Terms of Use
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE. "We," "our" and similar terms refer collectively to the New York Crime Victims Legal Help Network partners who together offer the NY Crime Victims Legal Help website. We operate the website at cimevictimshelpny.org (collectively, the "Site") and make available the content, information, services, and software provided on or through the Site (the "Content"). By using the Site, you signify your consent to these terms and conditions (collectively, the "Terms of Use"). We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time. Please check these Terms of Use periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to these Terms of Use will mean you accept these changes.
1. Limited License to Use Site: We grant you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable, limited license to view, execute, and print the Content provided by the Site solely for personal and noncommercial informational purposes in accordance with these Terms of Use. Any copyright or attribution notice appearing on the original content or information must appear on all copies of the content or information.
2. Information Not Legal Advice: crimevictimshelpny.org provides general information only. This is not legal advice. You can only obtain legal advice from a lawyer. To contact a lawyer, use the crimevictimshelpny.org Legal Help Directory or visit LawHelpNY.org.
The New York Crime Victims Legal Network partners make every effort to keep referral information, legal educational materials, and related forms on this site up-to-date and in accordance with applicable state and federal law. However, we do not guarantee the accuracy of this information. Some of the materials listed have not been prepared by the New York Crime Victims Legal Network partners who manage crimevictimshelpny.org, but rather are links to information prepared and posted by others. The New York Crime Victims Legal Network partners cannot guarantee the accuracy of information posted on other sites, nor is crimevictimshelpny.org responsible for any legal advice, information, or assistance that you may obtain by using the crimevictimshelpny.org website. We recommend that you consult with a licensed attorney if you want assurance that the information on the Site and your interpretation of it are appropriate for your particular situation.
3. Registration: Membership is not required to access the public tools and resources on the Site. However, access to the Advocate Gateway may require registration of a user account. If you register a user account, you agree to provide accurate and complete registration information. If any of the information that you provided when you initially registered changes, you must update your registration information to reflect those changes. You may not share your user name or password in connection with the use of the Site. You are responsible for preventing such unauthorized use and you assume all liability for the actions of those individuals utilizing your user name and password with your permission. If you suspect the unauthorized use of your user name and password, you must immediately notify us by using the online contact form. You should select a password that cannot easily be guessed. For example, someone could guess a password that is a name or a birthday. A password that is a random combination of letters and numbers, or an acronym for a phrase is not as easily guessed.
4. Privacy Policy: Your use of the Site is subject to our Privacy Policy.
5. No Commercial Use: This Site is intended for use by victims of crime and nonprofit staff, service providers and volunteers assisting them. You may not reproduce or redistribute any Content for commercial purposes without our express written permission.
6. Limitations on Use: You may not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, rent, lease, loan, sell, sublicense, or create derivative works from the Site except to the extent explicitly permitted in these Terms of Use. You may not use any network monitoring or discovery software to determine the site architecture, or extract information about usage, individual identities, or users. You may not use any robot, spider, other automatic software or device, or manual process to monitor or copy the Site without our prior written permission. You may not copy, modify, reproduce, republish, distribute, display, or transmit for commercial, non-profit or public purposes all or any portion of the Site, except to the extent explicitly permitted above. You may not use or otherwise export or re-export the Site or any portion thereof, or the Content in violation of the export control laws and regulations of the United States of America. Any unauthorized use of the Site or its Content is prohibited.
7. Unlawful Activity: It is a violation of these Terms of Use to use the Site in any way that violates the laws of your state, the State of New York, or the United States. We reserve the right to investigate complaints or reported violations of these Terms of Use and to take any action we deem appropriate, including reporting any suspected unlawful activity to law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third parties and disclosing any information necessary or appropriate to such persons or entities relating to user profiles, e-mail addresses, usage history, posted materials, IP addresses, and traffic information.
8. Our Intellectual Property Rights: Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license or right, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, under our copyright or other intellectual property rights. You agree that the Site is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws, and may not be used except as provided in these Terms of Use without our express written permission. You also agree that we retain our copyrights in the layout and graphics of the Site, the collective and compilation copyrights in all databases and navigation design, and all other content created by our employees, contractors, consultants, or other contributors.
9. Use of Our Service Marks: You may use our service marks and logos in referring to the Content without our express permission, provided that you do not alter them and provide proper attribution. Any other uses require our express written permission. You may not use our service marks or trade dress in a third-party service name or publication title; in, as, or as part of your own service or marks; to identify your products or services or those of any third party; in a manner likely to cause confusion; in a manner that implies inaccurately that we sponsor, endorse, or are otherwise connected with, your own activities, products, and services; as hidden or embedded text in web pages; or in a manner disparaging of us, our constituent organizations or the Site.
10. Links To Other Sites: If you use any links on the Site to reach websites that are not under the www.crimevictimshelpny.org domain, you will leave the Site. We are not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. We provide you these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply our recommendation, approval or endorsement, nor does it imply that the linked site recommends, approves of, or endorses us or the Site. Your use of the linked sites may be subject to separate terms and conditions.
11. Termination: You are free to terminate your user registration with the Site at any time for any reason by using the online contact form and ceasing to access the site; provided, however, that your use of the site prior to your termination will remain governed by these Terms of Use. We will then endeavor to delete your registration information from our records; provided, however, that we may still contact you if necessary for compliance purposes. We may terminate or suspend your license to the Site at any time for any reason in our sole discretion without notice to you. We reserve the right to discontinue the operation of the Site at any time for any reason without notice to you.
