Sociocracy 3.0 Online Learning Community Terms and Conditions

Introduction 

Welcome to community.sociocracy30.com! This website is owned and operated by Thrive-in Collaboration. By visiting this website, registering as a Member and accessing the information, resources, services, products, and tools we provide, you understand and agree to accept and adhere to the following terms and conditions as stated in this policy (hereafter referred to as ‘User Agreement’), along with the terms and conditions as stated in our Privacy Policy (please refer to the Privacy Policy section below for more information). 

This agreement is in effect as of August 6, 2020. 

We reserve the right to change this User Agreement from time to time without notice. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this User Agreement periodically to familiarize yourself with any modifications. Your continued use of this site after such modifications, will constitute acknowledgment and agreement of the modified terms and conditions. 

Responsible Use and Conduct 

By visiting our website, signing in as a Member and accessing the information, resources, services, products, and tools we provide for you, either directly or indirectly (hereafter referred to as ‘Resources’), you agree to use these Resources only for the purposes intended as permitted by (a) the terms of this User Agreement, and (b) applicable laws, regulations, licences and generally accepted online practices or guidelines. 

Wherein, you understand that: 

a. In order to access certain Resources, you may be required to provide certain information about yourself (such as identification, contact details, etc.) as part of the registration process, or as part of your ability to use the Resources. You agree that any information you provide will always be accurate, correct, and up to date. 

b. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any login information associated with any account you use to access our Resources. Accordingly, you are responsible for all activities that occur under your account/s. 

c. Accessing (or attempting to access) any of our Resources by any means other than through the means we provide, is strictly prohibited. You specifically agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of our Resources through any automated, unethical or unconventional means. 

d. Engaging in any activity that disrupts or interferes with our Resources, including the servers and/or networks to which our Resources are located or connected, is strictly prohibited. 

e. Attempting to copy, duplicate, reproduce, sell, trade, or resell our Resources is strictly prohibited, except in the case where those resources are licenced under a Creative Commons License, in which instance you are welcome to use and reproduce them in accordance with the terms of that license.

f. You are solely responsible for any consequences, losses, or damages that we may directly or indirectly incur or suffer due to any unauthorized activities conducted by you, as explained above, and may incur criminal or civil liability. 

g. We provide various open communication tools on our website, such as blog comments, blog posts, public chat, forums, message boards, newsgroups, product ratings and reviews, various social media services, etc. You understand that generally we do not pre-screen or monitor the content posted by users of these various communication tools, which means that if you choose to use these tools to submit any type of content to our website, then it is your personal responsibility to use these tools in a responsible and ethical manner. By posting information or otherwise using any open communication tools as mentioned, you agree that you will not upload, post, share, or otherwise distribute any content that: 

i. Is illegal, threatening, defamatory, abusive, harassing, degrading, intimidating, fraudulent, deceptive, invasive, racist, or contains any type of suggestive, inappropriate, or explicit language;

ii. Infringes on any trademark, patent, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary right of any party;

iii Contains any information that could endanger you or others, either now or in future;

iv. Contains any type of unauthorized or unsolicited advertising;

v. Impersonates any person or entity, including any Thrive-in Collaboration employees or representatives.

We have the right at our sole discretion to remove any content that we feel in our judgment does not comply with this User Agreement, along with any content that we feel is otherwise offensive, harmful, objectionable, inaccurate, or violates any 3rd party copyrights or trademarks. We are not responsible for any delay or failure in removing such content. If you post content that we choose to remove, you hereby consent to such removal, and consent to waive any claim against us. 

h. We do not assume any liability for any content posted by you or any other 3rd party users of our website. However, any content posted by you using any open communication tools on our website, provided that it doesn’t violate or infringe on any 3rd party copyrights or trademarks, becomes the property of https://community.sociocracy30.org/, and as such, gives us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, publish, publicly display and/or distribute according to the Terms of Confidentiality. This only refers and applies to content posted via open communication tools as described and does not refer to information that is provided as part of the registration process, necessary in order to use our Resources. All information provided as part of our registration process is covered by our privacy policy.

i. The content we post and the events we run in this community are designed to compliment, not replace the knowledge, understanding and skills you will gain through applying S3 patterns in practice, and participating in courses and workshops we deliver.

j. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless https://community.sociocracy30.org and its parent company Thrive-in Collaboration and affiliates, and their directors, officers, managers, employees, donors, agents, and licensors, from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from any violation of this User Agreement or the failure to fulfill any obligations relating to your account incurred by you or any other person using your account. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defence and control of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this User Agreement. In such event, you shall provide us with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by us. 

k. You agree to follow our Terms of Confidentiality for Room and Group Members detailed further down this page.

l. You agree to the Sociocracy 3.0 Online Learning Community Member Guidelines stated below:

Respect confidentiality within Rooms and Groups. When you joined the community, you agreed with the Terms of Confidentiality for Room and Group Members. Essentially, this means you agree to treat as confidential, any information disclosed by a community member in any Room or Group, and to not share it outside of that Room or Group without that member’s express consent. Being both vulnerable and safe is essential to our mutual success. Anyone who breaches this agreement will be asked to leave the community.

