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An initiative of Schmidt Futures
and the Rhodes Trust

Terms of Use

Last updated: September 9, 2022

THESE TERMS OF USE (“TERMS”) SET FORTH A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND US THAT GOVERNS YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF ALL INFORMATION, WEBSITES, SERVICES, EVENTS AND CONTENT (COLLECTIVELY, “SERVICES”) PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE RISE PROGRAM.

BY ACCEPTING THESE TERMS, ACCESSING AND USING SERVICES, OR OTHERWISE INTERACTING WITH US IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, YOU: 

(1) AGREE TO THESE TERMS PERSONALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ANY OTHER PERSON, COMPANY, OR OTHER LEGAL ENTITY (“ORGANIZATION”) THAT YOU REPRESENT WHEN USING THE SERVICES, AND

(2) YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT, AUTHORITY, AND CAPACITY TO ENTER INTO THESE TERMS (AND TO BIND YOUR ORGANIZATION, IF APPLICABLE, TO THSE TERMS).

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES.   

ARBITRATION NOTICE: THESE TERMS CONTAIN A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT INCLUDING A WAIVER OF ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.  PLEASE SEE THE BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER SECTION BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.  

Minimum Age

You represent that you are at least 18 (or the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside). If you are under that age, but at least 13, you may access and use the Services only under the supervision of your legal guardian who has agreed to be bound by these Terms. The Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age and you may not access or use the Services if you are under 13.

Privacy Policy

Please view our Privacy Notice, which applies to personal information processed about you in connection with the Services.  

Modifications

We reserve the right to modify and update any aspect of the Services, at any time in our sole discretion. These Terms may be updated periodically for clarity or to reflect changes in the Services. We indicate at the top of this document when it was most recently updated. We encourage you to check this page frequently to review any changes. If we make changes, we will notify you via the change log below. In some cases, we may provide additional notice such as a statement on our homepage or an email. Your continued access to or use of the Services will constitute your acceptance of any modifications or updates. 

Change Log

  • November 20, 2020 - Terms first published.
  • September 9, 2022 - Simplified language throughout for easier readability and clarity

Your Account

You may be required to create an account to access certain portions of the Services. You are not permitted to share, sell, distribute or otherwise transfer your account information or allow your login credentials to be used by any other individual.

We may terminate your account and suspend your use of the Services for any reason or no reason, without prior notice to you, including but not limited to if you violate these Terms; if we suspect that your account is being used in an unauthorized manner; or if you act in any way that would discredit or harm the reputation of us or the Rise Program.

Rise Content

All information, content, images, logos, trademarks, graphics, software, and other materials made available by us in connection with the Services (collectively, the “Content”) are the sole property of us or our affiliates or their licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws, both in the United States and in other countries. You may not reproduce, modify, republish, distribute, resell, broadcast, reverse-engineer, create derivative works from or otherwise exploit in any manner, in whole or in part, the Content, except to the extent expressly permitted by us. We do not convey any interest in or to the Content. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by us, our affiliates and their licensors. For the sake of clarity, the Services include the Content.

Other Services and Features

For your convenience and information, we may provide links to other online services and features, including apps, tools, widgets, activities, and plug-ins, which may be operated by entities not affiliated with us. We make no representations or warranties regarding any such service or feature. If you choose to access any link to other services or features, you understand that you are connecting directly to that service or feature and will be subject to any terms of use, policies and privacy practices of the party that operates the service or feature.

We endeavor to observe the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In the event you believe that any Content or User Material infringes your copyright or other intellectual property right, you may notify our designated agent by email at dmca@risefortheworld.org or at the address provided below under “How to Contact Us,” Attn: Rise - DMCA Complaint. 

You must include the following information in your complaint:

  • a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
  • a description of the material that you claim is infringing with respect to the Services;
  • your email address, mailing address and telephone number;
  • a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material on the Services is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent or law;
  • a statement by you that the above information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf; and
  • an electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.


