Terms of Use

Please read these terms carefully, since your use of the TheHumanFuture.net website or any TheHumanFuture.net based Use constitutes acceptance of these terms and creates a binding legal agreement. 

1. Welcome to TheHumanFuture.net:

TheHumanFuture.net provides access to the very best stories, articles and essays about and for the Human Future. It is a free-access publishing and Use site sponsored primarily by its host. However, it is not free from rules, restrictions, conditions, and that kind of stuff. To use this site and access its materials, you must agree to the terms and conditions (“Terms of Use”) listed below. If you can’t or won’t accept these terms and conditions please go somewhere else – we’re not doing this for thieves, plagiarizers, or those who simply want another forum for their ranting.

2. General Rules and Definitions:

By using the TheHumanFuture.net website, you are confirming that you have the full power and authority to enter into and perform in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.  You also agree that this Agreement is a legal, valid and binding obligation, and that its terms and conditions can be enforced.  We encourage you to print and keep a copy for reference.

If you choose to use TheHumanFuture.net (“website”, hereafter), or any of the features of this website, including but not limited to its content, design, downloads, Uses, or membership, you are agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions herein. Your accessing the website constitutes an agreement and any action on your part that makes use of the website’s features signifies your consent and subscription to these terms and conditions.

Without limiting the foregoing, you also accept these terms and conditions by checking any box on any page of the website as such constitutes an informed affirmative action of your own volition. In choosing to use the website, you also choose to accept and agree to these Terms of Use and must do so as they are presented to you; no changes (additions or deletions) will be accepted.

The TheHumanFuture.net community (“community”, hereafter) includes all users, content providers, and employees/officers of TheHumanFuture.net. “Users”, as used herein refers to any and all persons who access the TheHumanFuture.net website, any related website, any related service, or any content originating from TheHumanFuture.net.

TheHumanFuture.net is a proprietary property owned and operated by Rich Van Winkle (“Provider”, hereafter), a citizen of the United States of America. Unless otherwise specified, he is the sole owner of the website’s intellectual property, including its concept, design, methods, structure, and content. All intellectual property made available on the website is subject to the laws of the United States of America, including its copyright laws.

The provider may change, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time, which shall become effective immediately upon posting. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Use prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use this Site, you agree to any changes. When the terms are changed, TheHumanFuture.net will make a posting on the Site regarding the change.  You agree to review the terms of this Agreement from time to time.  If you do not agree to be bound by any future changes, you should promptly notify TheHumanFuture.net and discontinue your use of the Site.  If you use the website after TheHumanFuture.net has posted a change to these terms on the website, you are agreeing to be bound by all of the changes.

IF ANY OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE (OR ANY FUTURE CHANGES) ARE UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY LEAVE THE WEBSITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE WEBSITE NOW, OR FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF NOTICE OF ANY CHANGES IN THESE OPERATING RULES, WILL INDICATE ACCEPTANCE BY YOU OF SUCH RULES, CHANGES, OR MODIFICATIONS.

You represent and warrant that you have the legal capacity and right to enter into this Agreement, and that the entering into of this Agreement does not conflict with any arrangements or agreements between you and any other person or entity.

If you are a member and wish to cancel your membership (and acceptance of the relevant Terms of Use), send an e-mail to: rich@TheHumanFuture.net (see section below regarding termination of membership).

TheHumanFuture.net may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the website at any time, including the availability of any service, feature, or content.

TheHumanFuture.net may impose limits on certain features and services or restrict access to parts or all of the website without notice or liability.

The contents of the website are intended for personal, noncommercial use. All materials published on the website including, but not limited to stories, articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, ("Content", herein) are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by the Provider or the party credited as the provider of the Content. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the website.

International copyright laws protect certain content on this website and may prohibit their modification, re-publication, transmission, selling, reproduction, distribution, display, exploitation, or non-personal use. The Provider proactively cooperates with and assists authorities in enforcement of such laws.

Other international laws protect certain intellectual properties from unauthorized use and the Provider retains all intellectual property rights to the website and its content. He intends to fully protect those rights through either criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit and this notice serves the legal purpose of providing you the required notice that such action will be taken.

