Nutzungsbedingungen

Our Terms of Use

These Terms of Use are a derivative of „Terms of Use/en“ by Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki contributors, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (3.0) and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (4.0) by Open Hardware Observatory contributors.

Our Vison

Welcome to the Open Hardware Observatory! In the field of open source hardware we are aiming for a significant improval of documentation quality and discoverability and hence contribute to the general infrastructure of open source hardware (“OSH”). For you, we built a crawler-based search engine for OSH and DIY products and a platform for community-based assessment of OSH according to DIN SPEC 3105-2.

We, the OHO (“we” or “us”), welcome you (“you” or the “user”) as a reader, author, or contributor, and we encourage you to join the OHO community. Before you participate, however, we ask that you to please read and agree to the following Terms of Use (“Terms of Use”).

Our Services

OHO is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free multilingual content, and to hosting the full content of these OHO-based projects for the public free of charge. We act only as a hosting service, maintaining the infrastructure and organizational framework that allows our users to build the OHO projects by contributing and editing content themselves. Because of our unique role, there few things you should be aware of when considering our relationship to you, the projects, and the other users:

1. We do not take an editorial role: Because the OHO projects are collaboratively edited, all of the content that we host is provided by users like yourself, and we do not take an editorial role. This means that we generally do not monitor or edit the content of the project websites, and we do not take any responsibility for this content. Similarly, we do not endorse any opinions expressed via our services, and we do not represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any submitted community content. Instead, we simply provide access to the content that your fellow users have contributed and edited.
2. You are responsible for your own actions: You are legally responsible for your contributions on OHO projects. For your own protection, you should exercise caution and avoid contributing any content that may result in criminal or civil liability under any applicable laws. For clarity, applicable law includes at least the laws of Germany. We warn editors and contributors that authorities may seek to apply other country laws to you, including local laws where you live or where you view or edit content. The OHO generally cannot offer any protection, guarantee, immunity or indemnification.

Privacy Policy

We ask that you review the terms of our LINKPrivacy Policy, so that you are aware of how we collect and use your information. By using our services, you consent to any such transfer of information outside your country.

Content We Host

1. You may find some material objectionable or erroneous: Because we provide a wide array of content, which is by the community members produced or gathered, you may encounter material that you find offensive, erroneous, misleading, mislabeled, or otherwise objectionable. We therefore ask that you use common sense and proper judgment when using our services.
2. Our content is for general informational purposes only: Although we host a great deal of information that contributes the evolution of ecological system, this content is there for general informational purposes only. It should not be taken as professional advice. Please seek independent professional counseling from someone who is licensed or qualified in the applicable area in lieu of acting on any information, opinion, or advice contained in the Open Hardware Observatory.

Refraining from Certain Activities

The content hosted on the OHO only exist because of the vibrant community of users like you who collaborate with interesting projects. We happily welcome your participation in this community. We encourage you to be civil and polite in your interactions with others in the community, to act in good faith and contributions aimed at furthering the mission of the shared project.

Certain activities, whether legal or illegal, may be harmful to other users and violate our rules, and some activities may subject you to liability. Therefore, for your own protection and for that of other users, you may not engage in such activities on our sites. These activities include:

Harassing and Abusing Others

• Engaging in harassment, threats, stalking, spamming, or vandalism; and
• Transmitting chain mail, junk mail, or spam to other users.

Violating the Privacy of Others

• Infringing the privacy rights of others under the laws of Germany, the European Union or other applicable laws (which may include the laws where you live or where you view or edit content);
• Soliciting personally identifiable information for purposes of harassment, exploitation, violation of privacy, or any promotional or commercial purpose not explicitly approved by the OHO; and
• Soliciting personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18 for an illegal purpose or violating any applicable law regarding the health or well-being of minors.

