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PetroWiki:Terms of use

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These “Terms of Use” provide you with information about the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ (SPE’s) relationship to you as a reader, editor, author, contributor, or champion of PetroWiki, and the rights and responsibilities that guide us both.

Please be aware that you are legally responsible for all of your contributions, edits, and re-use of PetroWiki content under the laws of the United States of America and other applicable laws (which may include the laws where you live or where you view or edit content). This means it is important that you use caution when posting content. In light of this responsibility, SPE has some rules about what you cannot post, most of which is either for your own protection or for the protection of other users like yourself. Please keep in mind that the content in PetroWiki is for general informational purposes only, so you should apply engineering judgment in its application. If you need expert advice for a particular question, you should seek the help of a licensed or qualified professional. This page also includes other important notices and disclaimers, so please read these Terms of Use in their entirety.

Your Agreement

Your use of this site and materials provided herein is subject to these Terms of Use, and by using, reviewing, or submitting and content on this site, you hereby agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. Please be advised that these Terms may change from time to time so we recommend that review them periodically. Your continued use of this site upon amended Terms constitutes your agreement to be bound by such Terms.

What we offer

PetroWiki was started with the content of the 7-volume Petroleum Engineering Handbook, published in 2006-2007 by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Over time, this content has been modified, supplemented, and updated based on contributions from the SPE professional membership and their well-qualified colleagues. SPE hosts PetroWiki as a service to members of the worldwide oil and gas exploration and production industry.

Industry members with appropriate expertise volunteer their time to moderate content contributed to PetroWiki. This provides a measure of assurance that content is technically accurate, however, users of content on this site are solely responsible for using sound engineering judgment in his/her evaluation and application. SPE, with the assistance of volunteer members, selects champions for various content sections. However, SPE does not represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any submitted content. SPE simply provides access to the content that members have contributed, edited, and moderated.

You are responsible for your own edits and contributions to PetroWiki, including compliance with company policies and applicable laws of the USA and other jurisdictions (as appropriate). You are also responsible for your use of any information found on PetroWiki. The purpose of PetroWiki is to provide general information, not to replace professional advice.

Privacy policy

Please review the terms of our Privacy Policy, so that you are aware of how SPE collects and uses your information. Because PetroWiki is used globally, personal information that we collect may be stored and processed in the United States of America or any other country in which we maintain facilities. By using our services, you consent to any such transfer of information outside your country.

Refraining from certain behavior

SPE wants PetroWiki to be used widely as a valued resource within the oil and gas exploration and production industry. To ensure that PetroWiki remains a valuable resource, users are asked to refrain from the following types of behavior.

Committing infringement

  • Infringing the copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other proprietary rights of any third party under the applicable law in any jurisdiction (applies to both SPE's copyrights and those held by others)

Engaging in false statements, impersonation, or fraud

  • Intentionally or knowingly posting content that constitutes libel or defamation
  • With the intent to deceive, posting content that is false or inaccurate
  • Attempting to impersonate another user or individual, misrepresenting your affiliation with any individual or entity, or using the username of another user with the intent to deceive
  • Engaging in fraud.

Violating the privacy of others

  • Infringing the publicity rights or privacy rights of others under the laws of the United States of America or other applicable laws (which may include the laws where you live or where you view or edit content)
  • Soliciting personally identifiable information for purposes of harassment, exploitation, or violation of privacy or publicity
  • Collection and use of any personally identifiable information on this site for any promotional or commercial purpose not explicitly approved by SPE

Engaging in disruptive and illegal misuse of the website

  • Posting or distributing content that contains any viruses, malware, worms, Trojan horses, malicious code, or other device that could harm our technical infrastructure or system or that of our users
  • Engaging in automated uses of the site that are abusive or disruptive of the services and have not been approved by SPE
  • Disrupting the services by placing an undue burden on SPE networks or servers
  • Disrupting the services by inundating PetroWiki with communications or other traffic that suggests no serious intent to use PetroWiki for its stated purpose
  • Knowingly accessing, tampering with, or using any of our non-public areas in our computer systems without authorization
  • Probing, scanning, or testing the vulnerability of any of our technical systems or networks.

SPE may, from time to time, amend this list of prohibited actions, and SPE reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to enforce these Terms of Use.

Use of PetroWiki content

The original source material for PetroWiki, the Petroleum Engineering Handbook, is a copyrighted work of SPE. As authors generate new content or edit existing content, they agree to transfer ownership of the copyright to SPE. Therefore, the copyright in technical content of PetroWiki is owned by SPE. In general, certain material on PetroWiki that is identified as being owned by SPE can be reused by you for a limited, personal, non-commercial reason without prior permission from SPE. Re-publication, distribution, or commercial use may require permission and potentially payment of fees. For more information see PetroWiki:Permissions.

The Petroleum Engineering Handbook, and consequently PetroWiki, includes, with permission, figures and tables copyrighted by other organizations. These figures and tables are marked as such. PetroWiki’s permission for use of these third-party materials is non-transferrable and does not cover your use of them. To reuse any of these third-party materials for any purpose, you must obtain the appropriate permissions directly from the copyright holder of the original source.

