Terms of Use

(Effective July 1, 2009)

1. INTRODUCTION AND ACCEPTANCE

Welcome to RockyMountainIndependent.com (“Website”), an interactive online service operated by Rocky Mountain Independent, LLC (“Rocky Mountain Independent” or “RMI”).

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE WEBSITE OR THE RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

Your use of the Website and/or participation in or purchase of membership, services and/or products offered by Rocky Mountain Independent constitutes acceptance by you of the terms of these Terms of Use. RMI reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use at any time, and any changes to Rocky Mountain Independent’s Terms of Use will be posted as soon as they go into effect, and if you are a Rocky Mountain Independent member (“Member”), we will also email you regarding any Terms of Use changes via the email address you provided when you enrolled in Membership (or later provided to RMI as an updated address). In addition to these Terms of Use, we have established a Privacy Policy to explain how we collect and use information about you. A copy of this Privacy Policy can be found here, and is incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use. By accessing or using the Website, you are also signifying your acknowledgement and agreement to our Privacy Policy. Your use of this Website and associated products and services, and continued use following the posting, or email notice, of any changes or revisions to the Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy, constitutes your acceptance to those changes. If you do not agree with the Terms of Use or Privacy Policy, please do not use this Website, and please do not enroll as a Member, or purchase any services or products associated with the Website.

2. WEBSITE ACCESS AND USE

(A) We respect the intellectual property rights of others and expect the same of users. The Website, including, but not limited to, all text, illustrations, files, images, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, information, content, materials, products, services, URLs, technology, documentation, and interactive features (collectively, the “Website Content”) (and all intellectual property rights to the same) are owned by RMI and/or our licensors. Also, all trademarks, service marks, trade names and trade dress that may appear on the Website are owned by RMI and/or our licensors. Except for the limited use and access rights granted to you in these Terms of Use, you shall not acquire any right, title or interest in the Website or any Website Content. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Use are expressly reserved.

(B) Access to and use of the Website including, without limitation, the Website Content is provided for your information and personal, non-commercial use only. When using the Website and associated products and services, you agree to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws including intellectual property laws. You may download or copy the Website Content for personal, non-commercial use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. You must obtain written permission from RMI (or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the content) for copying or storing of any Website Content for any other reason.

(C) You may aggregate news articles from our Website Content as long as you comply with all of the following conditions: (i) You agree to use no more than one quarter of each article; (ii) you clearly identify all each such selections article as RMI content owned (or licensed by) RMI; and (iii) you include a physical link back to the Website Content. You may not include photos without RMI’s express written consent. We reserve the right to require that you cease distributing or remove Website Content in our sole discretion.

(D) You may not use an automatic device (such as a robot or spider) or manual process to copy or scrape the Website or Website Content for any purpose without our express written permission (except public search engines copying Website Content for the sole purpose of creating (and only to the extent necessary to create) a searchable index of Website Content that is available to the public, and which permission we may revoke at any time); decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble any portion of the Website; violate, or promote conduct that violates, any local, state or federal law, either civil or criminal, or impersonate another user, person, or entity without permission, etc.); or take any action that restricts or inhibits any other user, person or entity from using or enjoying the Website.

(E) If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you or any User Contribution (as defined herein) you make violates these Terms of Use, we reserve the right, at any time, without notice and without limiting any and all other rights we may have under these Terms of Use, at law or in equity, to (i) refuse to allow you to submit further User Contributions, (ii) remove and delete your User Contributions, (iii) revoke your Membership and right to use the Website, (iv) deactivateing your Membership; and/or (v) use any technological, legal, operational, or other means available to enforce these Terms of Use, including, without limitation, blocking specific IP addresses or access using your e-mail address, or your Member name and password, if any.

3. THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND LINKS

(A) The Website may contain links to other websites maintained by third parties including without limitation, RMI partners, affiliates, and advertisers. We do not operate or control, in any respect, or necessarily endorse the content found on these third-party websites. You assume sole responsibility for your use of such external resources. We are not responsible for the availability of these third party resources, or any content posted on third-party websites, nor are we responsible for their privacy policies or terms of use; and we will not be liable to you for any loss or damage of any sort suffered as a result of your dealings with any third-party or their website.

(B) The Website will also contain content, including opinions and judgments, from other users or Members. RMI does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Service by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such content, opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or usefulness of the Website Content. Under no circumstances will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any Website Content. If there is dispute related to content provided in links or by content posted by third parties, you hereby release Rocky Mountain Independent and its officers, directors, employees, parents, partners, successors, agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and their related companies from claims, demands, and damages of every kind or nature arising out of, relating to, or in any way connected with such dispute. Therefore, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to the site administrator or webmaster of such site.