Since the content of the website is intended to inform, entertain, and inspire, it is understood that new works may be derived or extrapolated from it. Even if your use of the website and its content does not violate the law or the established legal rights of the Provider or the content creator, you may be deemed liable for any loss or harm caused by derived use, no matter how small.

You may download or copy content and other downloadable items displayed on the website for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from the Provider. 

Content of the website is owned or licensed for use by TheHumanFuture.net, which will not be liable for any opinions, inaccuracies, errors, or omissions in any such content, or for any damages arising therefrom. 

You may not edit, modify or redistribute any website content without express written consent of the Provider. TheHumanFuture.net authorizes Users of this website to use the Site and to copy materials posted on the Site strictly for their own personal, non-commercial use, provided you maintain all notices of rights on the Content.  Any and all other uses of the materials posted on the Site are prohibited.  Giving you permission to make a copy for your own use does not mean that you can do anything else with the Content.  In other words, your authorization from TheHumanFuture.net does not extend to use of the design, format, or layout of this website, which may be further protected under applicable trade dress, trademark, or copyright laws.  All copyright, patent, trademark, and other intellectual property-related notices must remain affixed to any materials downloaded from this website.  Failure to maintain such notices voids the authorization granted above.  In granting this authorization, TheHumanFuture.net grants no other right, title, ownership, license, or other property interest in the materials and subject matter posted on the Site, and in any intellectual property rights protecting such materials and subject matter.

The TheHumanFuture.net logo and the names of all TheHumanFuture.net products and/or Uses as posted herein are either trademarks or Use marks, or registered trademarks and/or Use marks of TheHumanFuture.net.

TheHumanFuture.net reserves the right to discontinue providing the website or its content at any time and to require you to cease displaying, distributing or otherwise using any or all of the website or its content for any reason including, without limitation, your violation of any provision of these Terms of Use.

The Provider assumes no liability for any of your activities in connection with the website or its content.

You agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse other website users or members. Use of discourteous, defamatory, or deliberately disruptive language in communication within the website will terminate your right of access. (See termination of access rights, below).

You agree that you will not use the website for any commercial or profit-making purpose without the express prior written consent of the Provider.

TheHumanFuture.net does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the website. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk.

THE WEBSITE AND ALL WEBSITE CONTENT ARE DISTRIBUTED 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. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE USE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

You agree to report any violations these Terms of Use to the Provider as soon as you become aware of them. In the event you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is contained on the website, such should be submitted to info@TheHumanFuture.net as soon as possible.

The Provider reserves the right to remove any and all material on the website deemed inappropriate, or potentially or actually harmful in any respect, or which negatively affects site operations. At our discretion, we will remove user-generated content or ban Members who violate our posted policies or this Agreement.

SPAM is bulk unsolicited email or public message postings for whatever purpose. The act of sending SPAM to, from, or referencing TheHumanFuture.net is covered under this clause and TheHumanFuture.net will charge spammers who use its website, it name, or its facilities $1000.00 per SPAM incident and $100 per SPAM item for any unauthorized use of its name, e-mail address, website, facilities, or member information. TheHumanFuture.net also reserves the right to collect from any SPAMMER any and all investigatory, legal, or other expenses resulting from SPAM actions and to recover damages caused by such. Under these Terms of Use, everyone who accesses the website or its servers agrees that SPAMMING results in substantial damage to the reputation of any person or business associated with or named in the process. (Also note the Termination section, below).

You may make a single copy of stories, articles or other portions of content published on this site on your hard drive or in print for your own personal, non-commercial use.

The Provider reserves the discretionary right to change or amend policies pursuant to this Agreement and has full and complete control over all matter related to the website not specifically controlled by this Agreement.

3. User Generated Content & Submissions:

By making any type of content submission to TheHumanFuture.net, you are agreeing to these and all other Terms of Use, herein.

TheHumanFuture.net brings together a community overflowing with creative people and ideas. We understand and support the need to get those thoughts and ideas out. While you are encouraged to speak your mind and post your own thoughts about things, you are not permitted to take another member's creations or ideas and use them without consent. This includes correspondence or communication from other members, whether through the website or not. If that person has not given you permission to take his or her personal emails or information and include them in your submission, then don’t do it!

