Terms & Conditions

Published February 2007

We encourage visitors to contribute to this website. Your use of this website and the submission of any material to this website is subject to the following Terms and Conditions.

1. Use of our website

   1. You may not upload any material to this website or post any comment on this website without first registering with us. By using this website you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions ("these Conditions") and our Privacy Policy.

      Please read these Conditions; they are important. If you do not agree to these Conditions do not use this website.

   2. We may change these Conditions or our Privacy Policy at any time by posting changes on this website, and without giving you notice, so please check them each time you visit this website - the date of publication of these terms and conditions will be indicated. If you continue to use this website after we have posted any change to these Conditions or our Privacy Policy, you will be agreeing to that change.

   3. We monitor and may record any use that you or anyone else makes of this website. If you have any complaint about any material submitted by a third party to our website, you should contact us immediately at network@nature.com. You can also report such material to us by using our moderation system.

   4. You must not try to circumvent the security features of this website, or tamper with, hack into, or in any other way disrupt or disable any computer system, server, website, router or other device used to host this website or make it available.

2. Intellectual Property Rights

   1. This website and its content are protected by copyright, database rights, trade marks and other intellectual property rights. No right to use or licence of any of those intellectual property rights is granted except as explicitly set out in these Conditions.

   2. You may read, print and download parts of the material and information on this website for your private use, but you may not make any profit from the use of that material or information, and you may not copy, reproduce, adapt, create any work derived from, republish, download, make available to the public, disseminate, transmit, or exploit any of it for any commercial purpose without first obtaining our written permission or that of the rights holder, where those rights are not held by NPG. In the case of Creative Commons licensed content, the license applied to the content may vary from the terms of this clause. The Creative Commons license takes precedence where they differ.

      If you wish to seek such permission please contact: network@nature.com.

   3. If you submit any material for inclusion on this website (including making any posting to any part of this website), you grant us an indefinite, royalty free, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to include and host that material on the website. Please do not upload or submit material to this website for which you do not own the rights or have the permission of the rights holder.

      Please do not submit, upload or post any material if you do not agree or are unable to grant the rights in Condition 2.3.

3. Contributions to this Website

   1. We want to encourage visitors to contribute to this website, but to do so responsibly. Bear in mind that we may identify you if we are requested or ordered to do so by a court or by any other competent authority.

   2. You are to abide by the following rules:

      1. not to submit any profanity or obscenity, even if you disguise it with asterisks or other typography;
      2. not to make any personal attack on any person, firm or company;
      3. not to submit or create any link to, any defamatory, obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, offensive, insulting, threatening, menacing, unlawful or blasphemous material;
      4. not to submit, or create any link, to any material that is an invasion of privacy, a breach of any data protection principle or legislation, a malicious falsehood or seditious libel, a contempt of court, or that is likely to incite or is capable of inciting violence, racial hatred, sadism or cruelty or that encourages any unlawful or illegal act or omission;
      5. not to submit, or create any link to, any material that is intentionally false or that is misleading, or that causes annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety, or that is potentially damaging or harmful;
      6. to keep to the discussion topic;
      7. not to impersonate anyone else, whether or not a public figure, a member of NPG staff, a forum moderator or administrator or host;
      8. not to state or represent falsely that you are connected to, or affiliated with, any individual or entity;
      9. not to promote or advertise, or engage in any other form of marketing, including (without limitation) chain letters or pyramid selling, even if you are acting on behalf of a non-profit-making organisation or a charity, not to upload or post any form of spam, multiple submissions to forums or comments which are identical or other forms of promotion for other sites;
      10. not to submit any material that is protected by copyright, database rights, that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, rights of privacy or publicity, or other proprietary rights of any party or any other intellectual property rights unless you are the owner of those rights, or you have the permission of that owner to publish that material in that way;
      11. not to submit, or create any link to, any confidential information; if you do so it will no longer be confidential. (Except as set out in our Privacy Policy);
      12. not to use our website to manipulate the market for any security, nor to offer, sell or buy any security or in any way that is in breach of any rule or regulation relating to financial services;
      13. not knowingly to break any law or regulation whilst using our website;
      14. not to use our website to collect personal data about other individuals;
      15. not to use any oversized fonts or JavaScript; use only the facilities provided for content creation, as documented on the website, which for reference are: bold, italic, headings and lists;
      16. not to submit, or create a link to, any file that contains any virus, corrupted data, Trojan horse or anything else that might damage, destroy or render inaccessible any data or files on any computer;
      17. not to use the website as a forwarding service to another website;
      18. not to allow usage by others in such a way as to violate these Terms and Conditions;
      19. not to "stalk" or otherwise harass another

   3. You will not disclose your password, PIN or ID to anyone; you are responsible for all submissions to our website made using them. If you know or suspect that someone else knows your password, PIN or ID, you will let us know immediately by contacting: registration@nature.com. We may suspend or change any password, PIN or ID if there is a breach of security or misuse of this website, or if we suspect that this is the case.