4. MEMBER REGISTRATION

(A) In order to access or use some parts of the Website and make User Contributions (as defined in the next section), you may need to become a Member. You must be 18 years or older to submit an application for Membership although you may do so on behalf of your child who is at least thirteen years old. Individuals who are younger than thirteen are not permitted to make User Contributions.

(B) If you become a Member, you agree to provide accurate and complete registration information and, if such information changes, you will promptly notify us at contact@rmindependent.com. During Member registration, you will create a user name and password, which may permit you access to certain areas of the Website not available to non-Members. You are responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of your Membership. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs under your Membership, whether or not you have authorized the activity. You agree to notify us immediately at contact@rmindependent.com of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your Membership.

(C) We may make certain content on the Website available only to Members. If so, you agree not to make such content available outside the Website, unless you have obtained express written permission from RMI.

(D)You are responsible for all usage or activity on your Member account, including use of the account by any third party authorized by you to use your Member identification and password. Any fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise illegal activity may be grounds for termination of your account, at RMI’s sole discretion, and RMI may refer you to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

5. CONTENT CONTRIBUTED BY USERS

(A) We may allow users to post, upload, transmit through, or otherwise make available on the public areas of the Website, messages, text, illustrations, files, images, graphics, photos, comments, sounds, music, videos, information, content, and/or other materials (each, a “User Contribution”). Subject to the rights and license you grant herein, you retain all right, title and interest in your User Contribution. We do not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to User Contributions even if they are not published on the Website. It is solely your responsibility to monitor and protect any intellectual property rights that you may have in your User Contribution, and we do not accept any responsibility for User Contributions.

(B) You agree you will not contribute any User Contribution protected by the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties without the express permission of the owner of the respective right. You are solely liable for any damage resulting from your failure to obtain such permission or from any other harm resulting from User Contributions that you submit.

(C) You agree to be courteous to others and that you will use respectful language in your User Contributions. Personal attacks and hate speech of any kind are direct

violations of these Terms of Use and are grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Website. You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc. In addition you will not submit any User Contribution that:
(i) impersonates another person or is unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane, pornographic, or otherwise objectionable or illegal;
(ii) promotes conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any law;
(iii) is commercial in nature, for example, an advertisement for goods or services or a solicitation of funds;
(iv) includes personal information such as messages which identify phone numbers, social security numbers, account numbers, addresses, or references to employers; or
(v) contains instruction or advice that could cause harm or injury.

(D) We have the right, but not the obligation, in our sole discretion to monitor, edit, refuse to post, remove, or disable access to any User Contribution., or to terminate your Membership.

(E) You acknowledge that any User Contributions you make to the Website may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by Rocky Mountain Independent and you waive any rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not acceptable to you. User Contributions made to the Website, may also be included in our RSS feeds and made available for republishing through other formats.

(F) You grant RMI a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to your User Contributions (including any User Contribution posted by a third party through your Member account), which includes without limitation the right for RMI or any third party RMI chooses, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, cache, tag, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Contribution posted by you on the Website or any other Web site owned by RMI.

(G) By making User Contributions, you also grant us the right, but not the obligation to use your biographical information including, without limitation, your user name and geographical location in connection with broadcast, print, online, offline, or other use or publication of your User Contribution.

(H) RMI may occasionally contribute to User Contributions, for example, to provide more information to an article; provide answers to questions raised in User Contributions; or correct or clarify information in an article or in a User Contribution.

(I) By making a User Contribution, you grant, or warrant that the owner has expressly granted to us RMI a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully sublicensable, and transferable right and license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon (including, without limitation, translations), publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, and publish the User Contribution (in whole or in part) as we, in our sole discretion, deem appropriate. By making a Contribution, you are consenting to its display on the Website and to our use, for promotional or commercial uses, online and offline, and in any and all media. We also reserve the right to display advertisements in connection with your User Contribution. You acknowledge and agree that your User Contribution may be included on the websites and advertising networks of our distribution partners and third-party service providers (including their users).

(J) We will avoid posting personally identifiable information such as email addresses and mailing addresses on our Website, but please keep in mind that by commenting on an article or other posting, any information you post in the public areas of our Website, including your screen name or ID, or any image or photo, becomes public. We are not responsible for the personally identifiable information you decide to contribute.

6. COPYRIGHT

(A) In appropriate circumstances, we may remove or disable access to material on any of our websites or hosted on our systems that may be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and we may terminate and/or disable the Membership of users suspected of infringing copyrights (or other intellectual property rights). RMI will investigate notices of copyright infringement and take appropriate actions, including disabling access or terminating membership, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2) (“DMCA”).

