OHMERCER-L Archives

From: Wally Garchow <>
Subject: [MERCER] Administrative Message
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 12:53:14 -0700

Dear Listmembers - This is old news but in order to be certain you are all
on the same page concerning these matters.....

In May 1999 what had been called since July 1996 the Rootsweb Genealogical
Data Cooperative (a Mom & Pop business - it was NEVER a non-profit
organization through it operated, by all accounts, without profit) was
incoporated as Rootsweb, Inc., with Bob Tillman as president. That
corporation is in the process of being acquired by MyFamily, Inc., which
also owns Ancestry. Mr Tillman has resigned and the Leveriches are to
become consultants. As we are being told now, Rootsweb will continue to
operate under Charles Merrin (former Marketing Director) as it has been
during the past year. However, there -were- changes made last year that
some may not have understood or paid attention to. They were IMPORTANT
changes in the relationship between you as listmembers and Rootsweb, Inc.,
as a for-profit business. Those changes -may- become more important in the
future which is why it is important that you understand them now.
Essentially, the lists at Rootsweb are now seen as permanent data collection
mechanisms.

There should be no difference in what you have been doing, but there could
be changes in what is done with what you have been and are doing now.
Please read the official statement concerning the Terms of Use now
applicable to users of Rootsweb (the web pages -and- lists). The URL is
below, but I have copied the text for you below the URL. If you have
questions, ask me privately. I am not posting this for the purpose of
discussion. I only want to be certain ALL listmembers see this at least
once. Every and anything you post to this list falls under the statements
below.....

Pay particular attention to numbers 2, 3, and 4. Do NOT post anything you
don't want to see archived as it is impossible to remove/correct an
individual post unless you wish to have ALL your posts removed from
Rootsweb's Archives and suffer a permanent prohibitiion (ban) from using
Rootsweb lists in the future. One of the reasons I have decided to moderate
my lists is to give folks a chance to change their minds. If you should
ever post something by mistake, send me a message marked urgent right away.
I may be able to catch my forwarding the message to the list archives.

Just so you know.......

http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/aup.html


ROOTSWEB'S ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY by Dr. Brian Leverich

RootsWeb exists to allow you to interact with other people who share
your interests. We also often preserve those interactions, so you
can readily see and learn from discussions that have occurred in the
past.

To be able to provide you with the best possible environment, we ask
you to agree to the following before using our facilities:

1. HAVE FUN. Well, we can't require you to have fun, but we really
think you should.

2. YOU OWN YOUR POSTS. When you post messages to lists, message
boards, and other facilities at RootsWeb, those posts remain
your property under copyright law.

3. ROOTSWEB MAY ARCHIVE AND REDISTRIBUTE. So we can provide current
and future users with access to your posts, by posting here you
do give RootsWeb a permanent license to archive and redistribute
those posts. This policy may be superseded in specific
circumstances by other commitments made by RootsWeb.

4. POST ONLY MATERIAL YOU DO OWN. When you post to RootsWeb, you
must either be the copyright holder (that basically means you
wrote it), have written permission from the copyright holder, or
the material must clearly be in the public domain.

5. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR POSTS. If you post anything that
results in RootsWeb being sued, you are responsible for any
costs you incur. We may also hold you responsible for any costs
we incur defending ourselves.

6. YOU SHOULD NOT DECREASE THE ENJOYMENT OF OTHERS. Your posts
should not flame or otherwise harass other users and should be
reasonably on topic for the areas where they appear, and you
should otherwise adhere to the principles of netiquette. Information
about netiquette is available on many Web sites, including these:

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/
http://www.fau.edu/netiquette.net/
http://www.primenet.com/~vez/neti.html

7. OTHER POLICIES MAY APPLY AND ALL POLICIES MAY CHANGE. In
addition to this general acceptable use policy, other specific
policies may apply to Web sites, mailing lists, message boards,
and other facilities at RootsWeb. These policies may change with
time, but current versions will be publicly accessible on
RootsWeb's site.

8. ROOTSWEB HAS LIMITED RESPONSIBILITIES. Hard disks fail and other
catastrophes occur. While RootsWeb strives to provide the most
reliable possible service, we are not liable for service
interruptions and loss of data. In no case, technical failure or
otherwise, will RootsWeb be liable for damages exceeding any
payments you make to us.

9. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES REQUIRE PERMISSION. RootsWeb's intent is
to provide a friendly and, as much as possible, noncommercial
environment. Any activity that involves the exchange of money
requires prior permission from RootsWeb.

10. ROOTSWEB RESOURCES MAY NOT BE RESOLD. No RootsWeb facilities --
for example, Web sites, mailing lists, and message boards -- may
be resold. Public domain content on RootsWeb may not be
harvested for commercial or other use, other than as would have
been permitted by the Fair Use provisions of American copyright
law if the material had been copyrighted. Material written and
posted by an individual may not be harvested for commercial or
other use, except with the permission of that individual or as
permitted by Fair Use.

11. ROOTSWEB MAY REFUSE SERVICE. For violations of this agreement or
other policies posted on the RootsWeb site, RootsWeb may revoke
the violator's right to use part or all of the RootsWeb site.

12. MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Upon request, RootsWeb will terminate any
services we are providing to you, and refund your last annual
contribution, if any.

ROOTSWEB'S PLEDGE TO ITS USERS

RootsWeb will neither sell nor charge for access to your
genealogical information (for example, your posts to RootsWeb
mailing lists or GenConnect boards, your Web pages hosted at
RootsWeb, and any datasets you have donated to the USGenWeb
Archives) without your permission.

RootsWeb will not under any circumstances sell or give away a list
of our users' postal addresses or e-mail addresses.

Copyright 1999, RootsWeb.com, Inc.

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• [MERCER] Administrative Message by Wally Garchow <>