   4. We may, at our discretion, block, delete or remove from this website any information or other material that you have posted or accessed, for any reason (whether or not you are in breach of these Conditions), at any time and without informing you.

   5. We may, at our discretion, prevent you from logging into the website and posting material, at any time and without informing you.

   6. We do not undertake to keep or make available any material that you or anyone else has contributed to this website for any length or time, and you are advised to make a copy of any material that you wish to keep. We may delete, archive, make unavailable, or comment on any material, and close or suspend any discussion topic without notice.

   7. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Macmillan Publishers Limited and its affiliates, and its and their officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors and suppliers, from and against any and all losses, liabilities, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable legal fees and court costs, arising or resulting from any violation of these Conditions. If you cause a technical disruption of the site or the systems transmitting the site to you or others, you agree to be responsible for any and all losses, liabilities, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable legal fees and court costs, arising or resulting from that disruption.

4. Data Protection and Privacy

   1. We want to protect the privacy of visitors to our website and that of our customers and other individuals. Please read our Privacy Policy; it will help you to understand how we use your personal data. We may change our privacy policy at any time without giving you notice, so please check it each time you visit this website.

   2. Whenever you give us personal data, you are consenting to its collection and use in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

5. Contributions and Links

   1. Any opinion, advice, statement, service, offer, or information or content provided or made by any third party on the this website, or on any website to which this website is linked, is that of the author or provider, and not of Macmillan Publishing Limited. We do not endorse, and we are not responsible for, the accuracy or reliability of, any such opinion, advice, statement, service, offer, information or content.

   2. Where any content or information or service available via the website has been supplied by a third party, we do not control or endorse it in any way. All information, content and services supplied by third parties are made available in good faith but we do not (to the extent allowed by the law) accept responsibility for their accuracy or use.

   3. We make no representation and give no warranty about any other websites or any opinion, advice, statement, offer, information or content on them or goods or services offered by them. We have no control over their content or availability. We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by or in connection with any use of, or reliance on, any information, materials, goods or services available on or through any other website.

   4. You should direct any concern about any other website to that site's website administrator or web master.

6. Accuracy of Information and Disclaimer

   1. We try to ensure that any information and content on this website that has not been supplied by a third party is accurate, but we make no representation and give no warranty that any information or content is accurate, up to date or complete. We accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by inaccurate, out of date or incomplete information or content.

   2. If you find any inaccurate, out of date or incomplete information or content on this website, or if you suspect that something is an infringement of intellectual property rights or unlawful, you must let us know immediately by contacting network@nature.com.

   3. You should independently verify any information and content on this website before relying on it. The information and content on and software available through this website are not intended to address any particular requirements; they do not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by Macmillan Publishers Limited and are not intended to be relied upon when making (or refraining from making) any decision.

7. Our Liability

   1. We provide the information and material on this website to you free of charge; it is provided on the basis that we have no liability for that information or material.

   2. We have no liability for the inability of anyone to access this website or any information or material on it, and we do not warrant that this website will operate without interruption or will always be available.

   3. We are not responsible for, and will have no liability for, any error or corruption or breach of security resulting from the transmission of any information or material over any telecommunications network.

   4. We do not exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for any fraud on our part, or for any liability that cannot be excluded by law.

   5. Subject to Condition 7.4, we will not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for any loss of business, profit, revenue or goodwill, or loss or corruption of data, lost or wasted management time or the lost time of other employees arising from your use of our website or any information or material on it, or your inability to use it (whether that loss is direct or indirect).

   6. All warranties, representations, terms, conditions and undertakings, whether implied by statute, common law, custom, trade usage, course of dealing or otherwise (including any implied warranty, representation, term, condition or undertaking of satisfactory quality or fitness for a particular purpose) are excluded to the fullest extent allowed by law.

   7. Nothing in these Conditions affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

8. General

   1. No delay, neglect or forbearance on our part in enforcing any of these Conditions will be, or be deemed to be, a waiver; nor will it prejudice any of our rights.

   2. If any of these Conditions is (for any reason) held to be unenforceable, illegal or in some other way invalid, the unenforceable, illegal or invalid provision will not affect the remainder of these Conditions; and they will continue in full force and effect.

   3. These Conditions are governed by English law and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England. The place of performance will be England.

   4. No addition to or modification of any provision of these Conditions that you propose will be binding on us unless made in writing and signed by our duly authorised representative. "Writing" includes e-mail.

9. Further Information

   This website is operated by Macmillan Publishers Limited.

   Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company registered in England, and its registered number is 785998.

   Its registered office is at: Brunel House, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.

   If you wish to raise any query, please contact: network@nature.com.