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Terms and Conditions

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION AND DISCLAIMER CAREFULLY BEFORE JOININING THE UNLweb.

By accessing or using the UNLweb, you represent and warrant that you have read, fully understand and agree to comply with the rules, terms and conditions listed below. If you do not agree to these terms you may not use the UNLweb.

UNLweb

1. The UNLweb is the UNDL Foundation’s web portal for creating resources and information for the Universal Networking Language (UNL) in a unified way. It includes:

  • The UNLarium, which is the UNDL Foundation’s web-based integrated development environment for creating and editing language resources for natural language engineering especially related (but not limited) to the UNL framework;
  • The UNLcommunity, which is the UNDL Foundation's social network for exchanging information about the UNL framework;
  • The UNLdev, which is the UNDL Foundation’s web-based integrated development environment for testing language resources related (but not limited) to the UNL framework;
  • The UNLforum, which is the UNDL Foundation’s web-based message board for discussing issues and disseminating information related to the UNL framework;
  • The UNLlab, which is the UNDL Foundation’s repository of applications related to the UNL framework;
  • The UNLversity, which is the UNDL Foundation’s portal to our training and research program;
  • The UNLwiki, which is the UNDL Foundation’s web-based environment for providing instructions and documentation related to the UNL framework; and
  • VALERIE, which is the UNDL Foundation’s virtual learning environment for teaching and training the UNL Community about UNL-related matters.

2. The UNLweb provides several additional conditions, limitations, restrictions, and help issues (such as the UNL specifications, the UNDLF tagset, the UNDLF dictionary specifications, the UNDLF grammar specifications and the UNDLF knowledge base specifications). All and any of such provisions are part of the Terms and Conditions you agree to comply with as well as provisions given below.

3. The participation in the UNLweb is restricted to individuals of legal age of majority as determined under the jurisdiction in which the individual resides.

PERMISSIONS

4. The UNLweb comprises seven different categories of permission, which are assigned by the UNDL Foundation according to several characteristics, including profile, performance, expertise, institutional status and academic records:

  • Observers: are allowed only to view data;
  • Trainees: are allowed to add and edit their own data, under supervision;
  • Authors: are allowed to add and edit their own data;
  • Editors: are allowed to add data and edit authors' data;
  • Revisers: are allowed to add data and edit authors’ and editors’ data;
  • Managers: are allowed to add and edit any data, including projects;
  • Supermanagers: are allowed to edit the source code of the system.

The initial (default) permission level is Observer. In order to be promoted to the Author level, users must be approved in the corresponding certificates, to be pursued in VALERIE, the Virtual Learning Environment for UNL.

5. Every data is double-checked inside the UNLarium: first by the editor, and then by the reviser. Permissions may be altered depending on users’ track history. Users may be demoted if their evaluated entries achieve 10% or above of errors.

UNLdots

6. The activity in UNLweb is measured by UNLdots, a unit of time and complexity for estimating the effort normally spent in performing UNLweb-related tasks within assignments. The rates for UNLdots are detailed in the following table:

Table 1 - Rates of the UNLdots

ACTIVITY (within assignments)UNLdot
Add 01 (one) new dictionary entry 01
Add 01 (one) new dictionary rule 01
Add 01 (one) new grammar rule 01
Edit 01 (one) dictionary entry (last modified by other user) 01
Edit 01 (one) dictionary rule (last modified by other user) 01
Edit 01 (one) grammar rule (last modified by other user) 01
UNL-ize a document 01 (per relation)

7. No UNLdot is afforded to users editing their own data (i.e., data that have been inserted or last modified by the same user).

LEVELS

8. The UNLweb comprises seven different levels of expertise, which are assigned according to the number of UNLdots accumulated by the user, as indicated in table 2:

Table 2 - Levels of Expertise

Level

Number of UNLdots

A0 from 0 to 5,000 UNLdots
A1 from 5,001 to 15,000 UNLdots
A2 from 15,001 to 30,000 UNLdots
B1 from 30,001 to 50,000 UNLdots
B2 from 50,001 to 75,000 UNLdots
C1 from 75,001 to 100,000 UNLdots
C2 above 100,001 UNLdots

 

LICENSE AND ATTRIBUTION

9. To grow the commons of free knowledge and free culture, all users contributing to the UNLweb are required to grant broad permissions to the general public to re-distribute and re-use their contributions freely, as long as the use is attributed and the same freedom to re-use and re-distribute applies to any derivative works. Therefore, by submitting any data, you agree to license it under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (Unported). For compatibility reasons, you are also required to license it under the GNU Free Documentation License(unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts). You must note that these licenses do allow commercial uses of contributions, as long as such uses are compliant with the terms.

