Welcome to MercedSun-Star.com, a news, information and communication service available on the Internet's World Wide Web. The service combines much of Merced Sun-Star newspaper with additional material available only on MercedSun-Star.com. Both Merced Sun-Star and MercedSun-Star.com are affiliates of The McClatchy Company.
You understand and agree that, by visiting MercedSun-Star.com and its affiliated sites, you are accepting, without modification, these Terms of Service. If you do not agree with any portion of these Terms of Service, your only option is to discontinue use of MercedSun-Star.com. In agreeing with this Terms of Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age or otherwise capable of entering into and performing legal agreements. If you are under eighteen (18) then you may only use MercedSun-Star.com with the consent of a parent or legal guardian.
This Terms of Service includes MercedSun-Star.com's Privacy Policy, located here: MercedSun-Star.com Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into this Terms of Service by reference and together with the Terms of Service governs your visit to MercedSun-Star.com. The Privacy Policy explains MercedSun-Star.com's position on information gathering and how it intends to use and share any information it collects. Read the Privacy Policy carefully as you are agreeing to it when you agree to this Terms of Service.
This Terms of Service is subject to revision from time to time by MercedSun-Star.com and your continued use of MercedSun-Star.com means you agree to, without modification, the revised Terms of Service. If you are a registered member of MercedSun-Star.com, you will be notified of material revisions to this Terms of Service via an e-mail message to the e-mail address that you provided at registration or that you have since updated. If you are not a registered member of MercedSun-Star.com, then you can review revisions to this Terms of Service by regularly checking this page. Material revisions to this Terms of Service will be indicated by an updated effective date at the top left corner of this page and by a notice posted on the homepage of MercedSun-Star.com. Whether or not you are a registered member of MercedSun-Star.com, it is your responsibility to remain apprised of any revisions to these Terms of Service and to remain in compliance therewith. Should you object to any such revisions to these Terms of Service or become dissatisfied with MercedSun-Star.com in any way, your only recourse is to immediately terminate your membership and discontinue use of MercedSun-Star.com. Otherwise, continuing to use the membership service and continuing to visit MercedSun-Star.com after the effective date means that you agree to be bound by any and all revisions.
From time to time, and at MercedSun-Star.com's sole discretion, there may be certain content available via subscription or surcharge, and such content will be clearly marked. Because this is an advertising-supported service, we encourage you to patronize the advertisers that help to make this service possible. Note that currently most news articles remain available for 30 days in the pages of MercedSun-Star.com. Merced Sun-Star's electronic archives may carry a fee per full-text article downloaded.
Access to some or all of the content, services and features on MercedSun-Star.com may require users to register and become Members of MercedSun-Star.com. In most cases, a print subscription is not necessary to become a Member; however access to certain special content, offers, services and features on MercedSun-Star.com may require users to both subscribe to Merced Sun-Star and to register and become Members of MercedSun-Star.com. If you are a Member of MercedSun-Star.com, you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account whether or not you expressly authorize such activities. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others may not access MercedSun-Star.com using your username or account in whole or in part. MercedSun-Star.com may terminate membership and deny access to MercedSun-Star.com to any person for any reason in its sole discretion. Additionally and without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, MercedSun-Star.com may terminate membership and deny access to MercedSun-Star.com to any person who, in MercedSun-Star.com's sole discretion, violates this Terms of Service. Such termination or denial of access shall be in addition to any remedies available to MercedSun-Star.com and Merced Sun-Star in law and equity.
Material published on MercedSun-Star.com, including articles, photos, graphics, bulletin board postings, audio and video clips, trademarks, service marks, and other content ("Content"), is copyrighted by Merced Sun-Star, or by other information providers who have licensed their content for use on MercedSun-Star.com. Additionally, the entire Content of MercedSun-Star.com is protected by copyright as a collective work owned by Merced Sun-Star. You may not reproduce, republish or redistribute Content or any portions thereof, including, without limitation, Content provided by licensors and others, including member-submitted content, without the written consent of the copyright owner.
Subject to the terms and conditions of this Terms of Service, MercedSun-Star.com grants you permission to access MercedSun-Star.com and view the Content solely for your personal, non-commercial use. In addition to viewing Content online, you may electronically store a reasonable portion of MercedSun-Star.com Content for your personal, non-commercial use by making a single electronic copy on your computer's hard drive, or a single copy on a disk or other media or a single copy in printed form. You agree, however, that you will not store or archive a significant portion of the Content or create a database using the Content.
These rules also apply to your use of MercedSun-Star.com:
To obtain permission to reuse or republish Merced Sun-Star copyrighted material in printed formats, please visit http://www.copyright.com and enter "Merced Sun-Star" in the "Get Permission/Find Title" search box. For high-quality photo reprints, please visit our high quality reprints partner.
Merced Sun-Star cannot grant permission to reuse or republish material from other information providers, such as the Associated Press or New York Times News Service. Please contact them directly.
Members and other users of MercedSun-Star.com may be able, as dictated by the functionality of MercedSun-Star.com, to submit or to otherwise make available messages, e-mails, photographs, videos and other content for display on MercedSun-Star.com ("Member Content"). You are solely responsible for Member Content, and MercedSun-Star.com acts as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of Member Content. Member Content must conform to the guidelines below. Without limiting any of its rights in law and equity, MercedSun-Star.com reserves the right to remove any Member Content for any reason in its sole discretion including any Member Content that it believes may violate these Terms of Service, or any copyright or third-party rights.