Be supportive. Encourage and support your fellow members. Participate artfully, ask for help if you need it and choose consciously if and how you wish to respond to others requests for help from you. For members of the Practitioner and the PRO lounge, please share any questions and articles that are not sensitive due to the fact they include or refer to confidential information that people have disclosed, in the Lobby.

Share generously. Your stories and experiences may be exactly what another member needs to hear today, to solve a problem or seize an opportunity.

Strive for balance. If you never contribute, we’ll be deprived of your experience and wisdom. If you “over-share” or monopolize, others might be overwhelmed and you run the risk of diluting the value your contribution brings.

Be constructive. We’re here to encourage each other forward and lift each other up. Embrace differences of opinion and look for the positive essence lying at the heart of divergent points of view. Find ways to help each other think bigger, view challenges through the lens of opportunities, stay curious and look for the both-and-more.

Keep it relevant. Please only post content that you feel is relevant to, or supportive of, learning about and applying Sociocracy 3.0 and evolving more effective ways of living and working together. Add a brief explanation as to why you’re sharing something, if the relevance might otherwise be unclear. Unrelated topics, spam, repetitive posts or those with no introduction may be removed by a host or moderator without warning.

Inform, don’t sell. Some of us organize and or run workshops and courses designed to help people learn about Sociocracy 3.0, and provide other related learning events. As community members we’ll want to know about these opportunities for learning and it’s perfectly cool to share about a specific event you will be running and add a link that people can follow if they want. All we ask is that you avoid bombarding people with repeated offers, pitches or notifications of the same event, directly in the community. If you provide professional services, you are welcome to explain about these in your member bio. Members who want to learn more, can contact you through private messaging to continue the conversation.

Privacy 

Your privacy is very important to us, which is why we’ve created a separate Privacy Policy in order to explain in detail how we collect, manage, process, secure, and store your private information. Our privacy policy is included under the scope of this User Agreement. You can read our privacy policy in its entirety, here

Terms of Confidentiality for Room and Group Members

As a Member of any Sociocracy 3.0 Online Learning Community Room or Group, you may have access to, and share with Hosts and other Members proprietary information and/or Confidential Information, under the terms and covenants set forth below.

Confidential Information refers to any data or information that is proprietary to or possessed by any Member of the Sociocracy 3.0 Online Learning Community, and not generally known to the public or that has not yet been revealed, whether in tangible or intangible form, whenever and however disclosed, including, but not limited to:

i. any scientific or technical information, invention, design, process, procedure, formula, improvement, technology or method;

ii. any concepts, samples, reports, data, know-how, trademarks, works-in-progress, designs, drawings, photographs, videos, development tools, specifications, software programs, source code, object code, flow charts, and databases;

iii. any marketing strategies, plans, financial information, or projections, operations, sales estimates, business plans and performance results relating to the Member’s past, present or future business activities, or those of its affiliates, subsidiaries and affiliated companies;

iv. trade secrets; plans for products or services, and customer or supplier lists;any explanation of organizational or personal challenges, impediments or opportunities, involving others, both within and outside of this community, without the express written or oral permission of those parties to disclose;

v. any explanation of organizational or personal challenges, impediments or opportunities, involving others, both within and outside of this community, without the express written or oral permission of those parties to disclose;

vi. any other information that should reasonably be recognised as Confidential Information by the Members.

All Members of the Sociocracy 3.0 Online Learning Community (hereafter referred to as the Parties) agree that:

i. Confidential Information needs not to be novel, unique, patentable, copyrightable or constitutes a trade secret in order to be designated Confidential Information and therefore protected.

ii. Confidential Information shall be identified as any written materials (in whatever form reproduced or stored) or information that is disclosed orally, relating to any party’s experience within any organization that they are part of or involved with in some way.

iii. Confidential Information, proprietary to each Party, may be sensitive, or have been developed and obtained through great efforts and shall be regarded and kept as Confidential Information.