10. Users agree to be attributed and acknowledged through a list of all authors, which may be filtered to exclude very small or irrelevant contributions.

ACCOUNTS

11. UNLweb accounts are individual and personal, and must not be shared or distributed. Users must register in the system with their chosen username and password, which must be kept confidential. Users are not allowed to subcontract or to delegate to any third party any part of the work to be done, and should not leave their terminal unattended while logged in. Users will be personally responsible for any activity performed in the system under their username.

USERS

12. The UNLweb comprises four different types of users:

  • Volunteers, i.e., those who participate in the project voluntarily;
  • Freelancers, i.e., accredited professionals who are paid for their work;
  • Partners, i.e., members of affiliate institutions; and
  • Employees of the UNDL Foundation.

13. Volunteers and freelancers participate in the UNLweb as fully-independent and self-determining contributors and are not committed to any goal, timetable, schedule, deadline or obligation other than complying with the system specifications. In case of natural language resources production, they must reserve and block a number of entries (from 50 to 250) that they intend to address in the UNLarium in the period of one calendar month, after which the untreated entries will be automatically returned to the general database and may be reserved and blocked by other contributors. Volunteers and freelancers will not be able to make new reservations prior to the accomplishment of the on-going entries they have reserved, and will not experience any penalty for not completing the task in the accepted time.

14. Freelancer work is restricted to the languages and to the projects explicitly indicated by the UNDL Foundation. Any contribution to any language or to any project not explicitly funded by the UNDL Foundation will be considered voluntary and will not be remunerated.

15. Volunteers, freelancers and partners will perform the services as independent contractors. They will not be deemed to be employees of the UNDL Foundation, and will not be entitled to any employee benefits.

PAYMENT

16. A UNLcred is a UNLdot done by freelancers in funded assignments after being validated by language managers. The validation process may take up to 5 (five) working days.

17. As a full compensation for their services, the UNDL Foundation agrees to pay freelancers the values indicated in table 3 below, which will be calculated according to the different levels of expertise and to the number of UNLcreds accumulated  (see levels above, table 2):

Table 3 – Payment Scheme

LEVEL1 (one) UNLcred
A0 USD 0.25
A1 USD 0.50
A2 USD 0.60
B1 USD 0.70
B2 USD 0.80
C1 USD 0.90
C2 USD 1.00

18. Payments will be made according to one of the three methods below:

  • Through PayPal, on the first week of each calendar month, for the amount of UNLcreds accumulated, if equal or higher than USD 100.00 (one hundred US Dollars);
  • Through PayPal, on the first week of February, May, August and November, for the amount of UNLcreds accumulated, if less than USD 100.00 (one hundred US Dollars);
  • Through international bank transfer, on the first week of February, May, August and November, for the amount of UNLcreds accumulated, if the user explicitly choses the option.

19. Payments will only be made to individuals properly registered in the system, and whose personal data (first name, last name, address) coincides with the one registered at PayPal or at the bank account. No payment will be issued to companies or third parties.

20. The UNDL Foundation will make no deductions from any of the payments due to freelancers, who will be personally responsible for any and all taxes and other payments due on payments received hereunder.

21. The UNDL Foundation will not pay or reimburse any expense that users may have concerning the services to be performed in the UNLweb, including infrastructure (hardware, software, power supply, internet connection, internet provider, etc.) and support (training, printing material, phone calls, lodging, transportation, etc.).

CODE OF CONDUCT

22. Contributors must be ethical. Contributors warrant that data submitted to the UNLweb were provided by themselves, as original work, and will not infringe upon or violate any intellectual property right of any third party.

23. Contributors must be considerate. Contributors’ work will be used by other people. Any decision taken will affect users and colleagues, and contributors ought to take those consequences into account when making decisions. Members of every project come and go and the UNLweb is no different. When somebody leaves or disengages from the project, in whole or in part, we ask that they do so in a way that minimises disruption to the project. This means contributors should tell people they are leaving and take the proper steps to ensure that others can pick up where they left off.