The website shall be used only in a noncommercial manner. You shall not, without the express approval of the Provider, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation or advertising. You may not upload, distribute, transfer, or otherwise publish on to the website any material or content not specifically authorized by Provider, to include libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.

You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the website (“User-generated Content”)  including but not limited to: stories, essays, comments, forum messages, reviews, text, shared activities, videos, audio files, photographs, computer code, and applications (each, a "Submission") may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by TheHumanFuture.net at its discretion and you waive any rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you.

By making a Submission, you are specifically consenting to the display of the Submission on the website and for related online and offline promotional uses at the full and complete discretion of the Provider. User-generated Content and Submissions made to TheHumanFuture.net may also be included in our other web-based products and Uses and may be made available for republishing through other formats.

By submitting unsolicited User-generated content to TheHumanFuture.net, you are granting a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for TheHumanFuture.net or any third party the Provider designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, 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 Submission posted by you on or to TheHumanFuture.net or any other website owned by the Provider, including any Submission posted on TheHumanFuture.net through a third party.

You are solely responsible for the content of your Submissions. TheHumanFuture.net does not and cannot review every Submission and is not responsible for the content of User-generated Content and the Provider reserves the right to delete, move, or edit Submissions that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.

You represent, warrant and covenant that no materials of any kind submitted to the website by you will  violate, plagiarize, 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 agree not to submit, post or otherwise transmit any content which is part of any third party referral program or which is essentially void of any substantially meaningful content.

You agree to not submit any content detrimental in any way to the TheHumanFuture.net web site or business.

You agree that you are at least eighteen years old or that you have parental permission to use the website. If you are under eighteen years old and wish to submit User-generated Content to TheHumanFuture.net, you agree to provide the “Parental Consent and Release” found here:  TheHumanFuture.net/parental release.

When you submit and User-generated Content to TheHumanFuture.net you thereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless TheHumanFuture.net, the Provider, 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 Member account of these Terms of Use or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. TheHumanFuture.net reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

Persons involved in or affiliated with the production of a work reviewed on TheHumanFuture.net may not submit a Member's Review for that or competing works.

The Provider is not responsible for the views of users, members, or content-providers and may or may not share opinions offered by such.

By submitting user-generated content to TheHumanFuture.net, you represent and warrant, at all times during the term of this Agreement, that the content:

a)       Does not contain any personal information about any individual other than yourself unless you have specific written permission from the other person(s) to reveal their personal data in this manner,

b)       Is owned by you or that you have legal permission to provide the content for use as described above,

c)       Does not violate any copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property right of any other party,

d)       Does not invade any individual's right of privacy or publicity;

e)       Does not contain material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, pornographic, harassing, threatening, harmful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, or otherwise legally objectionable or claimable,

f)        Does not include malicious or hidden code, which includes, without limitation, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, bots, rootkits, or any other computer programming routines that may damage, interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system, program, data, or personal information (including Personal Data),

g)       Does not break the law, encourage or facilitate the breaking of the law, or violate any applicable regulation,

h)       Does not offer to or disseminate fraudulent goods, Uses, schemes, or promotions, or promote domain names, URLs, or hyperlinks that constitute commercial content such as that found in advertising, promotions, or solicitations,

i)         Presents, to the best of your knowledge, factual information that is true and accurate, and

j)         Does not include any recipe, formula, or instruction that is likely to or might knowingly result in personal injury to any person. 

You must be sure that the material that you submit is your own. Submitting someone else's written material and claiming it as your own can cause you SERIOUS problems both with us and others. Do not submit emailed jokes, forwarded messages or copyrighted images.

4. Availability of Links:

TheHumanFuture.net contains links to other related Internet sites, resources, and sponsors. The Provider is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources or their contents, you should direct any concerns or communication regarding any external link to the site host or owner.

5. Membership:

You are invited to join the TheHumanFuture.net community as a “Member”.

