A Tobacco Control Policy & Legal Resource Center
Supporting Smokefree Air & Tobacco-Free Lives
Terms of Use
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE. The term “GASP” includes www.njgasp.org, Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy, formerly New Jersey Group Against Smoking Pollution, Inc. (the owner and general administrator of www.njgasp.org), its directors, officers and staff, including its attorney and volunteers. By using this site, you signify your consent to these terms and conditions and you agree to ensure that any person in your company or firm to whom you grant access to this site will abide by these terms and conditions. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these terms at any time. Please check these terms periodically for changes. Your continued use of GASP following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept these changes.
1. No Legal Services or Attorney-Client Relationship
The www.njgasp.org site is an informational site for the public-at-large. No attorney-client communications or client confidences should be posted on the site. (See Section 2 below for more information about preserving client confidentiality, attorney work product protection and the attorney-client privilege.) Your use of this site does not create any attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between you and New Jersey Group Against Smoking Pollution, Inc. (the administrator and owner of this site), its employees, attorney and/or volunteers. Your use of this site also does not create any attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between you and any other user of the site, including the practice area hosts. Although this web site may provide information concerning potential legal issues, it is not a substitute for legal advice from qualified counsel. You should not and are not authorized to rely on this web site as a source of legal advice. GASP functions as the equivalent of a continuous source of information. Each user asking a question has, by using the system, undertaken that s/he remains solely responsible for protecting his or her interests and/or those of his or her client. No user shall be entitled to claim detrimental reliance on any views received, or to claim that a user providing answers or substantive materials has any duty to update such material or to use care to protect the interests of the recipient. Each user undertakes to protect his or her client’s interests by fitting the information received to the facts and circumstances of the case, by taking whatever steps are necessary to check all information and by personally assuring that the advice s/he provides is based on accurate and complete information and research from any available sources.
2. Preserving Client Confidentiality and the Attorney-Client Privilege
You are cautioned that the posting on this site of confidential information relating to a client or case may constitute a breach of your ethical obligation to protect client confidences and may result in a waiver of attorney work product protection and the attorney-client privilege. You are further cautioned that although GASP takes steps to prevent likely adversaries from accessing GASP message boards, GASP cannot guarantee that your adversaries will not have access to the messages and/or questions you post. Confidential information relating to a client or case, including a client’s name, should therefore never be posted on this site. Confidential client information includes any information relating to a client or case that is (1) not generally known, and is (2) acquired by a lawyer, other legal professional or law student during the course of, or as a result of, the representation of that client. Information relating to a client is deemed not generally known when such information could not be acquired without special knowledge or substantial effort or expense. Information is typically protected from involuntary disclosure by the attorney-client privilege if the information is gained or shared through (1) a communication, (2) between an attorney and client, (3) made in confidence, and (4) for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice. The attorney-client privilege can be waived, however, when an attorney-client communication is disclosed to a third party to whom the attorney-client privilege does not extend (i.e., someone other than an agent or associate of the attorney). Under the attorney work product doctrine, material collected by a lawyer in preparation for anticipated litigation is, in general, protected from discovery by opposing counsel. Attorney work product may be subject to discovery, however, if information that would otherwise have been protected under the work product doctrine is disclosed to a third party (other than an agent or associate of the attorney) and that disclosure significantly increases the likelihood that potential adversaries can obtain the information. Consistent with preserving client confidentiality, attorney work product protection and the attorney-client privilege, you may discuss on this site general scenarios in the form of hypotheticals, so long as there is no risk that another user of this site who lacks independently acquired information about the matter would be able to identify the client or any unique legal strategy involved. Users with specific questions about a particular client or case should contact the practice area host by e-mail or telephone rather than posting questions on a bulletin board. Similarly, users uncertain about the propriety of posting any question on a bulletin board should refrain from posting the question and should consult the practice area host by e-mail or telephone regarding the confidentiality and privilege implications of the question. Appropriate postings:
· Can anyone tell me where I might find information regarding . . . ?