(B) Pursuant to the DMCA, written notification of claimed copyright infringement must be submitted to our Designated Agent:

DMCA Complaints

Rocky Mountain Independent, LLC

Attn: Rocky Mountain Independent

Address: 1624 Market St. Suite 207, Denver, CO 80202

Telephone: 303-734-7188

Fax: 303-734-7189

Email: copyright@rockymountainindependent.com

To be effective, the Notification must include the following:

(i) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
iii) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
v) A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
vi) A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Pursuant to Sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the DMCA, if a claim of copyright infringement has been asserted against you, you may elect to make a counter-notification with the Designated Agent identified above. Such counter-notification must contain the following information:
i) Your physical or electronic signature;
ii) Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
iii) A statement by you under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; and
iv) Your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the federal district in which you are located (or Denver, Colorado, if you reside outside of the U.S.), and that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the notice of copyright infringement or an agent of such person.

If RMI receives a valid counter-notification, it may reinstate the removed or disabled material in accordance with Section 512(g)(2) of the DMCA. Inquiries that do not follow this procedure may not receive a response.

7. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

(A) UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL ROCKY MOUNTAIN INDEPENDENT LLC OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARENTS, PARTNERS, SUCCESSORS, AGENTS, DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OR THEIR RELATED COMPANIES BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF ROCKY MOUNTAIN INDEPENDENT LLC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE WEBSITE OR THESE TERMS OF USE. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WEBSITE INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WEBSITE CONTENT IS TO STOP USING THE WEBSITE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH ANY OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY LINKS ON THE WEBSITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH ANY OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY LINKS ON THE WEBSITE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF ANY CONTENT POSTED BY A THIRD-PARTY OR CONDUCT OF A THIRD-PARTY ON THE WEBSITE.

(B) NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE CUMULATIVE LIABILITY OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN INDEPENDENT LLC AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARENTS, PARTNERS, SUCCESSORS, AGENTS, DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, AND THEIR RELATED COMPANIES EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE TOTAL PAYMENTS RECEIVED FROM YOU BY ROCKY MOUNTAIN INDEPENDENT LLC DURING THE PRECEDING TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD OR $100.

8. TERMINATION

(A) We reserve the right in our sole discretion and at any time to terminate or suspend your Membership and/or block your access to the Website for any reason including, without limitation if you have failed to comply with the letter and spirit of these Terms of Use. You agree that Rocky Mountain Independent LLC shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination or suspension of your Membership or for blocking your access to the Website and that RMI will be under no obligation to refund any portion of your Membership fee.

(B) Any suspension or termination shall not affect your obligations to us under these Terms of Use. The provisions of these Terms of Use which by their nature should survive the suspension or termination of your use of the Website, Membership, or these Terms of Use, shall survive including, but not limited to the rights and licenses that you have granted hereunder, indemnities, releases, disclaimers, limitations on liability, provisions related to choice of law, no class action, no trial by jury and all of the miscellaneous provisions in these Terms of Use.

9. DISPUTES: CHOICE OF LAW; JURISDICTION AND VENUE; NO CLASS ACTIONS; NO TRIAL BY JURY

These Terms of Use have been made in and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Colorado without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any legal proceedings against Rocky Mountain Independent that may arise out of, relate to, or be in any way connected with our Website or these Terms of Use shall be brought exclusively in the state and federal courts of Colorado. To the extent allowed by law, we each waive any right to bring disputes on a class wide basis; for example, to either join a claim with the claim of any other person or entity, or assert a claim in a representative capacity on behalf of anyone else in any lawsuit or other proceeding. To the extent allowed by law, we each waive any right to trial by jury in any laws.

10. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

(A) You represent and warrant that no content of any kind you submit, or any user of your Member account submits, through your Member account, will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights or contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material. You also represent and warrant that you are at least thirteen years old if you are making User Contributions, and that you shall access this Website solely in accordance with these Terms of Use. You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless RMI, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (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 any breach by you or any user of your account of these Terms of Service or the foregoing representations and warranties. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. RMI reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

(B) THE WEBSITE IS AVAILABLE ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE; WARRANTIES THAT THE WEBSITE, WEBSITE CONTENT, AND ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, SECURITY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, OR CONTENT OF THE WEBSITE; WARRANTIES FOR SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON OUR WEBSITE OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE WEBSITE; WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE WEBSITE; AND WARRANTIES THAT YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE WILL BE SECURE OR UNINTERRUPTED. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

11. MISCELLANEOUS

(A) No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import. If any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use, which shall remain in full force and effect.

(B) You may not assign these Terms of Use or assign any rights or delegate any obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent. Any such purported assignment or delegation by you without the appropriate prior written consent will be null and void and of no force and effect. We may assign these Terms of Use or any rights hereunder without your consent and without notice.

These Terms of Use were last updated on July 1, 2009.