24. Contributors must be respectful. Everyone can make a valuable contribution to the UNLweb. We may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It's important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. Contributors will concur to be respectful when dealing with other contributors and users of the UNLweb.

25. Contributors must be accurate. When contributors or users are unsure, they should ask for help. Nobody knows everything, and nobody is expected to be perfect in the UNLweb community. Asking questions avoids many problems down the road, and so questions are encouraged. However, when asking a question, care must be taken to do so in an appropriate forum.

26. Contributors must be responsible. Contributors must respect and maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information  and take good care of the UNLweb, and not expose it to loss, damage, misuse or theft. You also agree to respect and maintain the confidentiality of the answers of VALERIE's exams, and not to publish or distribute them by any means.

TERMINATION

27. The UNDL Foundation reserves the right to cancel your account in the UNLarium and terminate its relationship with you, with immediate effect, at any time. The UNDL Foundation may, inter alia, and without any limitations, cancel your account and terminate its relationship with you in any of the following circumstances:

  • If you are not of legal age;
  • If you have intentionally provide incorrect or misleading data;
  • If you have provided data that violates intellectual property right of any third party;
  • If you have allowed or permitted (intentionally or unintentionally) someone else to enter the UNLweb with your account;
  • If you have been vandalizing data or persistently behaving in a disruptive way;
  • If you have not followed our code of conduct; or
  • If the projects or languages you are working on are cancelled or discontinued for any reasons.

UNDL FOUNDATION POLICY

28. The UNDL Foundation does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of place of origin, ethnicity, citizenship, gender, age, political or religious affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, family relationship, or economic or medical status. The UNDLF Foundation aims to treat all people with respect, and to foster a productive environment free of harassment, intimidation and discrimination.

PRIVACY POLICY

29. The UNDL Foundation does not sell, rent or lease users’ personal data to third parties and collects and retains the least amount of personally identifiable information needed to fulfil the UNLweb operational needs. Nevertheless, user contributions are aggregated according to their registration and login status and are publicly available, as well as their personal data, such as the score of UNLdots, which may be disclosed. Users expressly acknowledge and accept that this personal data may be viewed, accessed and communicated outside of Switzerland and anywhere in the world. The email address put into one's user preferences will be used by the UNDL Foundation for communication.

30. The Internet is generally not regarded as a secure environment, and information sent via the Internet can be accessed by unauthorized third parties, potentially leading to disclosures, changes in content or technical failures. Even if both sender and receiver are located in the same country, information sent via the Internet may be transmitted across international borders and be forwarded to a country with a lower data protection level than exists in your country of residence. Please note that we accept no responsibility or liability for the security of your information whilst in transit over the Internet to the UNDL Foundation.

DISCLAIMER

31. As an on-line open-content collaborative database, the UNDL Foundation cannot guarantee the validity of the information submitted to the UNLweb. The UNLweb software and databases are provided “as is” and the UNDL Foundation makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose or that the use of the licensed software, database or documentation will not infringe any third party patents, copyrights, trademarks or other rights. In no event shall the UNDL Foundation be liable for any claim, damages (direct or indirect) or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with your use of or other dealings in the web-based development environment for creating and editing language resources (including for your use of software associated therewith, or impossibility – permanent or temporary – to use such environment), even in the event of negligence by the UNDL Foundation or gross negligence by the employees or auxiliaries of the UNDL Foundation.

MODIFICATION OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

32. The UNDL Foundation reserves the right to modify all its forms and documents, including the present Terms and Conditions, and including the web-based development environment for creating and editing language resources at any time. The amendments shall be communicated to you by way of a pop-up screen or by any other appropriate means of communication, at the choice of the UNDL Foundation, with at least a one (1) month prior notice. In the absence of written objection by you within a period of one (1) calendar month following the dispatch of the notice, the modifications shall be deemed to have been approved and will enter into force at the end of the notice period.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

33. All legal relations between you and the UNDL Foundation shall be governed by the substantive laws of Switzerland, without any references to Swiss international private law rules. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for any form of proceeding shall be the ordinary courts of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, subject to the right of appeal to the Swiss Federal Court in the cases provided by law. However, the UNDL Foundation retains the right to file an action in your country of domicile or before any other competent court, in which case Swiss law shall also apply.

 
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