· Does anyone know what steps a person living in New Jersey would need to take in order to make a workplace smokefree?
· Has anyone had a case that involved [any non-unique fact pattern or issue]? Inappropriate postings: · My client, Ted Smith, . . . .
· My client told me . . . .
· I have a case against Jane Doe, the lawyer for the XYZ agency . . . . Please keep in mind that breaching client confidentiality and/or waiving attorney work product protection and/or the attorney-client privilege can have severe consequences for you and your client. In cases of doubt, do not post the question.
3. Privacy and Confidentiality
GASP has adopted a set of information management guidelines which serve as the basis for protecting the privacy of the information on its site. These guidelines have been developed with the recognition that Internet technologies are rapidly changing, and that underlying business models are still not established. Accordingly, guidelines are subject to change. Any such changes will be posted on this page. GASP may require that users supply personal information, including e-mail address, during its registration process prior to using the site. On occasion, GASP may collect additional personal information from users through survey forms. GASP employs “cookies” to recognize a user, as well as to track usage. Demographic information may be combined with site usage reports to profile, in aggregate form, users and their interests. Using the e-mail addresses provided at registration, GASP may periodically send e-mail to its users informing them of services or information provided by GASP and its participating organizations. A user can indicate that s/he does not wish to receive such e-mail by sending an e-mail to GASP. GASP will use reasonable efforts to prevent users from accessing information posted within the site, including electronic mail and postings on the message boards, subject to a reservation of its right to access and disclose any message on the system for the purpose of providing the service, to protect the security or quality of the system or the rights or property of GASP or third parties, or as required by law. Except as expressly provided herein or as required by law, GASP will not knowingly disclose the contents of private electronic mail or private conference area to anyone other than addressees, authorized recipients, or those to whom such disclosure is necessary to assure forwarding or delivery or the security or quality of the system.
4. Rules Relating to Deletion of Materials
GASP will delete any materials at the request of the user who submitted the materials. GASP reserves the right to delete (or to refuse to post) any materials it deems detrimental to the system. GASP reserves the right to edit materials submitted by users. GASP shall be used only in a noncommercial manner by you. By using GASP, you agree that you will not, without the express approval of GASP, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, promotion, advertising, or solicitation for goods or services. You specifically agree that soliciting other GASP users to join or become users of any commercial on-line service or other organization is expressly prohibited. Each party that submits materials agrees that in uploading files to the system, it will use only computer systems employing reasonable means to check for and prevent the spread of computer viruses.
5. Rules Regarding Copyright on Submitted Materials
In posting a work on a service offered by GASP, you authorize other users who have access to that service to make personal and customary use of the work, including creating links or reposting on GASP, but not otherwise to reproduce or disseminate it unless you give permission for such dissemination. You also give permission to GASP to copy your works as part of the normal backup process, and to site administrators to archive topics containing your works.
6. No Warranties and Limitation of Liability
Information provided on this web site is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. GASP periodically adds, changes, improves, or updates the information and documents on this web site without notice. GASP assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of this web site. Your use of this web site is at your own risk. EACH USER BY REGISTERING TO USE THIS SITE WAIVES ANY AND ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE USAGE OF THE SYSTEM OR MATERIAL OR INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SYSTEM, WHETHER SUCH CLAIMS ARE AGAINST GASP OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO HAS SUPPLIED MATERIAL TO THE SYSTEM. Under no circumstances and under no legal theory shall GASP, its suppliers, or any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering this Web site’s contents be liable to you or any other person for any damages, including but not limited to indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising from your access to, or use of, this web site. You agree to indemnify and hold GASP and its users harmless from any claim arising as a result of your use of the system or the materials you upload or post on the system.
7. Rules Regarding GASP Copyrights
GASP retains its copyright in the layout and graphics of this site, the collective and compilation copyrights in all databases and navigation design, and all other content created by staff of GASP. GASP authorizes you to view, copy, download, and print the materials on this web site in which it has a copyright for the purpose of fair use, subject to the following conditions:
- The materials may be used solely for personal, noncommercial, and informational purposes.