Membership is open to any applicant over the age of eighteen years, is free, and is required for submission or contribution of user-generated content. Those under the age of 18 who wish to become members must meet the additional requirements explained here: TheHumanFuture.net/parental release.

As part of the Member registration process, you will select a password and a Member ID. You also have to give us certain registration information, all of which must be accurate and updated.  You may not select or use a Member ID of another Member, use a Member ID in which another person has rights without such person's authorization; or use a Member ID that TheHumanFuture.net, in its sole discretion, deems inappropriate. Failure to comply with the foregoing shall constitute a breach of these Terms of Use, which may result in immediate termination of your account.

You shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Member password, which you will not have to reveal to any representative or agent of TheHumanFuture.net.

You shall notify the Provider of any known or suspected unauthorized use(s) of your account, or any known or suspected breach of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your password or personal information.

You are responsible for all usage or activity on your TheHumanFuture.net account, including use of the account by any third party authorized by you to use your Member ID and password. Any fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise illegal activity may be grounds for termination of your account, at Provider’s sole discretion.

You are also responsible for all statements made or materials posted under your Member account, including liability for harm caused by such statements or materials.

The Provider will refer all suspicious website use, fraud, or unauthorized Member access to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

6. Fees and Payments:

TheHumanFuture.net was created to be a free access website. However, TheHumanFuture.net reserves the right at any time to charge fees for access to portions of the website or other Uses it may offer. However, in no event will you be charged for access to the website or to be a Member unless we obtain your prior agreement to pay such charges.

If at any time TheHumanFuture.net requires a fee for Uses or access that are now free, the Provider will give you advance notice of such fees and the opportunity to cancel the account before such charges are imposed. Any changes in fees or notice of new fees, if any, will be posted in the website information area (“Info Page”) and in other appropriate locations. You shall pay all fees and charges incurred through your account at the rates in effect for the billing period in which such fees and charges are incurred, including, but not limited to charges for any products or Uses offered for sale through the Provider. All fees and charges shall be billed to and paid for by you. You shall pay all applicable taxes relating to use of the Use through your account.

TheHumanFuture.net operates from the highest professional standards. Nevertheless, we do not accept liability for direct or indirect loss or damage of any nature, including, but not limited to, typographical errors or copyright infringements. Because of the open nature of the Internet, there is a potential for text from the website to be copied by third parties without our permission, knowledge, or control. By submitting user-generated content, authors and/or agent attest that they own all legal rights to the material and indemnify the Provider from any and all legal liability.

7. Communication Between TheHumanFuture.net and Members:

If you indicate on your registration form that you want to receive such information, TheHumanFuture.net, the Provider, or its owners and assigns, will allow certain third party vendors to provide you with information about products and Uses.

TheHumanFuture.net reserves the right to send electronic mail to you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Use.

TheHumanFuture.net reserves the right to disclose information about your usage and demographics, provided that it will not reveal your personal identity in connection with the disclosure of such information. Advertisers and/or Licensees on the website may collect and share information about you only if you indicate your acceptance. For more information please read the Privacy Policy, below.

8. Software Licenses:

You shall have no rights to the proprietary software and related documentation, or any enhancements or modifications thereto, provided to you in order to access the website. You may not sublicense, assign or transfer any licenses granted by Provider and any attempt at such sublicense, assignment or transfer shall be null and void. You may not otherwise copy, distribute, modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from TheHumanFuture.net.

9. Termination:

You may terminate your membership at any time by sending an e-mail to: cancel@TheHumanFuture.net. Upon termination, you will receive an automated confirmation via e-mail that the request was received. Your access and any rights of membership are terminated IMMEDIATELY upon your sending such an e-mail. You are responsible for any and all charges incurred (for products or Uses purchased) prior to account cancelation.

TheHumanFuture.net may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the website for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of these Terms of Use.

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in these Terms of Use will serve to preempt the promises made in our Privacy Policy or the rights gained by the Provider through submission of user-generated content.

TheHumanFuture.net may, at its sole discretion, delete a Member’s user-generated content upon termination of their membership. If a cancelling Member chooses to 'delete' their user-generated content from TheHumanFuture.net as part of cancelation of membership, it will remain available or visible to other website users until TheHumanFuture.net updates its servers. Even then, it may continue to appear, in whole or in part, on other servers or with other search engines.

