We work hard to make YourPBC.org ("YourPBC.org" or "this Website") an interesting and enjoyable place. We cannot guarantee, however, that our users will always find everything to their liking; nor could we provide a free service if we were exposed to substantial liability. Please read these Terms of Use (these "Terms") carefully before using this website. These Terms contain an agreement to arbitrate all claims, disclaimers of warranties, and disclaimers and limitation of liability.
By visiting, using and/or submitting information to www.YourPBC.org, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of these Terms and our Privacy Policy, located at yourpbc.org (the "Privacy Policy"). For purposes of these Terms, the terms "we," "us," or "our" mean the Economic Development Research Institute and YourPBC.org.
YourPBC Content Policy
YourPBC is a free service for communication and self-expression of critical issues facing Palm Beach County. We believe YourPBC increases the availability of information, encourages healthy debate, and makes possible new connections between like-minded people.
We respect our users' ownership of and responsibility for the content they choose to share. It is our belief that censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression.
But in order to uphold these values, we need to curb abuses that threaten our ability to provide this service and the freedom of expression it encourages.
As a result, there are some boundaries on the type of content that can be posted on YourPBC. The boundaries we've defined are those that both comply with legal requirements and that serve to enhance the service as a whole.
Content Boundaries
Our content policies play an important role in maintaining a positive experience for you, the users. Please respect these guidelines.
Adult Content: We do allow adult content on YourPBC, including images or videos that contain nudity or sexual activity.
Child safety: We have a zero tolerance policy towards content that exploits children. Some examples of this include:
- Child pornography: We will terminate the accounts of any user we find publishing or distributing child pornography. We will also report that user to law enforcement.
- Pedophilia: We do not allow content that encourages or promotes sexual attraction towards children. For example, do not create blogs with galleries of images of children where the collection of images or text accompanying the images is sexually suggestive.
Hate Speech: We want you to use YourPBC to express your opinions, even very controversial ones. But, don't cross the line by publishing hate speech. By this, we mean content that promotes hate or violence towards groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity.
Crude Content: Don't post content just to be shocking or graphic. For example, collections of close-up images of gunshot wounds or accident scenes without additional context or commentary would violate this policy.
Violence: Don't threaten other people on your blog. For example, don't post death threats against another person or group of people and don't post content encouraging your readers to take violent action against another person or group of people.
Copyright: It is our policy to respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement. Also, please don't provide links to sites where your readers can obtain unauthorized downloads of other people's content.
Personal and confidential information: It's not OK to publish another person's personal and confidential information. For example, don't post someone else's credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, unlisted phone numbers, and driver's license numbers. Also, please keep in mind that in most cases, information that is already available elsewhere on the Internet or in public records is not considered to be private or confidential under our policies.
Impersonating others: Please don't mislead or confuse readers by pretending to be someone else or pretending to represent an organization when you don't. We're not saying you can't publish parody or satire - just avoid content that is likely to mislead readers about your true identity.
Illegal activities: Don't use YourPBC to engage in illegal activities or to promote dangerous and illegal activities. For example, don't author an article encouraging people to drink and drive. Otherwise, we may delete your content. Also, in serious cases such as those involving the abuse of children, we may report you to the appropriate authorities.
Spam: Spam takes several forms in YourPBC, all of which can result in deletion of your account or blog. Some examples include creating blogs designed to drive traffic to your site or to move it up in search listings, posting comments on other people's blogs just to promote your site or product, and scraping existing content from other sources for the primary purpose of generating revenue or other personal gains.
Malware and viruses: Do not create blogs that transmit viruses, cause pop-ups, attempt to install software without the reader's consent, or otherwise impact readers with malicious code. This is strictly forbidden.
Enforcement of YourPBC's Content Policy
All comments submitted are reviewed for appropriateness before posting and will not appear online immediately. YourPBC.org administrators reserve the right to post your entire comment or just an excerpt online, take excerpts of your comment and use them in a variety of written and online publications, and to summarize your comment into categories relevant to debates that YourPBC.org is hosting.
If you encounter a comment/article that you believe violates our content policies, please report it to us by emailing INFO@YOURPBC.ORG. Our team reviews these comments for policy violations. If the comment/article does not violate our policies, we will not take any action. If we find that the comments/articles violate our content policies, we take one or more of the following actions based on the severity of the violation:
- Delete the comment comment/article
- Disable the author's access to YourPBC
- Report the user to law enforcement
Have questions or need more information? Contact@yourpbc.org!