- The materials may not be modified.
- Any original copyright notice that appears on the work must appear on all copies.
The reproduction, copying, or redistribution of materials in which GASP has a copyright for commercial purposes is prohibited without the express written permission of GASP. To obtain permission to copy portions of this site, please send your request via e-mail to info@njgasp.org and provide the following information in the body of the e-mail:
- the GASP content you wish to use
- where and how it will be used (for example, a book cover, magazine article, a brochure)
- where and how copies will be distributed and to what audience
- how many copies will be produced and distributed
- when you intend to publish
- what other non-GASP materials will be associated with the GASP content
- your name, title, company, address, e-mail address, and phone number.
We will evaluate your request and advise you as soon as possible. GASP reserves the right to refuse permission to copy, distribute, broadcast, or publish any of its copyrighted material, including text and images on our web site. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, nothing herein prohibits the use of GASP’s graphics and/or any other references to GASP for the purposes of hyperlinking to GASP. However, any and all hyperlinks to GASP must first be approved by GASP, which reserves the right to refuse permission to hyperlink to GASP.
8. Rules Regarding GASP Net Service Marks and Trade Dress
GASP service marks and trade dress identify GASP products and services and let the public know the source of those products and services. You may not use any GASP service marks and trade dress under any circumstances without our prior written authorization. If you are in doubt as to whether you need our permission for a specific type of use, please contact us via e-mail to info@njgasp.org.You may not use GASP logos, “design” service marks or trade dress under any circumstances without our prior written authorization.In addition, you may not use GASP service marks, whether design or word marks, or trade dress in any the following ways:
- in a non-GASP service name or publication title
- in, as, or as part of, your own service or trademarks
- to identify products or services that are not GASP’s
- in a manner likely to cause confusion
- in a manner that implies inaccurately that we sponsor or endorse, or are otherwise connected with, your own activities, products, and services
- as hidden or embedded text in web pages in an effort to cause a search of GASP marks to result in a hit on a page not maintained by GASP
- in a manner disparaging of GASP
9. Links to Third Party Sites
If you use any links in this web site to web sites not maintained by GASP, you will leave the GASP web site. The linked sites are not under the control of GASP and GASP is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. GASP provides these links to you only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply recommendation, approval or endorsement by GASP of the site, nor does it imply that the linked site recommends, approves of, or endorses GASP.
10. Termination
Each user is free to terminate his or her usership at any time for any reason. GASP may terminate or suspend the privileges of any person to use GASP and its related services without notice for any reason in its sole discretion, including but not limited to having reached the conclusion that any user has breached these terms or applicable rules. GASP shall be free to terminate its provision of this service at any time.
11. Choice of Forum
These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, without giving any effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these terms shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in Union County and you hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any action.
12. Arbitration
Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to your use of GASP, these Terms and Conditions for GASP or the breach thereof, will be settled by binding arbitration conducted before one arbitrator who is knowledgeable in computer and cyberspace law. The site of any such arbitration shall be in Summit, New Jersey. The arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the then applicable Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The award rendered by the arbitrator will be binding and conclusive on the parties and judgment upon such award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The opposing party to GASP will bear its own, as well as GASP’s, costs and expenses, including fees and expenses of counsel, associated with the arbitration. The arbitrator will not be empowered to award punitive damages to either party.
13. Integration
These terms and conditions, including any supplemental rules posted on the system, incorporated herein by reference, constitute the complete statement of the agreement between the parties, which supersedes and merges all prior proposals, understandings, and all other agreements, oral and written, between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof.
14. Severability
If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, the parties agree that the remaining provisions hereof will not be affected thereby, that the provision in question may be replaced by the lawful provision that most nearly embodies the original intention of the parties, and that these Terms and Conditions for GASP will in any event remain valid and enforceable.