Terms and Conditions

1. Purpose

1.1 The purpose of the Arthritis Care discussion forum is to provide a safe forum for people affected by arthritis to share experiences and help each other cope with the challenges of living with arthritis.

1.2 Arthritis Care does not, nor could it be expected to, pre-check the content posted via the discussion forum and, as such, does not guarantee and makes no representations as to the accuracy, integrity timeliness or quality of such content.

1.3 The discussion forum, and website in general, is not a substitute to professional advice. You should consult your doctor, or other relevant professional, before making any decisions that could affect you or others.

2. Conduct of users

2.1 Participation in, and use of, all areas of the site is at the user's own risk.

2.2 All views and information, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted are individual and not the views, policy or advice of Arthritis Care. You understand and acknowledge that content is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated.

2.3 Any link or reference to third party organisations, their product/s or service/s does not imply endorsement by Arthritis Care. Arthritis Care aims to remove such references but has no obligation to do this.

2.4 The use of the message boards for gathering information for surveys and research studies, or similar, is prohibited unless prior permission has been given by Arthritis Care.

2.5 In accordance with the Home Office good practice guide for child protection on the internet, users of this system must be 15 or over, or supervised by an adult if younger than 15.

2.6 You agree not to participate in mischievous or malicious behaviour which causes damage or may cause damage to Arthritis Care or this site or any of the computer systems on which this site resides.

2.7 By using this site you agree to these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions Arthritis Care reserves the right to prohibit you from using the site.

3. Postings and messages

3.1 Content that is posted to Arthritis Care discussion forum, including your choice of public name, must follow these conditions.

3.2 Messages must not be obscene, defamatory or libellous, vulgar, sexually orientated, hateful, threatening, or in violation of any laws or good morals and practice. You hereby undertake to indemnify and hold harmless Arthritis Care against all costs and expenses from any such actions by you.

3.3 Messages must be posted in English, unless a language specific forum is made available for speakers of other languages.

3.4 Public messages containing contact details (emails, phone numbers, fax numbers or postal addresses) are not allowed. Links to websites are allowed in public posts and in users profiles at the discretion of Arthritis Care.

3.5 Messages must not contain advertisements or promote specific products or services.

3.6 Messages or links must not be excessively repeated intentionally.

3.7 Messages must not infringe or violate another party's rights (including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights, and rights of privacy and publicity).

3.8 Hyperlinks submitted as part of a message or in user profiles must not link to web pages or services that contravene UK law or conflict directly or in spirit with the terms and conditions of use of the forum.  Linking to illegal sites shall result in immediate banning from the forum

3.9 By submitting information to the discussion zones, you grant Arthritis Care a non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free perpetual non-revocable licence to use, distribute, adapt, modify, display, reproduce and transmit such information in any and all media in the manner in whole or in part without any duty to account to you. You also grant Arthritis Care the right to grant licences to users of the website to view and copy such information for personal use.

3.10 Arthritis Care may from time to time edit or remove posts that are contrary to these terms and conditions or not constructive to the overall purpose and mission of Arthritis Care or create a distraction to that purpose and mission.

3.11 Personal profiles may contain personal email addresses and personal website addresses (but not postal addresses, telephone, or fax numbers) at the discretion of Arthritis Care.

4. Moderation and Banning

4.1 Arthritis Care has the right, but no obligation, to remove, edit, move or close any message or group of messages (public or private) for any reason.

4.2 Arthritis Care is not obliged to enter into any correspondence regarding the moderation of content on Arthritis Care website and discussion forum.

4.3 Arthritis Care has the right to modify or delete any or all information relating to a user, including deletion of that user's account, without prior notice or reason.

4.4 Any removal or banning of a visitor from anywhere within Arthritis Care website is binding and the decision is final. Arthritis Care will not be obliged to explain such banning.

4.5 In cases of dispute, the decision of the Chief Executive of Arthritis Care shall be final.

5. Privacy and Data Protection

5.1 We do not collect any personal information about you, unless you choose to provide it. We will never share this information with a third party, or advertiser, except where you have given permission.

5.2 Cookies are used to assist the functionality of the website only, personal data is not collected via cookies.

5.3 From time to time Arthritis Care may contact you for administration purposes.

6. Notice

6.1 Where a breach of these terms and conditions occurs Arthritis Care reserves the right to take such action as it sees fit.

6.2 When you link to other organisations via Arthritis Care website, you are then subject to the rules and privacy laws of that organisations' site.

6.3 This agreement shall be governed in accordance with English law.

6.4 The terms and conditions of this agreement are subject to change by Arthritis Care at any time, Arthritis Care will aim to make users aware of any significant changes. Any user's use of this site following changes shall indicate the user's acceptance of the new agreement.

7. Exclusion of liability

7.1 Arthritis Care hereby excludes all and any losses, liabilities, claims, damages, expenses or costs (whether as a consequence of its negligence or otherwise) arising in connection with:

• your use or inability to use the site
• any unauthorised access to or alterations of information provided by you
• your use of any third party websites (including without limitation those that may be connected by hyperlink to the site)
• any arrangements entered into with any third party in connection with any information provided by or in connection with the site
• the inaccuracy, incompleteness or tardiness of any information supplied through the service

and shall not be limited to the above.

8. Definitions

8.1 ‘This site’ refers to all Internet pages in the arthritiscare.org.uk domain.

8.2 ‘Arthritis Care’ includes any person or organisation involved in any part of the design, development, response-handling, marketing, promotion or other similar aspects of this site.

8.3 ‘User’ refers to any person viewing or interacting with this site, including ‘you’.

8.4 ‘Content’ refers to any text, photograph or other image presented on this site to users by either Arthritis Care or users.

8.5 The term "messages" includes all public and private content posted to the discussion forum including personal profiles except where specifically referenced in clause 3.9 above.

last updated Jan 28 2008 BC