Regardless of your termination or request to remove user-generated content for the website, said content will remain accessible, as follows:

a)       Content that you have granted permission to be incorporated into another work will remain;

b)       Any derivative work will remain available even when the original work is retired;

c)       Content retained in our archives and back-up systems will remain available to the extent required by our data backup systems or for archival purposes. 

d)       Personal information will remain available to TheHumanFuture.net for so long as is reasonably required to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected;

TheHumanFuture.net retains any and all residual rights to deleted or retired work as were created by submission under these Terms of Use. If you choose to terminate your Membership, the terms above regarding the status and use of user-generated content that have been submitted remain applicable.

TheHumanFuture.net reserves the right to restrict or outright deny access to the website to any user, including users which have accessed the site in the past at any time. TheHumanFuture.net may terminate Uses with or without cause at any time, without prior notice or warning, and effective immediately upon termination.

Users or Members found to be using screening or filtering systems to remove or hide advertisements from TheHumanFuture.net may have their accounts terminated without prior notice or warning.

Users found to be impersonating other members or persons in any way may have their accounts terminated without prior notice or warning.

Harassment of others, by any means within TheHumanFuture.net is strictly prohibited, will not be tolerated and may result in account termination without prior notice or warning.

The act of sending SPAM from, referencing and/or to TheHumanFuture.net is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate account termination without prior notice or warning.

Users found to have more than one (1) member account without having obtained prior consent from TheHumanFuture.net through our 'Authorized Secondary Account' process may have any or ALL of their TheHumanFuture.net member accounts terminated without prior notice or warning. 'Authorized Secondary Accounts' may only be created through the link provide on a member's 'My Account' page.

Users found to have provided incorrect or inaccurate personal information when signing up for or editing their TheHumanFuture.net member account may have their TheHumanFuture.net member account terminated without prior notice or warning. Personal information in the signup and account details editing area is required and must be correct, verifiable and accurate. TheHumanFuture.net may, at its sole discretion, request a faxed or mailed copy of picture identification (I.D.) to verify personal information as provided by the member to TheHumanFuture.net's online account creation and editing forms. Failure to comply with a verification request for identification in a timely manner, as determined by TheHumanFuture.net, may cause the member's account to be terminated without prior notice or warning.

Users found to be abusing their free or paid membership in any way AND/OR users found to be assisting other free or paid members in averting item limits or abusing their membership may have their TheHumanFuture.net member account terminated without prior notice or warning.

10. Miscellaneous:

These Terms of Use have been made in and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Oregon. Any action to enforce these Terms of Use shall be brought in the federal or state courts located in the State of Oregon.

You may not transfer, sell, or otherwise assign your rights or obligations under this Agreement.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless TheHumanFuture.net and its parent and affiliates, and their directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, and licensors, from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from your violation of these Terms of Use, 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 take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this Section. In such event, you shall provide us with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by us.

Under no circumstances will TheHumanFuture.net, its parent, employees, affiliates, or other third parties related to this site be liable for any damages whatsoever. This includes, but is not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive or consequential damages (including those resulting from lost profits, lost data or business interruption) arising out of the use of this site, or any web sites linked to this site.

TheHumanFuture.net is offered and is available only "as is." We do not warrant that this website or any other Use from the Provider will be uninterrupted or error-free. There may be delays, omissions, interruptions and inaccuracies in the information or other materials available through the Provider.

TheHumanFuture.net makes no representations and does not endorse the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other material or database displayed, uploaded or distributed on the website or available though its links. The Provider reserves the right to correct any errors or omissions on the website.

Although TheHumanFuture.net takes common and reasonable steps to prevent the introduction of viruses, worms, "Trojan horses" or other destructive “malware” from the website, it does not guarantee or warrant that the website or it contents will not contain such destructive features. The Provider is not liable for any damages or harm attributable to such features. If you rely on the website and any materials available through it, you do so solely at your own risk.