User Material

We may allow you to submit and post content, including but not limited to your Submission and Project (as defined in the Rise Rules), materials, documents, comments, ideas, photos, videos, and other information (collectively, “User Material”). 

As between you and us, you retain ownership of any and all intellectual property rights you may hold in your User Material. You grant us the following license to your User Material: the non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual and irrevocable right to store, host, modify, translate, publish, transmit, copy, display, disseminate, and use your User Material, in all media and formats now known or hereafter invented, solely for the purposes of providing, supporting, and promoting the Services. 

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights and permissions to provide your User Material to us, and to authorize us to use such User Material in the manner contemplated by these Terms. You acknowledge that we have no obligation to keep any User Material confidential.

Please note that the license you grant us to your User Material and the statement above regarding non-confidentiality apply to intellectual property only, and do not expand or alter our use or disclosure of your personal information as set forth in our Privacy Notice.

While we may not review or monitor User Material, we reserve the right to block, refuse, delete, remove or edit, in whole or in part, any User Material that violates these Terms or is otherwise objectionable, as determined in our sole discretion. You are solely responsible and assume all risks associated with any User Material you submit or that is submitted through your account.  We assume no liability in connection with any damage, loss, or harm you may suffer from submitting, viewing, or using any User Material. 

Acceptable Use Policy

You agree that you will not post or submit any User Material or use the Services in a manner that: (1) is obscene, inappropriate, threatening, harassing, abusive, false, inaccurate, deceptive, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, pornographic, invasive of privacy or is otherwise injurious to third parties; (2) constitutes a criminal offense, gives rise to civil liability, or otherwise violates any local, state, national, or international law; (3) contains computer viruses, malware, bots, worms, Trojan horses or other harmful, disruptive, or destructive materials that limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment; (4) includes advertisements, promotional materials, spam, junk mail, pyramid schemes or other forms of solicitation; (5) impersonates another person or entity or falsely states or misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity; (6) attempts to or disguises the origin of any User Material posted to the Services; (7) implies our endorsement of something; (8) restricts or interferes with any other person’s ability to use or enjoy the Services, as determined in our sole discretion;  (9) tampers with User Material or registration information of others; (10) uses any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the Services; (11) extracts data or gathers or uses information available through the Services through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the Services; (12) infringes or alleges to be infringing upon a third-party's intellectual property rights, right of publicity, or other proprietary rights; (13) violates contractual or fiduciary relationships; or (14) violates these Terms or uses the Services in any manner that is inconsistent with the purposes or objectives of the Services, as determined in good faith by us. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Services and seek other legal or equitable remedies, upon becoming aware of any violation of this Acceptable Use Policy by you.

Warranty Disclaimer

THE SERVICES AND THE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THE SERVICES WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THE SERVICES WILL BE FREE OF ANY MALWARE OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE, OR THE CONTENT OR RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR RELIABLE.

WE AND OUR AFFILIATES AND LICENSORS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  

CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND, ACCORDINGLY, THE LIMITATIONS IN THIS SECTION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF YOU ARE A CONSUMER, ANY STATUTORY RIGHTS THAT CANNOT BE WAIVED BY YOU ARE UNAFFECTED BY THIS SECTION.  

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR AFFILIATES OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR LOST REVENUES OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, DELICT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 

BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW FOR THE EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES, OUR LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless us and our affiliates, successors and assigns, and each of their respective trustees, officers, directors, employees, agents, suppliers and representatives (“Rise Parties”), from and against all claims, liabilities, actions, suits, proceedings, assessments, judgments, decrees, losses, expenses, damages, settlements, fines, penalties and associated costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or related to (1) your use or misuse of the Services (which for the sake of clarity includes your application to or participation in the Rise Challenge); (2) your breach of these Terms; or (3) any User Materials you submit to us; or (4) our use of your User Materials and/or the exercise of any rights granted to us, including, without limitation claims based on rights of privacy, rights of publicity, false light, defamation, copyright, patent, or trademark infringement. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter that is subject to indemnification under this section, in which event you agree to cooperate with any reasonable requests assisting our defense of such matter.