iv. For the purposes of this User Agreement, the party which discloses Confidential Information within the terms established hereunder to the other Party shall be regarded as the Disclosing Party. Likewise the Party which receives the disclosed Confidential Information shall be regarded as the Receiving Party.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned, Confidential Information shall exclude information that is:

i. already in the public domain at the time of disclosure by the Disclosing Party to the Receiving Party or thereafter enters the public domain without any breach of the terms of this Agreement;

ii. was already known by the Receiving Party before the moment of disclosure (under evidence of reasonable proof or written record of such disclosure); 

iii. is subsequently communicated to the Receiving Party without any obligation of confidence from a third party who is in lawful possession thereof and under no obligation of confidence to the Disclosing Party;

iv. becomes publicly available by other means than a breach of the confidentiality obligations by the Receiving Party (not through fault or failure to act by the Receiving Party);

v. is or has been developed independently by employees, consultants or agents of the Receiving Party (proved by reasonable means) without violation of the terms of this Agreement or reference or access to any Confidential Information pertaining to the Parties.

Purpose of the Disclosure of Confidential Information

The Members will enter into dialogue and exchange of information for the purpose of personal and professional learning and development regarding the application of Sociocracy 3.0 patterns in organizations; for enabling or improving cooperation and collaboration between people; and for the transmission of Sociocracy 3.0 to others outside of this Community.

Undertakings of the Parties

  1. In the context of discussions, preparations and/or negotiations, you may disclose Confidential Information (Disclosing Party(s)) to the other members (Receiving Party(s). The Receiving Party(s) agree to use the Confidential Information solely in connection with purposes contemplated between the Parties in this Agreement and not to use it for any other purpose, without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party(s).
  1. The Receiving Party(s) will not disclose and will keep confidential the information received on the same terms as set forth here, except in the case of prior written consent by the Disclosing Party(s), in which case the Receiving Party(s) will inform anyone they disclose to about the confidential quality of the information provided, and will ensure that their agreement is obtained to keep it confidential, according to their agreement with the Disclosing Party(s). Hence the Receiving Party(s) will be responsible for ensuring that the obligations of confidentiality and non-use contained herein and or any special agreement between them and a Disclosing Party(s) are maintained, and will assume full liability for the acts or omissions made by those whom they disclose to.
  1. The Receiving Party(s) will use the Confidential Information exclusively for the permitted purpose stated in clause 2 and not use the information for its own purposes or benefit.
  1. The Receiving Party(s) will not disclose any Confidential Information received to any third parties, except as otherwise provided for herein:

i. The Parties shall treat all Confidential Information with the same degree of care as it accords to its own Confidential Information.

ii. All Confidential Information disclosed shall be and remain the property of the Disclosing Party(s) and nothing contained in these Terms & Conditions shall be construed as granting or conferring any rights to such Confidential Information on the other Party(s). Principally, nothing shall be deemed to grant to the Receiving Party(s) a licence expressly or by implication under any patent, copyright or other intellectual property right. As a Receiving Party, by joining the Community, you agree that all existing and future intellectual property rights related to the Confidential Information are exclusive titles of the Disclosing Party(s). For the sake of clarity based on reciprocity and good faith of the Parties, the Receiving Party will not apply for or obtain any intellectual property protection in respect of the Confidential Information received. Likewise any modifications and improvements thereof by the Receiving Party(s) shall be the sole property of the Disclosing Party(s).

iii. The Receiving Party(s) shall promptly return or destroy all copies (in whatever form reproduced or stored), including all notes and derivatives of the Confidential Information disclosed under this Agreement, upon the earlier of (i) the completion or termination of the dealings contemplated in this Agreement; (ii) or the termination of this Agreement; (iii) or at the time the Disclosing Party(s) may request it to the Receiving Party(s).

iv. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Receiving Party(s) may retain such of its documents only as required to comply with mandatory law, provided that such Confidential Information or copies thereof shall be subject to an indefinite confidentiality obligation.

v. In the event that the Receiving Party(s) is asked to communicate the Confidential Information to any judicial, administrative, regulatory authority or similar or obliged to reveal such information by mandatory law, it shall notify promptly the Disclosing Party(s) of the terms of such disclosure and will collaborate to the extent practicable with the Disclosing Party(s) in order to comply with the order and preserve the confidentiality of the Confidential Information.

vi. The Parties agree that the Disclosing Party(s) will suffer irreparable damage if its Confidential Information is made public, released to a third party, or otherwise disclosed in breach of this Agreement and that the Disclosing Party(s) shall be entitled to obtain injunctive relief against a threatened breach or continuation of any such breach and, in the event of such a breach, an award of actual and exemplary damages from any court of competent jurisdiction.