Engaging in False Statements, Impersonation, or Fraud

• Intentionally or knowingly posting content that constitutes libel or defamation;
• With the intent to deceive, posting content that is false or inaccurate;
• Attempting to impersonate another user or individual, misrepresenting your affiliation with any individual or entity, or using the username of another user with the intent to deceive; and
• Engaging in fraud.

Committing Infringement

• Infringing copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other proprietary rights under applicable law.

Misusing Our Services for Other Illegal Purposes

• Posting child pornography or any other content that violates applicable law concerning child pornography;
• Posting or trafficking in obscene material that is unlawful under applicable law; and
• Using the services in a manner that is inconsistent with applicable law.

Engaging in Disruptive and Illegal Misuse of Facilities

• Posting or distributing content that contains any viruses, malware, worms, Trojan horses, malicious code, or other device that could harm our technical infrastructure or system or that of our users;
• Engaging in automated uses of the site that are abusive or disruptive of the services and have not been approved by the OHO community;
• Disrupting the services by placing an undue burden on a project website or the networks or servers connected with a project website;
• Disrupting the services by inundating any of the project websites with communications or other traffic that suggests no serious intent to use the project website for its stated purpose;
• Knowingly accessing, tampering with, or using any of our non-public areas in our computer systems without authorization; and
• Probing, scanning, or testing the vulnerability of any of our technical systems or networks unless all the following conditions are met:
  • such actions do not unduly abuse or disrupt our technical systems or networks;
  • such actions are not for personal gain (except for credit for your work);
  • you report any vulnerabilities to OHO developers (or fix it yourself); and
  • you do not undertake such actions with malicious or destructive intent.

We reserve the right to exercise our enforcement discretion with respect to the above terms.

Password Security

You are responsible for safeguarding your own password and should never disclose it to any third party.

Licensing of Content

To grow the commons of open knowledge and open culture, all users contributing to the projects are required to grant broad permissions to the general public to re-distribute and re-use their contributions openly, so long as that use is properly attributed. We require that when necessary all submitted content be licensed so that it is openly reusable by anyone who cares to access it.

You agree to the following licensing requirements:

