Service Agreement

Welcome to NewGrassRoots. We are a civic engagement web application that promotes a more responsive democracy by delivering voice messages from constituents to legislators.

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

NewGrassRoots (“NewGrassRoots”), found at www.newgrassroots.com (the “Site” and “SITE”),  provides a range of technological and informational services, (the “Services”) that are subject to the following Terms of Use (the “Terms”). These Terms may change from time to time at the sole discretion of NewGrassRoots. Should you object to any of the Terms, or any subsequent modifications thereto or become dissatisfied with NewGrassRoots or the Site in any way, please immediately discontinue your use of the Services. You can contact NewGrassRoots at: info@newgrassroots.com or by calling 802-557-0246.

2. MODIFICATIONS TO THIS AGREEMENT

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter these terms and conditions at any time. Such modifications shall become effective immediately upon the posting thereof. Please review the Terms on a regular basis to keep yourself apprised of any changes. You can find the most recent version of these Terms at: https://newgrassroots.com/terms-and-conditions/

3. CONTENT

You understand that all voice messages transmitted through, or linked from the Services, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. You are entirely responsible for all content that you post, email or otherwise make available via the Services. You acknowledge that NewGrassRoots does not necessarily pre-screen or approve voice messages delivered to Legislators, and retains the right to refrain from delivering messages that are determined to violate these Terms.

4. THIRD PARTY CONTENT, SITES, AND SERVICES

The Services contain features and functionalities that may link you or provide you with access to third party content, which is completely independent of NewGrassRoots, including websites, directories, servers, networks, systems, information and databases, applications, software, programs, products or services, and the Internet as a whole.

Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Services, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties.

You agree that NewGrassRoots shall not be responsible or liable for any loss ,damage or injury of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between participants on the Site, or any third party, you understand and agree that NewGrassRoots is under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby release NewGrassRoots, its officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents, affiliates and successors in rights from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and / or our service. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

5. PRIVACY AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE

NewGrassRoots has established a Privacy Policy to explain to users how information is collected and used, which is located at the following web address: https://newgrassroots.com/privacy-policy/

Your use of the Site or the Services signifies acknowledgement of and agreement to our Privacy Policy. You further acknowledge and agree that NewGrassRoots may, in its sole discretion, preserve or disclose your Content, as well as your information, such as email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and other user information, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce these Terms; respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; respond to claims that contact information (e.g. phone number, street address) of a third-party has been posted or transmitted without their consent or as a form of harassment; protect the rights, property, or personal safety of NewGrassRoots, its users or the general public.

6. CONDUCT

You agree not to send voice messages or otherwise make available Content:

  1. that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, or is harmful to minors in any way;
  2. that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
  3. that impersonates any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a NewGrassRoots employee, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity (this provision does not apply to messages that are lawful non-deceptive parodies of public figures.);
  4. that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent;
  5. that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, misinformative, or constitutes “bait and switch”;
  6. that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;
  7. that constitutes or contains “affiliate marketing,” “link referral code,” “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or unsolicited commercial advertisement;
  8. that constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation if: posted in areas of the Site which are not designated for such purposes; or emailed to NewGrassRoots users who have not indicated in writing that it is ok to contact them about other Services, products or commercial interests.
  9. that includes links to commercial services or web sites, except as allowed in “services”;
  10. that advertises any illegal service or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by any applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by law.
  11. that attempts to sell, buy, give away, solicit, trade or barter weapons, firearms/guns and components, BB/pellet, stun, and spear guns, ammunition, clips, cartridges, reloading materials, gunpowder, fireworks, explosives, and US military items not demilitarized in accord with Defense Department policy.
  12. 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;
  13. that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or that otherwise negatively affects other users’ ability to use the Service; or
  14. that employs misleading email addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of Content transmitted through the Service.

Additionally, you agree NOT to:

  1. contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
  2. “stalk” or otherwise harass anyone, including verbal personal attacks of neighbors;
  3. collect personal data about other users for commercial or unlawful purposes;
  4. use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service – unless expressly permitted by NewGrassRoots;
  5. post non-local or otherwise irrelevant Content, repeatedly post the same or similar Content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
  6. register for a particular NewGrassRoots Account using a false name or street address;
  7. attempt to gain unauthorized access to NewGrassRoots’s computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the Service or the NewGrassRoots website;
  8. use any form of automated device or computer program that enables the submission of messages on NewGrassRoots without each posting being manually entered by the author thereof (an “automated posting device”), including without limitation, the use of any such automated posting device to submit postings in bulk, or for automatic submission of postings at regular intervals;
  9. badger or otherwise aggressively, repeatedly and/or abusively contact NewGrassRoots staff or other representatives (constructive criticism and reasonable feedback are always appreciated); or

NewGrassRoots in its sole and absolute discretion reserves the right to determine whether conduct or Content violates these Terms, and any such determination shall be conclusive and binding on all parties.