TheHumanFuture.net and its parent and affiliates, and their directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents and licensors are not liable for incidental, indirect, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind, including lost revenues or profits, loss of business or loss of data, in any way related to this website or for any claim, loss or injury based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies in the website (including without limitation as a result of breach of any warranty or other term of this Agreement). Any claim against us shall be limited to the actual amount you paid, if any, for use of any product or Use we may provide..

By using this site and its Uses, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless TheHumanFuture.net and its affiliates, parent corporations, employees, agents, and licensors from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of anything you submit, post, transmit, upload or publish on TheHumanFuture.net. You are responsible for your actions on TheHumanFuture.net and accept all responsibility, legal and other, for your activity.

TheHumanFuture.net makes no representation that material on the Site is appropriate to or available at locations outside of the United States.  You may not use the Site or export the Contents in violation of U.S. export regulations.  If you access this Site from a location outside of the United States, you are responsible for compliance with all applicable local laws and any local taxes that may be payable.

This Agreement is binding.  It cannot be changed, except as the Agreement describes, specifically including the Amendments section below, unless both parties agree to a change and that change is set out in a written document signed by both parties.  The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall not apply to this Agreement.

No rights provided by this Agreement are lost or diminished because of lack of use of such rights.

Every provision of this Agreement is intended to be severable.  If any section of this Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, then such section will be deemed amended and interpreted, if possible, in a way that renders it enforceable.  If such an interpretation is not possible, then the section will be deemed removed from this Agreement and the rest of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.

You agree to attempt settlement of any dispute with the Provider using good faith and civil process and that any dispute that cannot be settled by good faith negotiation shall be resolved using either of these two methods – at the discretion of the Provider:

 a) settled in court under the jurisdictional clause in these Terms of Use, or

                b) submitted to arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association (as may be found here: http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=22440 ). 

If the Provider selects arbitration under option “b)”, above, then the location of the arbitration shall be Salem, Oregon.  The arbitration shall be conducted by a single certified arbitrator with experience in computer/technology matters and in the publishing industry.  The decision of the arbitrator shall be legally binding, shall not be subject to appeal, and shall be enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction.

All provisions of this Agreement relating to payment, commissions, Use fees, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, confidentiality, and proprietary rights shall survive termination.

11. Submission Guidelines and Rules:

TheHumanFuture.net accepts articles, stories, and essays on any topic, although our focus is clearly stated. When you submit user-generated content to the website you keep your copyright, but you grant the Provider a nonexclusive right to use, display, copy, and publish that content as detailed herein.

We suggest a length of 500-1000 words, but submissions of any length will be considered. We ask that all submissions be sent exclusively to TheHumanFuture.net and we may, at our discretion, not consider articles that have already been published.

Submissions must be sent by e-mail to: rich@TheHumanFuture.net . Please note that we prefer e-mailed articles pasted or typed into the body of the message instead of as an attachment.

We read all submissions promptly and will contact you within five business days if we are going to publish your material. If you have not heard from us within five business days, please assume that we will not be publishing your material although we reserve the right to do so at any subsequent time.

Given the volume of submissions we receive, we regret that we are unable to notify you if your submission has been rejected. We do not return or reply to all submissions. If your submission is selected for publication, we may try to reach you for more information.

We reserve the right to edit for space, clarity, and accuracy without notice. If we edit for content or civility, we will send you the edited version before publication. In general, we allow content providers the choice to withdraw edited submissions and they are not published. Otherwise, we will add their comments regarding the editing when published.

You are solely responsibility for ensuring that facts cited in submissions are accurate! You are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts. When we have reason to believe a factual claim is doubtful, we may try to verify the facts, insert a notation regarding such, or contact you for source information. When we goof and publish something later found to be an error, we then publish a correction and explanation. If you are the source for misinformation, we will certainly credit you for such.

You are solely responsible for any violation of law associated with your submission!  Any content you have submitted may be fully indexed for text searching and entered into the Google Book Search tool and similar tools.

You speak only for yourself or your organization and our decision to publish your submission should not be taken or cited as an endorsement of your position or opinion.

END OF TERMS OF USE