1. Content to which you hold the copyright: When you submit content to which you hold the copyright, you agree to license it under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (“CC BY”).
   The only exception is if the project edition or feature requires a different license. In that case, you agree to license any text you contribute under that particular license.
   In any case by submitting the content you declare that you don’t know of any third-party claims being infringed by distributing your contribution under CC BY.
2. Attribution: Attribution is an important part of these licenses. We consider it giving credit to authors like yourself. When you contribute text, you agree to be attributed in any of the following fashions:
   • Through hyperlink (where possible) or URL to the content to which you contributed (since each page on the OHO has a history page that lists all authors and editors);
   • Through hyperlink (where possible) or URL to an alternative, stable online copy that is openly accessible, which conforms with the license, and which provides credit to the authors in a manner equivalent to the credit given on the project website; or
   • Through a list of all authors (but please note that any list of authors may be filtered to exclude very small or irrelevant contributions).
3. Importing content: You may import content (text or non-text media) that you have found elsewhere or that you have co-authored with others, but in such case you warrant that the text is available under terms that are compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (“CC BY”) (or, as explained above, another license when exceptionally required by the project edition or feature).
   You agree that, if you import content under a CC BY license that requires attribution, you must credit the author(s) in a reasonable fashion. It is sufficient to give attribution and credit in the edit summary. The attribution requirements are sometimes too intrusive for particular circumstances (regardless of the license), and there may be instances where the OHO community decides that imported text cannot be used for that reason.
4. No revocation of license: Except as consistent with your license, you agree that you will not unilaterally revoke or seek invalidation of any license that you have granted under these Terms of Use for content (text or non-text media) contributed to the OHO, even if you terminate use of our services.
5. Public domain content: Content that is in the public domain is welcome! It is important however that you confirm the public domain status of the content under the law of Germany as well as the laws of any other countries as required by the specific project edition. When you contribute content that is in the public domain, you warrant that the material is actually in the public domain, and you agree to label it appropriately.
6. Re-use: Re-use of content that we host is welcome, though exceptions exist for content contributed under "fair use" or similar exemptions under copyright law. Any re-use must comply with the underlying license(s).
   When you re-use or re-distribute a text page developed by the OHO community, you agree to attribute the authors in any of the following fashions:
   • Through hyperlink (where possible) or URL to the page or pages that you are re-using (since each page has a history page that lists all authors and editors);
   • Through hyperlink (where possible) or URL to an alternative, stable online copy that is freely accessible, which conforms with the license, and which provides credit to the authors in a manner equivalent to the credit given on the project website; or
   • Through a list of all authors (but please note that any list of authors may be filtered to exclude very small or irrelevant contributions).
     In addition, please be aware that text that originated from external sources and was imported into a project may be under a license that attaches additional attribution requirements. Users agree to indicate these additional attribution requirements clearly. Depending on the project, such requirements may appear for example in a banner or other notations pointing out that some or all of the content was originally published elsewhere. Where there are such visible notations, re-users should preserve them.
     For any non-text media, you agree to comply with whatever license under which the work has been made available (which can be discovered by clicking on the work and looking at the licensing section on its description page or reviewing an applicable source page for that work). When re-using any content that we host, you agree to comply with the relevant attribution requirements as they pertain to the underlying license or licenses.
7. Modifications or additions to material that you re-use: When modifying or making additions to text that you have obtained from a project website, you agree to license the modified or added content under CC BY 4.0 or later (or, as explained above, another license when exceptionally required by the specific project edition or feature).
   When modifying or making additions to any non-text media that you have obtained from a project website, you agree to license the modified or added content in accordance with whatever license under which the work has been made available.
   If you are re-using text content in a wiki, it is sufficient to indicate in the page history that you made a change to the imported text. For each copy or modified version that you distribute, you agree to include a licensing notice stating which license the work is released under, along with either a hyperlink or URL to the text of the license or a copy of the license itself.

Third-party Websites and Resources

You are solely responsible for your use of any third-party websites or resources. Although the projects contain links to third-party websites and resources, we do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for their availability, accuracy, or the related content, products, or services (including, without limitation, any viruses or other disabling features), nor do we have any obligation to monitor such third-party content.

Management of Websites

The community has the primary role in enforcing policies applying to the different project editions. In an unusual case, the need may arise, or the community may ask us, to address an especially problematic user because of significant project disturbance or dangerous behavior. In such cases, we reserve the right, but do not have the obligation to:

• Investigate your use of the service (a) to determine whether a violation of these Terms of Use, project edition policy, or other applicable law or policy has occurred, or (b) to comply with any applicable law, legal process, or appropriate governmental request;
• Detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues or respond to user support requests;
• Refuse, disable, or restrict access to the contribution of any user who violates these Terms of Use;
• Ban a user from editing or contributing or block a user's account or access for actions violating these Terms of Use, including repeat copyright infringement;
• Take legal action against users who violate these Terms of Use (including reports to law enforcement authorities); and
• Manage otherwise the project websites in a manner designed to facilitate their proper functioning and protect the rights, property, and safety of ourselves and our users, licensors, partners, and the public.

In the interests of our users and the projects, in the extreme circumstance that any individual has had his or her account or access blocked under this provision, he or she is prohibited from creating or using another account on or seeking access to the same project. Limiting the authority of the community, the OHO itself will not ban a user from editing or contributing or block a user's account or access solely because of good faith criticism that does not result in actions otherwise violating these Terms of Use.

The blocking of an account or access or the banning of a user under this provision shall be in accordance with Section Error: No se encuentra la fuente de referencia of these Terms of Use.

