Common Grounds Terms of Use

The Common Grounds Project is a netizen powered nonprofit organization promoting the use of innovative forums and social media to achieve common grounds of shared understanding between Chinese and Tibetans. By sustaining respectful platforms for exchange and understanding, we aim to bridge the communication gap between the two peoples, online and on the ground.

Code of Conduct

As a Common Grounds User, you agree to:

• Use the Common Grounds website to connect, share and interact with other Users in a respectful manner, promoting positive dialogue and genuine understanding;

• Not use the Common Grounds website for negative proposes, such as slander or abuse of any individual or group based on personal, religious, racial or political beliefs or views;

• Not use inappropriate or vulgar language on the Common Grounds website;

• Not to post obscene, demeaning or violent content;

• Not to harass, threaten, abuse or invade the privacy rights or others Users.

Failure to abide by this Code of Conduct will result in the termination of your Common Grounds account.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

After clicking on the “I ACCEPT THE COMMON GROUNDS TERMS OF USE” button below, you signify that you have read, understoon and agreed to these Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to change, add or modify portions of these Terms of Use as necessary or appropriate. If we do this, we will post the changes to this Terms of Use page. Your continued use of the Common Grounds website after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of Use.

Eligibility

Registered Users of the Common Grounds must be: (1) Above 13 years of age; (2) is part or full Tibetan or Chinese, working for a China or Tibet related organization or group or actively involved in the China-Tibet issue. Any interested person who does not fall under these two categories can contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with their specific situation.

User Conduct

You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind submitted through your Common Grounds account or otherwise posted, shared or transmitted by you on or through the Common Grounds website will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party.

In addition, you agree not to use the Common Grounds website to:

• Harvest or collect email addresses or other contact information of other users from the Common Grounds site by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications;

• Use the Common Grounds site in any unlawful manner or in any other manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the Site;

• Upload, post, share, transmit, store or otherwise make available any content deemed as harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

• Upload, post, share, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;

• Solicit personal information from anyone under 18 or solicit passwords or personally identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes;

• Upload, post, share, transmit or otherwise make available any material 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;

• Intimidate or harass another users;

• Use or attempt to use another's account, service or system without authorization or create a false identity on the Common Grounds website

User content posted on the Common Grounds site

You are solely responsible for the profile information, photos, posts, comments, notes, videos, and any other content that you upload and post on or through the Common Grounds site.

You understand and agree that Common Grounds may review all the content on the Common Grounds site and holds the right delete or remove any Site Content or User Content which violates any portion of the Common Grounds Terms of Use, particularly content which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of others.

By posting User Content to any part of the Common Grounds, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Common Grounds an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for non-commercial purposes, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Common Grounds or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time.

If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that Common Grounds may retain archived copies of your User Content. Common Grounds does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content.