and the pet, including specifics of reunification, for promotional and advertising purposes, but only upon Your prior consent granting us permission to do so and that describe the scope of our use.  If permission is granted, we will use the information in the manner You consent to, but without any compensation or payment of any kind. For example, if consent to, we may feature You and the pet’s reunification on the Site or other social media platforms [e.g., Facebook].

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8. Authorization to Access and Use the Site

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Subject to Your compliance with and acceptance of this TOU agreement, we hereby grant You a limited, terminable, revocable, non-transferable, non-exclusive, non-assignable, and non-sub-licensable license to access and use the Site for the purposes of reuniting pets with their owners. You are granted no other rights whatsoever in or to the Site, or portions thereof, including but not limited to its databases, invisible pages, linked pages, underlying code, or other intellectual property the Site may contain, for any reason or use whatsoever. Also, decompiling, reverse-engineering, disassembling, or otherwise reducing the code used in any software on the Site into a readable form in order to examine the construction of such software and/or to copy or create other products based (in whole or in part) on such software, is strictly prohibited, and may subject You to criminal and civil penalties and damages.

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9. User-Generated Content, Risk Assumption, Release and Indemnity, and Prohibited Content

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The Site allows You to post: text, images, photos, and other materials (together with Your Pet Profile information and registration) through the Site. All of these materials shall be referred to as “User-Generated Content” or “UGC”).

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You are solely responsible for all UGC posted or uploaded on the Site, or transmitted to others, by You (and by anyone using Your access to the Site).  We have no control over what information, materials and/or content is included in the UGC.  No UGC is reviewed by us prior to posting and therefore does not necessarily reflect our opinions or policies.  We have no obligation to check the accuracy or truthfulness of any UGC, or to monitor any User’s or other person’s viewing or use of the Site.

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Be aware, that any UGC You post, upload, or transmit on or through the Site is viewable by Users and other persons.  We do not and cannot ever control any usage, including improper use, of Your posted UGC viewed by Users or others.  Therefore, Your posting and disclosure of all UGC through the Site is done AT YOUR OWN RISK of You being harmed [such as personal injury or property damage] by conduct of another person arising from their viewing and use of such UGC.  You release and indemnify, defend and hold The Pet Project, its Directors, officers, employees and agents [“Board and Staff”], harmless from any claim or lawsuit for personal injuries, damages, and losses caused to You or any other person arising from the conduct of another in connection with their viewing and/or use of such UGC. 

The following is a list of Prohibited Content that Your UGC must not contain. Prohibited Content means UGC, or part thereof, that:

• 9.1 is unlawful or promotes or encourages illegal activity or abusive or discriminatory conduct;

• 9.2 violates the property, privacy and publicity rights of others;

• 9.3 is patently offensive or otherwise grossly objectionable, such as content that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred, or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;

• 9.4 harasses or advocates harassment or bullying of another person;

• 9.5 is threatening, obscene, defamatory, vulgar, malicious, or libelous;

• 9.6 solicits personal information from anyone under the age of 18;

• 9.7 includes material that exploits people under the age of 18 in any manner;

• 9.8 displays pornographic or sexually explicit material of any kind or contains a link to an adult Web site containing any such material;

• 9.9 involves the transmission of ‘junk mail, chain letters, spam,’ or any other unsolicited mass mailing, e-mailing, or other communication (i.e., ‘spimming’ or ‘spamming’);

• 9.10 is false or misleading;

• 9.11 violates The Pet Project’s or a third party’s intellectual property or proprietary rights;

• 9.12 includes any pirated computer programs or links to them;

• 9.13 includes information which circumvents any copy-protection devices;

• 9.14 includes pirated materials (music, video, photographs, etc.) or links to such pirated files;

• 9.15 furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities (i.e., making or buying illegal weapons, planning or carrying out acts of terror, violating someone’s privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses);

• 9.16 solicits passwords or personally identifiable information belonging to others;

• 9.17 includes a photograph or likeness or voice recording of another person that is posted without that person’s consent;

• 9.18 contains restricted or password only access pages or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);

• 9.19 involves commercial activities or constitutes or includes any unauthorized promotion, sales, or other commercial activity such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes; and/or

• 9.20 promoting any political or social cause, propaganda, or call to action that is inconsistent with the use of the Site as we intended it to be used.

