This Visitor Agreement applies to content of The Real Story at www.TheRealStoryBlog.com

The Web is an evolving medium; we may change the terms of this Visitor Agreement from time to time. By continuing to view or use The Real Story after we post any such changes, you accept this Visitor Agreement, as modified. We may change, restrict access to, suspend or discontinue The Real Story at any time. The Real Story respects the privacy of our users. Please take a few minutes to review our Privacy Policy.

If you disagree with any material you find on the The Real Story, we recommend that you respond by noting your disagreement in an appropriate site forum where there is one. We also invite you to bring to our attention any material you believe to be factually inaccurate by contacting our representatives at www.info@emccreative.com

The material that appears on The Real Story is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Despite our efforts to provide useful and accurate information, errors may appear from time to time. Before you act on information you’ve found on the The Real Story, you should confirm any facts that are important to your decision. The Real Story and its information providers make no warranty as to the reliability, accuracy, timeliness, usefulness or completeness of the information on the The Real Story Sites. The Real Story is not responsible for, and cannot guarantee the performance of, goods and services provided by our advertisers or others to whose sites we link. A link to another website does not constitute an endorsement of that site (nor of any product, service or other material offered on that site) by The Real Story.

COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA SITES, CHAT ROOMS, FORUMS, AND BLOGS

The Real Story wants to encourage an open exchange of information and ideas.  But we cannot and do not review every posting made on The Real Story’s community and social media sites, or in chat rooms, forums, blogs, and other public posting areas. You can expect these areas to include content, information, and opinions from a variety of individuals and organizations other than The Real Story. We do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting, regardless of whether the posting comes from a user, from a celebrity or “expert” guest, or from a member of our staff. There is no substitute for healthy skepticism and your own good judgment.

Responsibility for what is posted on The Real Story’s community and social media sites, or in chat rooms, forums, blogs and other public posting areas on the The Real Story lies with each user — you alone are responsible for material you post. The Real Story does not control the messages, information or other content that you or others may provide through the The Real Story. You may use The Real Story for lawful purposes only.

By using The Real Story, you agree not to submit, post or transmit through the The Real Story any material or otherwise engage in any conduct that:

1. Violates or infringes the rights of others including, without limitation, patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, publicity, privacy or other proprietary rights;
2. Allows you to gain unauthorized access to The Real Story, or any account, computer system, or network connected to The Real Story, by means such as hacking, password mining or other illicit means;
3. Is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, tortuous, or contains explicit or graphic descriptions or accounts of, sexual acts;
4. Victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;
5. Collects for marketing purposes any email addresses or other personal information that has been posted by other users.
6. Impersonates any person, business or entity, including The Real Storyand its employees and agents or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person, business or entity,
7. Contains an advertisement or solicitation or encourages others to make a donation;
8. Contains viruses or any other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized use of a computer or computer network;
9. Encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense or that gives rise to civil liability or that otherwise encourages others to commit illegal activities or cause injury or property damage to any other person;
10. Results in the posting or transmission of any message anonymously or under a false name;
11. Permits any person to access, using your account, any features of the The Real Story Sites that may require registration;
12. Results in a single message being posted to more than five areas of The Real Story, results in any message being posted to any area of The Real Story if that message is, in our view, off-topic or in violation of this Visitor Agreement; or

The Real Story requires you not to violate anyone’s copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights. By posting or submitting any material (including, without limitation, photographs and videos) to The Real Story, you are warranting and representing that you own or have the right to post or make such submission of the material, or are making your submission or posting with the express consent of the owner, and that no other party has any right, claim, or interest in the material that you have submitted or posted. You also warrant that all moral rights in any material that you submit to us or post have been waived. Submitting or posting material that is the property of another, without the consent of its owner, is not only a violation of this Visitor Agreement, but may also subject you to legal liability for infringement of copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights.

USE OF MATERIALS

With the exception of any and all Video Submissions (The Real Story’s permitted use of which is discussed above) and any material posted on The Real Story’s community and social media sites, all other material you submit to any of our chat rooms, forums, blogs and other public posting areas, whether text or images, becomes the property of The Real Story and may be reproduced, modified and distributed as we see fit, in any medium, for any purpose and in perpetuity. Further, you understand that by posting material on The Real Story’s community and social media sites, you are granting to The Real Story, and to anyone authorized by The Real Story, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to display, use, copy, modify, transmit, sell, exploit, create derivative works from, distribute, and/or publicly perform such materials posted on The Real Story’s community and social media sites, in whole or in part, in any manner or medium, now known or hereafter developed, for any purpose. The foregoing grant shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such posting or submission, including, but not limited to, rights under copyright, trademark, service mark or patent laws under any relevant jurisdiction. Also, in connection with the exercise of such rights, you grant The Real Story, and anyone authorized by The Real Story, the right to identify you as the author of any of your postings or submissions by name, email address or screen name, as The Real Story deems appropriate. Please also note the last paragraph in the “COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA SITES, CHAT ROOMS, FORUMS, AND BLOGS” section above. Click here for the terms and conditions that govern the submission of user-generated video to The Real Story Sites.