7. LIMITATIONS ON SERVICE

You acknowledge that NewGrassRoots may establish, in its sole discretion, limits concerning use of the Service. You acknowledge that NewGrassRoots reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue the Service (or any part thereof) after a singular prior notice, and that NewGrassRoots shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

8. ACCOUNT REGISTRATION

To utilize the Site and Services, or certain portions thereof, you may be required to complete a registration process and establish an account with NewGrassRoots (an “Account”). You represent and warrant that all information provided by you to NewGrassRoots is current, accurate, and complete, and that you will maintain the accuracy and completeness of this information on a prompt, timely basis.

9. ACCESS TO THE SERVICE

NewGrassRoots grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive license to access the Service for your own personal use. This license does not include any collection, aggregation, copying, duplication, display or derivative use of the Service nor any use of data mining, robots, spiders, or similar data gathering and extraction tools for any purpose unless expressly permitted by NewGrassRoots. A limited exception is provided to general purpose internet search engines and non-commercial public archives that use such tools to gather information for the sole purpose of displaying hyperlinks to the Service, provided they each do so from a stable IP address or range of IP addresses using an easily identifiable agent.

NewGrassRoots permits you to display on your website, or create a hyperlink on your website to, individual postings on the Service so long as such use is for noncommercial and/or news reporting purposes only (e.g., for use in personal web blogs or personal online media). If the total number of such postings displayed or linked to on your website exceeds one hundred (100) postings over less than 60 days, your use will be presumed to be in violation of these Terms, absent express permission granted by NewGrassRoots to do so. You may also create a hyperlink to the home page of NewGrassRoots Sites so long as the link does not portray NewGrassRoots, its employees, or its affiliates in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive matter.

Use of the Service beyond the scope of authorized access granted to you by NewGrassRoots immediately terminates said permission or license. In order to collect, aggregate, copy, duplicate, display or make derivative use of the Service or any Content made available via the Service for other purposes (including commercial purposes) not stated herein, you must first obtain a license from NewGrassRoots.

10. TERMINATION OF SERVICE

You agree that NewGrassRoots, in its sole discretion, has the right (but not the obligation) to delete or deactivate your account, block your email or IP address, or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service (or any part thereof), immediately and without notice, and remove and discard any Content within the Service after notifying that you have acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the Terms. Further, you agree that NewGrassRoots shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Service. Further, you agree not to attempt to use the Service after said termination.

11. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

The Service is protected to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and international treaties. Content displayed on or through the Service is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to copyrights laws, and international conventions. Any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of the Site or the collective work, and/or copying or reproducing the Sites or any portion thereof to any other server or location for further reproduction or redistribution is prohibited without the express written consent of NewGrassRoots. You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy Content from the Service without the express written consent of NewGrassRoots, and agree to abide by any and all copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any aspect of the Service.

By posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to NewGrassRoots an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing. Furthermore, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant NewGrassRoots all rights necessary to prohibit any subsequent aggregation, display, copying, duplication, reproduction, or exploitation of the Content on the Service by any party for any purpose.

12. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE NewGrassRoots SITE AND THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE NewGrassRoots SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” OR “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A  PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NewGrassRoots DISCLAIMS ANY W ARRANTIES FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE NewGrassRoots SITE AND THE SERVICE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NewGrassRoots DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SITES OR SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINKS ON THE NewGrassRoots SITE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NewGrassRoots DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES FOR VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you insofar as they relate to implied warranties.

13. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL NewGrassRoots BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF NewGrassRoots HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE NewGrassRoots SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE NewGrassRoots SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE NewGrassRoots SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In some jurisdictions, limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.

14. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify and hold NewGrassRoots, its officers, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit or make available through the Service, your use of the Service, your violation of the Terms, your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein, or your violation of any rights of another.

15. GENERAL INFORMATION

The Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and NewGrassRoots and govern your use of the Service, superseding any prior agreements between you and NewGrassRoots. The Terms and the relationship between you and NewGrassRoots shall be governed by the laws of the State of Vermont without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and NewGrassRoots agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Rutland, Vermont. The failure of NewGrassRoots to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Service or the Terms must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred

16. AGE RESTRICTIONS

You must be at least 18 years old to create a NewGrassRoots account.

17. ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS

By associating your account with a NewGrassRoots organizational partner, you grant them access to your name, address, email, and phone number, as well as to your call statistics on the bill and position designated by the organization’s campaign. You can see which organizations you are associated with by going to the “Organizations” link while signed into your account. In the “My Organizations” section will be displayed the organizations your account is associated with. You can discontinue your association with organizations by clicking the “remove” link. You can add an organization to your “My Organizations” section by going to the “All Organizations” section, and clicking the “join” button of the organization you would like to grant access to your data. You understand it is your responsibility to know and understand the information and privacy policies of the organization(s) you choose to associate with. Please contact us with questions regarding our organizational partners at: info@newgrassroots.com