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Posting any Prohibited Content by You (and by anyone using Your access to the Site) may, in our sole discretion, result in the termination of Your access to the Site and termination of this TOU agreement with You.  We reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action, in our sole discretion, against anyone who posts UGC containing Prohibited Content, or otherwise posts UGC which we deem inappropriate or unacceptable, including: terminating the User’s access to the Site, terminating this TOU Agreement with the User, removing the offending material or Prohibited Content from the Site; and/or reporting such violators to the appropriate legal authorities.  However, we assume no responsibility to actively monitor UGC or timely modify or remove any inappropriate UGC if and when we are made aware of it.

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Even though all of the above UGC is strictly prohibited, it is possible You still may be exposed to Prohibit Content or other content that may be inaccurate, hateful, offensive, indecent, objectionable, and otherwise not in conformance with the above provisions of this TOU agreement or Your standards of properness.  You nevertheless agree to release and indemnify, defend and hold The Pet Project and its Board and Staff harmless from any claim or lawsuit for personal injuries, damages, and/or losses caused to You or any other person arising from such exposure.

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10. Prohibited Conduct

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You are solely responsible for Your conduct (and the conduct of anyone using Your access to the Site) related to the Site or its use.  Your license to access and use the Site is conditioned upon Your (and anyone using Your access to the Site) proper use of the Site. Therefore, You agree that You (and anyone using Your access to the Site) shall NOT engage in any conduct that we deem inappropriate or unacceptable, including conduct that:

• 10.1 is illegal or that is prohibited in this TOU agreement;

• 10.2 uses the Site in any manner inconsistent with or in violation of this TOU agreement as well as all applicable local, state, national, or international laws and/or regulations having the force of law;

• 10.3 creates any UGC that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, rights of privacy or publicity, proprietary rights, contractual rights or confidentiality rights of any party or is in violation of our rules relating to ‘Prohibited Content’ as set forth in Section 9;

• 10.4 creates any UGC without the required authorization of from interest party or falsely expresses or implies such authorization was validity obtained;

• 10.5 may cause harm minors in any way;

• 10.6 constitutes stalking, bullying or harassing of another or pursues efforts to contact another when under the circumstances the other refuses to engage in the interaction;

• 10.7 uses the User’s personal data for purposes other than establishing contact to reuniting a lost pet with its owner;

• 10.8 impersonates another person or entity (including an employee or representative of The Pet Project) or create a false or misleading identity;

• 10.9 falsely states or otherwise misrepresents Your affiliation with any person or entity;

• 10.10 employs another User ID or password of another that is not You;

• 10.11 results in the transmission, email, posting or uploading of any UGC that contains in any form software viruses or other programs, such as Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

• 10.12 results in the transmission, email, posting or uploading any UGC that contains software designed to monitor or persistently reside in or on any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

• 10.13 results in the interference with, damage to, disruption of, or impairment of the Site, the related servers and/or networks connected to the Site, or other User’s use and enjoyment of the Site;

• 10.14 seeks to hack into the Site or gain unauthorized access to the Site by any means;

• 10.15 seeks to harvest or collect User IDs or passwords of other Users by any means;

• 10.16 seeks to modify, adapt, translate, or reverse-engineer any portion of the Site, or use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other device to retrieve or index any portion or the Site;

• 10.17 seeks to reformat or frame any portion of the web pages that are part of the Site; cover or obscure banner advertisements on the Site;

• 10.18 seeks to remove any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices contained in or on the Site;

• 10.19 seeks to disseminate any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, ‘junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes,’ or any other form of such solicitation;

• 10.20 seeks to upload, post, or transmit unsolicited commercial emails or ‘spam’ or engage in any practice that is in any way connected with ‘spam’;

• 10.21 engages in any other activity deemed by The Pet Project to be in conflict with the spirit or intent of this TOU agreement and applicable law and regulations;

• 10.22 make any automated use of the Site, such as using scripts to add friends or send comments or messages;

• 10.23 advertises or solicits sales of products and Site;

• 10.24 seeks to engage in any commercial activity or purpose;

• 10.25 seeks to circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security features of the Site or its features, applications, and functions; and/or

• 10.26 seeks to send more request messages to servers of the Site in a given period of time than a single human can reasonably manually produce in the same period by using a conventional online web browser sending one message at a time.

We may, but is under no obligation to, monitor Your conduct that may violate this Section 10. If there is a violation of this Section, we may remove any or all UGC in violation; terminate Your access to the Site; and terminate this TOU agreement with You, in our sole discretion. We reserve the right to pursue all other remedies as provided in Sections 26 and 27.