Release of Claims

You release the Rise Parties from and against all claims, liabilities, actions, suits, proceedings, assessments, judgments, decrees, losses, fees, damages, settlement funds, and associated costs and expenses including attorney’s fees arising from or in connection with your use of the Services (which for the sake of clarity includes your application to or participation in the Rise Challenge), any use of User Material, and/or the exercise of any rights granted to us, including without limitation claims based on rights of privacy, rights of publicity, false light, defamation, copyright, patent and/or trademark infringement relating to your User Material.

Governing Law

All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of these Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the domestic laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law.

Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND WE AGREE TO ARBITRATE ANY CONTROVERSY, CLAIM OR DISPUTE ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES (INCLUDING FOR THE SAKE OF CLARITY YOUR APPLICATION TO OR PARTICIPATION IN THE RISE CHALLENGE), INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CLAIMS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STATUTORY OR REGULATORY PROVISIONS. EACH PARTY IS GIVING UP ITS RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND TO HAVE ANY CONTROVERSY, CLAIM OR DISPUTE HEARD BY A JUDGE OR JURY.

THIS AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE ALSO APPLIES TO THRESHOLD ARBITRABILITY ISSUES, INCLUDING ISSUES RELATED TO WHETHER THIS AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE IS UNCONSCIONABLE OR ILLUSORY AND ANY DEFENSE TO ARBITRATION.  YOU ALSO AGREE THAT ANY ARBITRATION MAY ONLY BE BROUGHT IN YOUR AND OUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES, NOT AS A CLASS, PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.  THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY’S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING.

The mutual promise by you and us to arbitrate any and all disputes, and to do so on an individual basis, rather than to litigate before the courts or other bodies, provides the mutual consideration for this agreement to arbitrate.

Either party may exercise the right to arbitrate by providing the other party with written notice of any and all claims forming the basis of such right in sufficient detail to inform the other party of the substance of such claims. In no event shall the request for arbitration be made after the date when institution of legal or equitable proceedings based on such claims would be barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

Unless you and we otherwise agree, the arbitration will be conducted in the county where you reside by a single neutral arbitrator and in accordance with the then-current rules for resolution of disputes of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) (available online at www.adr.org or by calling 1-800-778-7879). The parties are entitled to representation by an attorney or other representative of their choosing. The parties agree to abide by and perform any award rendered by the arbitrator. The arbitrator shall issue the award in writing and therein state the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA's rules. 

NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE, YOU MAY CHOOSE TO PURSUE YOUR CLAIM IN COURT AND NOT BY ARBITRATION IF YOU OPT OUT OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE EARLIER OF: (1) THE DATE YOU REGISTER AN ACCOUNT, OR (2) THE DATE YOU FIRST SIGNED AN AGREEMENT WITH RISE THAT CONTAINED AN ARBITRATION PROVISION. The opt-out notice must be postmarked no later than the applicable deadline and mailed to 555 Bryant Street #374, Palo Alto, CA 94301. The opt-out notice must state that you do not agree to this arbitration provision and must include your name, address, phone number and email address. You must sign the opt-out notice in order for it to be effective. This procedure is the only way you can opt out of this arbitration provision; failure to comply strictly with this procedure and the applicable deadline automatically will render the opt-out notice null and void. If you opt out of the arbitration provision, all other parts of these Terms will continue to apply.

General

To the extent any portion of these Terms is determined to be unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion will be modified solely to the extent necessary to cause such portion to be enforceable, and these Terms, as modified, will remain in full force and effect. This is the entire agreement between you and us relating to the subject matter herein.

Electronic Communications

These Terms and any other documentation, agreements, notices, or communications between you and us may be provided to you electronically to the extent permissible by law. Please print or otherwise save a copy of all documentation, agreements, notices, and other communications for your reference.

How To Contact Us

Rise, an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, is sponsored by ‍The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation.

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact terms@risefortheworld.org. You may also write to: The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, 555 Bryant Street #374, Palo Alto, CA 94301, Attn: Rise.