vii. The Receiving Party(s) shall immediately notify the Disclosing Party(s) upon becoming aware of any breach of confidence by anybody to whom it has disclosed the Confidential Information and give all necessary assistance in connection with any steps which the Disclosing Party(s) may wish to take prevent, stop or obtain compensation for such a breach or threatened breach.

viii. The Confidential Information subject to this Agreement is made available “as such” and no warranties of any kind are granted or implied with respect to the quality of such information including, but not limited to, its applicability for any purpose, non- infringement of third party rights, accuracy, completeness or correctness.

ix. No party is under any obligation to disclose any Confidential Information they choose not to disclose. Further, no party shall have any liability to the other parties resulting from any use of the Confidential Information except with respect to disclosure of such Confidential Information in violation of these Terms.

x. Nothing in these Terms. shall be construed to constitute an agency, partnership, joint venture, or other similar relationship between the parties.

Limitation of Warranties 

By using our website, you understand and agree that all Resources we provide are “as is” and “as available”. This means that we do not represent or warrant to you that:

i. the use of our Resources will meet your needs or requirements.

ii. the use of our Resources will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or free from errors.

iii. the information obtained by using our Resources will be accurate or reliable, and

iv. any defects in the operation or functionality of any Resources we provide will be repaired or corrected.

Furthermore, you understand and agree that: 

v. any content downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of our Resources is done at your own discretion and risk, and that you are solely responsible for any damage to your computer or other devices for any loss of data that may result from the download of such content.

vi. no information or advice, whether expressed, implied, oral or written, obtained by you from https://community.sociocracy30.org or through any Resources we provide shall create any warranty, guarantee, or conditions of any kind, except for those expressly outlined in this User Agreement.

Limitation of Liability 

In conjunction with the Limitation of Warranties as explained above, you expressly understand and agree that any claim against us shall be limited to the amount you paid, if any, for use of products and/or services.  Thrive-in Collaboration will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or exemplary loss or damages which may be incurred by you as a result of using our Resources, or as a result of any changes, data loss or corruption, cancellation, loss of access, or downtime to the full extent that applicable limitation of liability laws apply. 

Copyrights/Trademarks 

All content and materials available on https://community.sociocracy30.org, including but not limited to text, graphics, website name, code, images and logos are the intellectual property of https://community.sociocracy30.org, and are protected by applicable copyright and creative commons license law, except in the case where those resources are licenced under a creative commons license, in which instance you are welcome to use and reproduce them in accordance with the terms of that license. Any inappropriate use, including but not limited to the reproduction, distribution, display or transmission of any content on this site is strictly prohibited, unless specifically authorized by community.sociocracy30.org or by the terms of the license pertaining to said content.

Termination of Use 

You agree that we may, at our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your access to all or part of our website and Resources with or without notice and for any reason, including, without limitation, breach of this User Agreement. Any suspected illegal, fraudulent or abusive activity may be grounds for terminating your membership and may be referred to appropriate law enforcement authorities. Upon suspension or termination, your right to use the Resources we provide will immediately cease, and we reserve the right to remove or delete any information that you may have on file with us, including any account or login information. 

Cancellation or Termination of Your Subscription

You can cancel your subscription at any time by visiting our Customer Hub or by following the link in the email you received with the invoice for your payment.

Your access to Resources varies depending on the Plan you purchase. In case of termination, cancellation or suspension of your subscription for any reason, and on expiry of that subscription, access to the Resources included in that Plan will cease.

Refund

If you purchase an annual subscription and decide to cancel, you can request a refund for any full months remaining, minus 99€ to account for the discount you received for the e-course included in the annual membership offer.

To request a refund, please write to us at community@sociocracy30.org

Governing Law 

This website is controlled by Thrive-in Collaboration from our offices located in the state of Bucharest, Romania. It can be accessed by most countries around the world. As each country has laws that may differ from those of Bucharest, by accessing our website, you agree that the statutes and laws of Bucharest, without regard to the conflict of laws and the United Nations Convention on the International Sales of Goods, will apply to all matters relating to the use of this website and the purchase of any products or services through this site. 

Furthermore, any action to enforce this User Agreement shall be brought in the federal or state courts located in Romania, Bucharest You hereby agree to personal jurisdiction by such courts, and waive any jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections to such courts. 

Guarantee 

UNLESS OTHERWISE EXPRESSED, THRIVE-IN COLLABORATION EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. 

Contact Information 

If you have any questions or comments about our Terms and Conditions as outlined above, you can contact us by e-mail: community@sociocracy30.org

Or by post at:

Thrive-in Collaboration SRL

Soseaua Pipera – Tunari Nr 1H (Vila P29), cam 1

Voluntari city, llfov county 

Romania