By submitting or otherwise making available any Member Content to MercedSun-Star.com, you automatically grant Merced Sun-Star and MercedSun-Star.com a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), license to use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, create derivative works of, distribute, transfer or sell any such content, for any purpose, including commercial purposes and in connection with advertising for the sole benefit of MercedSun-Star.com (collectively, "use"), in any type of media or in any form now known or later developed, without any payment to you. In addition, you automatically waive and give up any claim that any use of such content violates any of your rights, including privacy rights, publicity rights, moral rights or any other right, including the right to approve the way MercedSun-Star.com uses such content. You also grant Merced Sun-Star and MercedSun-Star.com the right to use any material, information, ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you provide, submit, or otherwise make available to MercedSun-Star.com or to Merced Sun-Star for any purpose whatsoever, including, without limitation, commercial purposes. By submitting Member Content, you automatically warrant and represent to Merced Sun-Star and MercedSun-Star.com that you are the owner of all intellectual property rights in and to the Member Content or that you otherwise have all sufficient rights to grant the license above. By submitting Member Content, you further warrant and represent that the Member Content infringes no third-party right of privacy, right of publicity, or any other third-party right or proprietary interest.
MercedSun-Star.com respects the copyrights of others and expects its users to do the same. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), the text of which may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office site at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, MercedSun-Star.com will respond expeditiously to notices of alleged copyright infringement that are duly reported to our Designated Copyright Agent identified in the notice below. We will disable and/or terminate the accounts of Users who are repeat infringers.
If you believe that MercedSun-Star.com or any user of MercedSun-Star.com has infringed your copyright, please notify our Copyright Agent and provide the following information.
MercedSun-Star.com encourages a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect. Any action by a user that infringes on another user's right to use and enjoy MercedSun-Star.com is prohibited. MercedSun-Star.com reserves the right, but does not assume any obligation, to monitor your online conduct to enforce these Terms of Use. Specifically, you may not:
While MercedSun-Star.com strives for accuracy, it does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information or database on our service. Nor does MercedSun-Star.com warrant or guarantee that any files available for downloading will be free of defects. Neither Merced Sun-Star nor any of its information providers will be liable in any way to you or to other parties for delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in material published in MercedSun-Star.com.
The content, services, and features of MercedSun-Star.com are subject to change without notice. The inclusion of any content, services, and features on MercedSun-Star.com at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time.
While we take reasonable steps to ensure that no viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other destructive properties are present, the entire risk as to the quality and performance of MercedSun-Star.com and the accuracy and completeness of any information is with you.
Opinions, advice and all other information expressed on MercedSun-Star.com forums, comment sections, blogs, and any other area where user-generated Content is displayed, represent the individual's own views and are not necessarily those of MercedSun-Star.com. MercedSun-Star.com does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice and opinions made by anyone other than authorized MercedSun-Star.com spokespersons.
Any investment decisions or other actions that users take based on information available on MercedSun-Star.com should first be reviewed by a competent financial adviser or other professional. THE MercedSun-Star.com SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT OR ANY OTHER SERVICE OR PRODUCT ON OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ANY LINK TO ANOTHER WEB SITE OR RESOURCE). In no event will MercedSun-Star.com be liable for (i) any incidental, consequential, or indirect damages (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of programs or information, and the like) arising out of the use of or inability to use MercedSun-Star.com, or any information or services provided on MercedSun-Star.com, even if MercedSun-Star.com has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or (ii) any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies published on MercedSun-Star.com.
SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless MercedSun-Star.com, its affiliates, employees, officers, directors, and agents from and against any and all liability, loss, claims, damages, costs and/or actions (including attorney's fees) based on or arising from any breach by you of your obligations under these Terms of Service. We reserve the right to defend any such claim, and you agree to provide us with such reasonable cooperation and information as we may request.
This agreement between MercedSun-Star.com and its users will be governed and interpreted under the laws of the state of CA. Courts located in Merced, CA have jurisdiction in any dispute arising from these Terms of Service. In the event that any provision of these Terms of Service is found to be in conflict with the law, such provision shall be restated to reflect the original intent, and all other terms and conditions shall remain in full force and effect.
Any legal controversy or legal claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or MercedSun-Star.com, excluding legal action taken by Merced Sun-Star to obtain an injunction relating to its intellectual property, shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Merced, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Notwithstanding any provision of this Terms of Service, MercedSun-Star.com reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, to terminate any or all of the MercedSun-Star.com service and/or your license to use the MercedSun-Star.com service, or to block or prevent future access to and use of MercedSun-Star.com.
If any provision of these Terms of Service shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Service and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
Merced Sun-Star, 3033 North G Street Merced CA 95340, 721-722-1511.
We hope you enjoy using MercedSun-Star.com. Questions and comments about the content of MercedSun-Star.com may be sent by e-mail to . We try to read all comments sent to us and try to respond to as many as possible. Technical questions regarding your software, your configuration or your connection should be directed to your Internet access provider. MercedSun-Star.com cannot address questions except those specifically about content and services we provide.
