Last Updated on Saturday, September 26, 2015

These Terms of Use govern your use of any Southern Maryland Online Web site (*.somd.com). By viewing or posting data on any Southern Maryland Online Web site, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you should not use any Southern Maryland Online Web site.

Changes to Terms of Use

Virtually Everything, Inc. (VEI), the company that owns and produces Southern Maryland Online, reserves the right, from time to time, with or without notice to you, to change these Terms of Use in our sole and absolute discretion. The most current version of these Terms of Use can be reviewed by clicking on the "Terms of Use" link located at the bottom of the pages of somd.com Web sites. The most current version of the Terms of Use will supersede all previous versions. Your use of the Southern Maryland Online Web sites after changes are made means that you agree to be bound by such changes. As such, you should review the Terms of Use periodically.

Opinions Expressed by Users and Third Parties are Not Those of VEI or somd.com

Information or comments posted on Southern Maryland Online by registered or anonymous users do not reflect the opinion of VEI or Southern Maryland Online.  All posts are the opinions of the respective user. No third-party post on somd.com should be considered factual information on face value alone.  Readers should do their own research and exercise due diligence before acting on any information posted by a registered or anonymous user on somd.com.

We believe in free speech.  However, you and you alone are responsible for what you say and do.  So, choose what you say and do wisely.

Permission to access our Web sites

somd.com is the private property of VEI. We reserve the right to ban and/or block access to any *.somd.com Web site by any individual or organization at any time for any reason.

Use of robots, software agents, or automated data collection tools to capture data from somd.com and use it on another third party Web site or database is strictly prohibited -- with the exception of commercial search engines as specified in our respective robots.txt files.  We will seek monetary damages against those who steal our data for commercial gain.

somd.com is Provided As-is

somd.com is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. Do not assume that this site is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular purpose which you have in mind when using it. In no event shall VEI be liable for any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever, including, without limitation, those resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether or not advised of the possibility of damage, and on any theory of liability, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this site or other documents which are referenced by or linked to this site.

Privacy

Any personally identifying information submitted on any Southern Maryland Online website is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is located at somd.com/privacy/. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand our practices. The date of any changes to our Privacy Policy will be noted at the top of our Privacy Policy.

Fair Use and Copyrighted Materials

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding and foster discussion of environmental, political, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

We are not lawyers and can not provide counsel to our users in their interpretation of the Fair Use statutes. However, in accordance with industry-accepted best-practices, we ask that users 1) limit their use of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss and no more than 10% of the source material or 100 words (whichever is less), 2) provide a link back to the original article, and 3) provide your original commentary/thoughts in your post below the excerpted information.

You are responsible for what you post on the internet. We reserve the right to ban users who repeatedly post copyrighted information outside of the Fair Use doctrine.

Even if you post someone else's copyrighted work, and do so with the sincerest intent of following the Fair Use doctrine, there is nothing to prevent the copyright holder from filing a complaint none-the-less. When in doubt, just post a link to a legal copy of the material you wish to discuss.

Who Owns the Data on somd.com

Everything on somd.com is copyrighted either by VEI, the user who wrote and posted the material, or a third-party.  It is prohibited to copy or scrape any data from any somd.com for use on another site or database, public or private.  If you would like to reuse material found on somd.com, your options are:

-- Write to us at support-at-somd.com and ask permission. We are typically very liberal in granting permission to use our material for non-profit community oriented purposes. Since we do not hold the copyright to all data found on somd.com, we will put you in contact with the person/organization who does when applicable.

-- Use the data in accordance with the Fair Use doctrine.  the copyright owner may still object.

-- Excerpt a small, relevant portion of the data for display on your Web site and link to appropriate page on somd.com where the data resides.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

If you find data on any *.somd.com site which you believe falls outside of the Fair Use doctrine and infringes upon your copyrighted work, please refer to our Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) page. VEI will work promptly and diligently to evaluate your claim and act appropriately.