Termination

Though we hope you will stay and continue to contribute to the projects, you can stop using our services any time. In certain (hopefully unlikely) circumstances it may be necessary for either ourselves or the OHO community or its members (as described in Section Error: No se encuentra la fuente de referencia) to terminate part or all of our services, terminate these Terms of Use, block your account or access, or ban you as a user. If your account or access is blocked or otherwise terminated for any reason, your public contributions will remain publicly available (subject to applicable policies), and, you may still access our public pages for the sole purpose of reading publicly available content on the projects. We reserve the right to suspend or end the services at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. Even after your use and participation are banned, blocked or otherwise suspended, these Terms of Use will remain in effect with respect to relevant provisions, including Sections check cross-referencing

Disputes and Jurisdiction

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We hope that no serious disagreements arise involving you, but, in the event there is a dispute, we encourage you to seek resolution through the dispute resolution procedures or mechanisms provided by the projects or project editions and the OHO. If you seek to file a legal claim against us, you agree to file and resolve it exclusively in a state or federal court located in Berlin, Germany. You also agree that the laws of Berlin and, to the extent applicable, the laws of Germany will govern these Terms of Use, as well as any legal claim that might arise between you and us (without reference to conflict of laws principles). You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of, and agree that venue is proper in, the courts located in Berlin in any legal action or proceeding relating to us or these Terms of Use.

Disclaimers

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At the OHO we do our best to provide educational and informational content to everyone, but your use of our services is at your sole risk. We provide these services on an "as is" and "as available" basis, and we expressly disclaim all express or implied warranties of all kinds, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We make no warranty that our services will meet your requirements, be safe, secure, uninterrupted, timely, accurate, or error-free, or that your information will be secure.

Advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from us or through or from our services do not create warranty not expressly stated in these Terms of Use.

Any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through your use of our services is done at your own discretion and risk, and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material. You agree that we have no responsibility or liability for the deletion of, or the failure to store or to transmit, any content or communication maintained by the service.

Some states or jurisdictions do not allow the types of disclaimers either in this section, so they may not apply to you in part or in full depending on the law.

Limitation on Liability

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The Wiki will not be liable to you or to any other party for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses, regardless of whether we were advised of the possibility of such damage – including but not limited to third-party claims, such as patents, trademarks or trade secrets.

Modifications to these Terms of Use

Just as the OHO community's input is essential for the growth and maintenance of the projects, we believe that community input is essential for these Terms of Use to properly serve our users. It is also essential for a fair contract. Therefore, we will provide these Terms of Use, as well as any substantial future revisions of these Terms of Use, to the community for comment at least thirty days before the end of the comment period. The community will be encouraged to translate the proposed revision in other languages as appropriate.

Because it may be necessary to modify these Terms of Use from time to time, we ask that you please periodically review the most up-to-date version of these Terms of Use. Your continued use of our services after the new Terms of Use become official an acceptance of these Terms of Use on your part. For the protection of the OHO and other users like yourself, if you do not agree with our Terms of Use, you cannot use our services.

Other Terms

These Terms of Use do not create an employment, agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship between you and us, the Open Hardware Observatory. If you have not signed a separate agreement with us, these Terms of Use are the entire agreement between you and us. If there is any conflict between these Terms of Use and a signed written agreement between you and us, the signed agreement will control.

You agree that we may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms of Use, by email, regular mail, or postings on project websites.

If in any circumstance, we do not apply or enforce any provision of these Terms of Use, it is not a waiver of that provision.

You understand that, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by us, you have no expectation of compensation for any activity, contribution, or idea that you provide to us, the community, or the OHO project.

These Terms of Use were written in English. While we hope that translations of these Terms of Use are accurate, in the event of any differences in meaning between the original English version and a translation, the original English version takes precedence.

If any provision or part of a provision of these Terms of Use is found unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Terms of Use and will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and all other provisions of these Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect.

Severability Clause

In case any provision in these Terms of Use shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby and such provision shall be ineffective only to the extent of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability.

Thank You!

We appreciate your taking the time to read these Terms of Use, and we are very happy to have you contributing to the projects and using our services.