IBM Developer Terms of Use

By registering and using IBM Developer, you agree that you are subject to and will comply with the terms of use set forth below as well as the IBM terms of use and the IBM Copyright and trademark information.

As a contributor to IBM Developer you agree to adhere to the following terms of use:

Content publication

• IBM Developer provides a professional network and a unified set of community tools for connecting, sharing, and collaborating. By posting content ("User Content") in the IBM Developer community, you agree to allow anyone with access to the IBM Developer community to access the content you post. You agree that any discussion you initiate or participate in, or content you post on the Site will be related to IBM products, software, programs, services or associated technologies.
• Do not post or transmit material that is confidential to you or a third party. Further, you agree that you will not post or transmit material that is proprietary to a third party unless you attained consent from such third party.
• Do not post content from, or links to, Internet sites that feature sexual content, gambling, or that advocate intolerance of others. Do not create such content on IBM Developer.
• Respect copyright, fair use, and financial disclosure laws. Use appropriate symbols to mark the first occurrence of trademarked terms in your content. Do not post images unless you own the exclusive rights to display the imagery in this context. By posting images that depict a person or persons, you represent and warrant that you attained consent from and verified the legal age of each person depicted in the image for the distribution, display and usage of the image in the general public.
• Use common courtesy when posting content: refrain from abusive, obscene, or offensive language, images, or links. Remember that you are providing content for a multicultural audience -- things that do not seem abusive, obscene, or offensive to you might seem so to others.
• IBM may add specialized sections or areas of this Site for specific discussion, selected participants, "confidential only" discussion or, may offer for download, software or other materials for which additional terms and conditions may be applicable. Prior to your participation in such specialized sections or areas or your download of such materials, your acceptance of such additional terms and conditions may be required.
• User Content may be made available to third-party search engines on the Internet as well as through the Site's search engine. User Content that you post will be available for use on a global basis by IBM, other participants and others who are not participants but who view the User Content on the Internet, without royalties or restrictions. IBM, other participants and others who are not participants but who view the User Content on the Internet, may use User Content, in whole or in part, for any purpose, may create derivative works thereof and may sublicense others to do the same. IBM shall have no obligation to compensate you for any feedback or content that you provide, or requests that you submit on the Site. Furthermore, IBM does not commit, promise, nor have a legal obligation to deliver any code, functionality, software or other materials due to content you post on the Site.
• IBM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR USER CONTENT OR THE ACCURACY OF ANY USER CONTENT POSTED. PARTICIPANTS SHALL REMAIN SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USER CONTENT THEY POST. USER CONTENT DOES NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF IBM. IBM DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT ANY USER CONTENT IS CORRECT OR ACCURATE AND IBM DOES NOT ENDORSE ANY USER CONTENT.
• IBM reserves the right, but does not have the obligation, to monitor the Site. IBM is not responsible for what anyone posts on the Site, and postings do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of IBM.

User privacy

IBM may ask you to provide or collect the following personal information from you:

• Contact information, including your name, email address, country, and company.
• Biographical information that you may provide in your profile, including your biography, interests, and photo.
• Information regarding your use of the site, such as courses or tasks that you have completed, badges that you have earned, and content contributions that you have made.

IBM may use this information to do any of the following:

• Provide the functionality of the site or applications on it or associated with it to you or provide recommendations or increased personalization to you.
• Contact you regarding your use of the site or submissions that you have made.
• Manage relationships with you and our customers.
• Aid in security and problem determination for the site.
• Should you opt-in, to contact you and keep you informed of items or events on IBM Developer or about products or services that you may be interested in.
• Identify content that you have contributed to the site on your My IBM Developer page. You can also view any activities that you have completed from that page.

Any content that you contribute to IBM Developer will be published with either your display name or name with a link to your IBM Developer profile. IBM will retain information associated with your profile for as long as it is required for the operation of the site or required to maintain the integrity of content on the site. IBM may remove content at any time for any reason, including to maintain the integrity of the site content, for relevancy purposes, or because the content violates the site policies.

You may find more details on IBM’s processing of your personal information in the IBM Privacy Statement.

Content republishing

IBM will have the right to republish any material you contribute to the IBM Developer community environment, including any and all modules on the Site provided on the IBM Developer community environment, and you expressly grant the right to IBM to copy and republish the content in any form.

Content removal

IBM also retains the right to decline to post any content, or remove any previously posted User Content in the IBM Developer community environment, including any and all modules on the Site at our discretion.

IBM will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. For more information, please refer to IBM's Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notices. IBM will terminate without notice participants who are "repeat infringers" of copyrights.

No Commitment as to Future Direction

References in content on the Site to IBM products, software, programs, services or associated technologies ("IBM Content") do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. IBM Content, including any plans contained in content, may change at any time at IBM's sole discretion, based on market opportunities or other factors, and is not intended to be a commitment to future content, including product or feature availability, in any way. Statements regarding IBM's future direction or intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only.

Code content access

IBM has license agreements governing any code you submit or retrieve on the Site. When you upload code, you are agreeing to be bound by the Submission of Content Agreement. When you download code, you are agreeing to be bound by the Download of Content Agreement, unless the code is accompanied by another license or agreement, in which case such code is governed solely by the license or agreement which accompanies the code.

Confidential information

Any information or material sent to IBM will be deemed NOT to be confidential. Do not post any confidential information on IBM Developer.

General rights

IBM PROVIDES THIS SERVICE ON AN 'AS IS' BASIS WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, including but not limited to any warranty relating to noninfringement of any intellectual or other proprietary rights and availability of the service or of the content posted by any parties using the Site's content hosting services. IBM will not be liable for any direct or indirect damages, including without limitation, lost profits, lost savings, or any incidental, special, or other economic consequential damages, even if it has been advised of the possibility of such damages. By using this service, you agree to indemnify IBM against any third-party action based on any content you post on the IBM Developer community.

IBM does not give you any express or implied rights or licenses under any intellectual property rights. IBM may change these rules at any time by giving you notice. You accept a change by continuing to use the Site after you have been notified of the change. Changes are not retroactive. Additional or different terms in any written communication from you are void.

IBM is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of any non-IBM Web sites that IBM Developer may be linked to.

IBM reserves the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to terminate your account or a community for any reason (such as violation of these Terms of Use or the IBM terms of use) or no reason at all, with or without notice. We also reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (ii) enforce these terms, including investigation of potential violations, (iii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v) protect the rights, property or safety of IBM, its users and the public.

These Terms of Use are governed by the substantive laws of the State of New York. Any proceedings to resolve disputes relating to the Terms of Use shall be brought in a U.S. Federal Court in the State of New York. You hereby expressly waive the right to trial by jury in any matter which arises under these Terms of Use.

IBM employees

If you are an IBM employee, you will also follow the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines and your employment agreement with IBM, which you can obtain from your Human Resources contact.

Do not post IBM Confidential information on IBM Developer.