The materials available through The Real Story are the property of The Real Story or its licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you receive through The Real Story Sites. But you may not otherwise reproduce any of the materials without the prior written consent of the owner. You may not distribute copies of materials found on The Real Story Sites in any form (including by e-mail or other electronic means), without prior written permission from the owner. Of course, you’re free to encourage others to access the information themselves on The Real Story Sites, and to tell them how to find it.

LINKING

We welcome links to The Real Story Sites. You are usually free to establish a hypertext link to any of The Real Story Sites so long as the link does not state or imply any sponsorship or endorsement of your site by any of The Real Story or by The Real Story. However, you should check the copyright notice on the page to which you wish to link to make sure that one of our content providers does not have its own policies regarding direct links to their content on The Real Story.

NO SOLICITING

You agree not to use The Real Story Sites to advertise, or to solicit anyone to buy or sell, products or services, nor to solicit anyone to make donations of any kind, without our express written approval.

NO SPAMMING OR SPIMMING

From time to time, users post their e-mail addresses in our chat rooms, forums, blogs and other public posting areas. You may not gather these e-mail addresses for commercial or illegal purposes, such as sending unsolicited or unrequested e-mail or instant messages.

NO FRAMING

Without the prior written permission of The Real Story, you may not frame, or make it appear that a third-party site is presenting or endorsing, any of the content of The Real Story, or incorporate any intellectual property of The Real Story Sites, The Real Story or any of their licensors into another website or other service.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY

We work hard to make the The Real Story Sites interesting and enjoyable places, but we cannot guarantee that our users will always find everything to their liking. Please read this Disclaimer carefully before using any of The Real Story Sites.

YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE REAL STORY SITES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE SOURCES OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE REAL STORY SITES, AND THE INHERENT HAZARDS AND UNCERTAINTIES OF ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION, THERE MAY BE DELAYS, OMISSIONS, INACCURACIES OR OTHER PROBLEMS WITH SUCH INFORMATION. IF YOU RELY ON ANY THE REAL STORY SITE OR ANY MATERIAL AVAILABLE THROUGH THE REAL STORY SITES, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM ANY MATERIAL AND/OR DATA DOWNLOADED FROM OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE REAL STORY SITES.

THE REAL STORY SITES ARE PROVIDED TO YOU AS IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, AND AS AVAILABLE. THE REAL STORY SITES, THE REAL STORY COMMUNICATIONS, LLC AND THEIR AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS CANNOT AND DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE REAL STORY SITES, NOR DO THEY GUARANTEE THAT THE REAL STORY SITES WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE, OR THAT THE REAL STORY SITES WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE REAL STORY SITES, THE REAL STORY COMMUNICATIONS, LLC OR THEIR AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE REAL STORY SITES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, EVEN IF WE ARE ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. (BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, THE LIABILITY OF THE REAL STORY SITES, THE REAL STORY COMMUNICATIONS, LLC AND THEIR AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH STATE LAW.) YOU AGREE THAT THE LIABILITY OF THE REAL STORY SITES, THE REAL STORY COMMUNICATIONS, LLC AND THEIR AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS, IF ANY, ARISING OUT OF ANY KIND OF LEGAL CLAIM IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO THE REAL STORY SITES WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT, IF ANY, YOU PAID TO THE REAL STORY COMMUNICATIONS, LLC FOR THE USE OF THE REAL STORY SITES.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Real Story staff works hard to ensure that information we post to The Real Story Sites is both timely and accurate. But the news changes over time and reports that were accurate when posted may quickly become old news. Though we may post follow-up reports, and may continue to provide access to the original report, as in an archive of news stories, for example, we don’t go back and change the original report to reflect new developments. If you’re looking for the most recent information on a given subject, and not the history of how the story unfolded, be sure you’re not looking at an out-of-date report.

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless The Real Story  and EMC Creative, its affiliates, and their officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and suppliers, from and against any and all losses, expenses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any violation of this Visitor Agreement or any activity related to your account (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing any The Real Story Site using your account.

By using the The Real Story Sites, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Maryland, in all disputes arising out of or relating to this Visitor Agreement.

In the event that any portion of this Visitor Agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the enforceability or validity of any other portion of this Visitor Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect and be construed as if the invalid or unenforceable portion were not part of the Visitor Agreement.

By using the The Real Story, you agree to abide by the terms of this Visitor Agreement. We hope you enjoy using the The Real Story, and we welcome suggestions for improvements
Last updated March 16, 2009.