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11. Good Samaritan Policy

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If You believe that someone has posted UGC or otherwise has engaged in or threatens conduct that violates this TOU agreement, we ask you to promptly notify us by email at contact@iowapetalert.com.  You must use this address if you want to ensure that your complaint is actually received by the appropriate person charged with responding to such communications.

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In order to respond as quickly as possible to any complaint, please provide as much detail as possible, including: (1) the nature of the right infringed or violated (including the registration numbers of any registered copyrights or trademarks allegedly infringed); (2) a detailed description of the offending material or conduct and all facts that lead You to believe that this TOU agreement have or may be violated by the material or other conduct; (3) the precise location on the Site where the offending material is located; (4) in the case of infringement of any right-- any grounds you have to believe that the person who posted the material was not authorized to do so or did not have a valid defense (including the defense of fair use); and (5) if known, the identity of the person or persons who Posted the infringing or offending material or engaged in the offending conduct.

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By lodging a complaint, You agree that the substance of your complaint shall be deemed to constitute a representation made by You under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State or jurisdiction of Your residence.  In addition, You agree, at Your own expense, to defend, indemnify, and hold The Pet Project and its Board and Staff harmless against any liability or claim that may arise from Your complaint or our response to Your complaint.

Once a complaint is received, then we may, in our sole discretion and in response to the alleged violation, take or refrain from taking any action, including without limitation the following:

1. Decide not to investigate the matter;

2. Refer the matter to appropriate law enforcement agencies and cooperate with them as directed, with or without prior investigation;

3. Investigate the alleged violation – but take no action;

4. Investigate the alleged violation – and contact the posting person to advise them of the complaint and seek their response before taking any action or refraining to take action;

5. Investigate the alleged violation – and remove the infringing or offending UGC, in part or in its entirety, without prior notice to the posting person;

6. Investigate the alleged violation – and direct the complaining party to seek an independent resolution of the issue with the offending person without our involvement.
    

In establishing this complaint procedure, we are taking on the role of a Good Samaritan with the thought that this policy may assist in the removal or restriction of material that violates this TOU agreement and/or to remedy other offending conduct. Nevertheless, we have NO responsibility to remove materials posted on the Site or take any affirmative action in response to the complaint. In making a complaint, You agree to waive any claims or remedies that you might otherwise be able to make against us under any theory of law (including, but not limited to, intellectual property laws) arising out of or relating in any way to the offending conduct or violations that is the subject of the complaint. If we choose to take any action in response to the complaint, then You agree to indemnify, defend and hold us and our Board and Staff harmless from liability for all personal injuries, damages, and losses caused to any other person arising from or in connection with the actions taken by us in response to the complaint.

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Notwithstanding this Good Samaritan provision, if the complaint concerns any infringement of a right subject to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, then the provisions of Section 18 shall govern the handling of any complaint thereunder.

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12. Privacy Policy

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Our collection and use of personal identifying information are governed by our Privacy Policy.  Our Privacy Policy is incorporated into and made a part of this TOU agreement by reference.  In the event of any inconsistency between this TOU agreement and the Privacy Policy, this TOU agreement shall control the conflicting terms.

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13. Communications between You and Us

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You consent to receive communications from us electronically, such as emails, texts, or notices and messages on this Site.  You can retain copies of these communications for your records. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

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14. Equipment and Access Connections

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The Site may be made available to You through Your use of different Devices. You are solely responsible for providing, maintaining, and ensuring compatibility with the Site, all hardware, software, electrical, and other physical requirements for Your use of the Site including telecommunications and internet access connections and links, web browsers or other equipment, programs, and service required to access and use the Site.  We are not responsible for any defects in Your Devices or Your inability to obtain or maintain reliable data or internet connections.

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You are solely responsible for all data and/or connectivity charges that arise from the use of the Site via Your Devices. For more information about data and/or connectivity plans for a carrier, contact the carrier directly.

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15. Your Proprietary and Intellectual Property Rights

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By posting any UGC, You represent and warrant that: (a) You own or otherwise have the right to post Your UGC, (b) it does not contain any content in violation of Sections 9 and 10, (c) it does not violate any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, patent, trademark, trade secret, or any other proprietary or contractual rights of any person or entity. You retain all ownership rights in such UGC, and You continue to have the right to use Your UGC in any way You desire. We may use Your UGC as provided Sections 6 and 7.