Comments Welcome But .... Please Read the Following Carefully

Please take a moment and read the following information that explains what you can - and cannot - post when making comments on a story on Patch.

If you have questions, call or write.

Thank you, Judy Putnam, Editor.

While we encourage people to be honest and post what’s on their mind, communities thrive when people care about each other, and as such, Patch expects all of its users to be respectful of others. This means that whether you are being complimentary or critical, whether you are agreeing or disagreeing with the subject of an article or another user’s comment, you should act in a civil manner and refrain from personal attacks – after all, these are your neighbors.

Patch is under no obligation to enforce the Patch Terms of Use on your behalf or based on a claim by you that another user has violated it. While we encourage you to let us know if you believe that another user has violated these terms of use or has engaged in other unacceptable behavior, by reporting it to support@patch.com, Patch will make the sole determination as to whether Content is acceptable for the Service. (Someone has to be in charge, right?) 

Because Patch provides a platform for wide-ranging commentary – both positive and negative – by members of local communities, you should keep in mind that, even if you disagree with or object to a comment or review, Patch typically does not remove comments or reviews in response to requests from users. 

Patch’s role is not to arbitrate disagreements between community members and local businesses, or among community members. And (for the lawyers out there) the law doesn’t require us to perform that role in order to keep offering what we think is a valuable community service: providing a platform for community discussion, debate and expression of opinions on the topics at hand.

By using the Service, you agree that you will not hold Patch responsible or liable for any Content from other users that you access on the Service.

You are solely responsible for the Content that you post on the Service or transmit to other users. Without limitation, you agree that you will not post or transmit to other users anything that contains Content that:

• is defamatory, abusive, obscene, profane or offensive;
• infringes or violates another party's intellectual property rights (such as music, videos, photos or other materials for which you do not have written authority from the owner of such materials to post on the Service);
• violates any party’s right of publicity or right of privacy;
• is threatening, harassing or that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
• promotes or encourages violence;
• is inaccurate, false or misleading in any way;
• is illegal or promotes any illegal activities;
• promotes illegal or unauthorized copying of another person's copyrighted work or links to them or providing information to circumvent security measures;
• contains “masked” profanity (e.g., F@&#)
• 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; or
• contains any advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation.

Instead of trying to memorize all that, you might boil it down to three main principles: “Keep it clean,” “Don’t try to trick people,” and “Treat others as you’d like to be treated.” Easy, right?

We do our best to keep tabs on what is posted on the site, however Patch is under no obligation to screen or monitor Content, but may review Content from time to time at its sole discretion to determine compliance with the Patch Terms of Use. Patch will make all determinations as to what Content is appropriate at its sole discretion. We may include, edit or remove any Content at any time without notice.

Variety is the spice of digital life, so understand that when using the Service, you will be exposed to Content from a variety of sources and that Patch is not responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, safety, or intellectual property rights of or relating to such Content. And just like when you visit any Internet site, by using Patch you acknowledge that you may be exposed to Content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent or objectionable. If you object to this possibility, you should not use the Service.

In keeping with our “Don’t trick anyone” request, you may not use spiders, robots, data mining techniques or other automated devices or programs to catalog, download or otherwise reproduce, store or distribute content available on the Service. Further, you may not use any such automated means to manipulate the Service or attempt to exceed the limited authorization and access granted to you under these Terms of Use. You may not resell use of, or access to, the Service to any third party.