12. User Conduct: You agree to not use the Site to:
a. upload any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
b. harm minors in any way;
c. impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, our staff, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
d. upload any Content that you do not have a right to transmit under applicable law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
e. upload any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;
f. upload any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes; or any other form of solicitation except in areas that are designated for such purpose;
g. upload any material 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;
h. interfere with or disrupt the Site or servers or networks connected to the Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site;
i. stalk or otherwise harass another; or
j. collect or store personal data about other users without authorization.
13. DISCLAIMER: THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS, AS-AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. WE DISCLAIM ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS, INJURY, CLAIM, LIABILITY, OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO (A) ANY ERRORS IN OR OMISSIONS FROM THE SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TECHNICAL INACCURACIES AND TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS, (B) ANY WEBSITES OR CONTENT THEREIN DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ACCESSED THROUGH LINKS IN THE SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY ERRORS IN OR OMISSIONS THEREFROM, (C) THE UNAVAILABILITY OF THE SITE, THE CONTENT, OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, (D) YOUR USE OF THE SITE, THE CONTENT OR THE TEXT MESSAGING FEATURE, OR (E) YOUR USE OF ANY EQUIPMENT OR SOFTWARE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE OR THE CONTENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT THE SITE IS FREE OF ERRORS, VIRUSES OR OTHER DEFECTS, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SITE WILL ALWAYS BE ACCESSIBLE. WE DO NOT WARRANT OR REPRESENT THAT THE SITE WILL BE CORRECT, ACCURATE, TIMELY, OR OTHERWISE RELIABLE. YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND WE WILL NOT PROVIDE ANY TECHNICAL OR OTHER SUPPORT IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SITE.
14. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: BY YOUR USE OF THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE USE OF THE SITE OR ITS CONTENT, WHETHER SUCH CLAIMS ARE AGAINST US OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO HAS SUPPLIED CONTENT TO THE SITE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY SHALL WE OR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING, OR DELIVERING THE CONTENT OR THE SITE BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ATTORNEYS' FEES) IN ANY WAY DUE TO, RESULTING FROM, OR ARISING IN CONNECTION FROM YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE. TO THE EXTENT THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS PROHIBITED OR FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, OUR CUMULATIVE OBLIGATION TO YOU, TOGETHER WITH THAT OF ALL OTHER PERSONS WHO HAVE SUPPLIED CONTENT TO THE SITE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES SHALL BE NO GREATER THAN $100.00.
15. Arbitration: Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to your use of the Site or these Terms of Use will be settled by binding arbitration conducted before one arbitrator who is knowledgeable in computer and Internet law. The site of any such arbitration shall be in New York. The arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the then applicable Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The award rendered by the arbitrator will be binding and conclusive on the parties and judgment upon such award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Each party will bear its own costs and expenses, including fees and expenses of counsel, associated with the arbitration. The arbitrator will not be empowered to award punitive damages to either party.
15. Indemnification: You agree to indemnify and hold us and any party providing Content to the Site harmless from any and all claims, losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising as a result of your use of the Site6
16. Third Party Rights: The provisions of Sections 12 (Disclaimer), 13 (Limitation of Liability), 14 (Arbitration), and 15 (Indemnification) are for our benefit and that of any party providing Content for the Site. Each of these individuals or entities shall have the right to assert and enforce those provisions directly against you on its own behalf.
17. Notification of Alleged Copyright Infringement: We reserve the rights to remove any Content that allegedly infringes a third party's copyright and to prohibit further use of the Site by the individuals responsible for said infringement. If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement and is accessible via the Site, please notify our copyright agent, as set forth in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"). For your complaint to be valid, you must provide the following information in writing:
An electronic or physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner; identification of the copyrighted work or works that you claim has been infringed; identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and where it is located on the Site, or a representative list of such works if you intend to cover multiple works in a single notice; information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as your address, telephone number, and, e-mail address; a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or law; and a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information you have submitted is accurate, and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
The above information must be submitted to the following DMCA Agent: Paul Bennett, Pro Bono Net, 151 West 30th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Under federal law, if you knowingly misrepresent that online material is infringing, you may be subject to criminal prosecution for perjury and civil penalties, including monetary damages, court costs, and attorneys' fees. Please note that this procedure is exclusively for notifying us that your copyrighted material has been infringed. The preceding requirements are intended to comply with our rights and obligations under the DMCA, but do not constitute legal advice. It may be advisable to contact an attorney regarding your rights and obligations under the DMCA and other applicable laws.
18. Choice of Law and Forum: These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New York, without giving any effect to any principles of conflicts of law. Subject to Section 17, you agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these terms shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in New York and you hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any action.
19. Remedies: You acknowledge that any use of the Site contrary to these Terms of Use may cause us irreparable injury and that, under such circumstances, we will be entitled to equitable relief including, but not limited to, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, without posting bond or other security. Each CIRI partner shall have the right to assert and enforce these Terms of Use directly against you on its own behalf, without the consent of and without the need to join any other CIRI partner in any action.
20. Integration: The version of these Terms of Use currently available at the Site, incorporating by reference any supplemental rules or terms posted on the Site, constitutes the complete statement of the agreement between you and us. That version supersedes and merges all prior proposals, understandings, and all other agreements, oral and written, between the parties relating to the subject matter of the agreement.
21. Severability and Waiver: If any part of these Terms of Use is found to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, the remaining parts of the Terms of Use will continue in force, the provision at issue may be replaced by the lawful provision that most nearly matches the original intention of the parties and these Terms of Use will in any event remain valid and enforceable.
22. Modifications; Waiver: We reserve the right to change these Terms of Use at any time. Updated versions of the Terms of Use will appear on the Site and are effective immediately. Your continued use of the Site after any update constitutes your agreement to be bound by the updated Terms of Use. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms of Use. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by us in writing.
Last revised: 10/1/18