Materials in the Help and PetroWiki namespaces (pages that start with Help: or PetroWiki:) are not copyrighted by SPE. Much of the help material has been modified from the MediaWiki and Wikipedia sites (which make their content available under a Creative Commons license). Reuse of material on these pages is allowed without permission from SPE, subject to the permissible use policies of MediaWiki and Wikipedia.

DMCA compliance

In the event that you are a copyright holder and believe that material posted or found on this website infringes your copyright, please provide us with the information identified below, as required by federal law under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Pursuant to the DMCA, we remove all allegedly infringing material and we may terminate, in appropriate circumstances, users and account holders of our system and network who are repeat infringers.

Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2) [DMCA], notification of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to:

Society of Petroleum Engineers Senior Manager, Technical Publications P.O. Box 833836 Richardson, TX 75083 U.S.A. Telephone: 972-952-9393 Fax: 972-952-9435 Email: petrowiki(at)spe.org

Under the DMCA, to be effective, the notification must be a written communication that includes the following:

  • a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
  • identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed
  • identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material
  • information reasonably sufficient to allow us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted
  • a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or applicable law
  • a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Third-party websites and resources

You are solely responsible for your use of any third-party websites or resources. Although PetroWiki contains links to third-party websites and resources, SPE does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for their availability, accuracy, or the related content, products, or services (including, without limitation, any viruses or other disabling features), nor do we have any obligation to monitor such third-party content. Your use of these third-party websites and resources is solely at your own risk.

Problem users

On occasion, the activities of specific users who are being destructive or violating these Terms of Use, may be brought to the attention of SPE through our own discovery, reports from champions, or reports from other users. In such cases, SPE reserves the right, but does not have the obligation to:

  • Investigate your use of the service (a) to determine whether a violation of these Terms of Use, or other applicable law or policy has occurred, or (b) to comply with any applicable law, legal process, or appropriate governmental request
  • Detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues or respond to user support requests
  • Refuse, disable, or restrict access to the contribution of any user who violates these Terms of Use
  • Ban a user from editing or contributing or block a user's account or access for actions violating these Terms of Use, including repeat copyright infringement
  • Take legal action against users who violate these Terms of Use (including reports to law enforcement authorities)
  • Manage PetroWiki in a manner designed to facilitate its proper functioning and protect the rights, property, and safety of ourselves and our users, contributors, champions, and the public.

Termination

SPE reserves the right to terminate PetroWiki or any of its services at any time without notice. In certain circumstances it may be necessary for SPE to block your account or access for editing or contributing to PetroWiki. If your account is blocked or otherwise terminated for any reason, your public contributions will remain publicly available (subject to applicable policies) and you may still access our public pages for the sole purpose of reading publicly available content. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to suspend or end the services at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. Even after your use and participation are banned, blocked or otherwise suspended, these Terms of Use will remain in effect.

Representations and warranties

You represent and warrant that (i) the use of this site, including any material submitted by you, will not infringe or violate the proprietary rights of any third party; (ii) that your use of this site or the content herein shall not cause you to violate any agreement that you have with another third party; (iii) that you will not use this site other than for personal use; and (iv) that you own and have all right, title and interest in and to any content that you post on or submit to this site.

Disputes and jurisdiction

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We hope that no serious disagreements arise involving you, but, in the event there is a dispute, SPE encourages you to seek resolution through the dispute resolution procedures or mechanisms provided within PetroWiki. If you seek to file a legal claim against us, you agree to file and resolve it exclusively in a state or federal court located in Collin County, Texas. You also agree that the laws of the State of Texas and, to the extent applicable, the laws of the United States of America will govern these Terms of Use, as well as any legal claim that might arise between you and us (without reference to conflict of laws principles). You agree to submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of, and agree that venue is proper in, the courts located in Collin County, Texas, USA in any legal action or proceeding relating to us or these Terms of Use.

To ensure that disputes are dealt with soon after they arise, you agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action you might have arising out of or related to use of PetroWiki services or these Terms of Use must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations or, if earlier, one (1) year after the pertinent facts underlying such claim or cause of action could have been discovered with reasonable diligence (or be forever barred).

Disclaimers

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CONTENTS OF THIS WIKI WERE CONTRIBUTED BY MEMBERS OF SPE AND THEIR WELL-QUALIFIED COLLEAGUES FROM MATERIAL PUBLISHED IN THE RECOGNIZED TECHNICAL LITERATURE AND FROM THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE. CONTENTS ARE REVIEWED BY ADDITIONAL MEMBERS WITH RELEVANT EXPERTISE BEFORE A PAGE IS GIVEN THE STATUS OF “APPROVED.” WHILE THE MATERIAL PRESENTED IS BELIEVED TO BE BASED ON SOUND TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, SPE DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR YOUR USE OF THIS SITE AND/OR THE RELATED MATERIALS AND FOR ANY DAMAGE, HARM, CLAIMS, LOSSES, MISINFORMATION, AND THE LIKE RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THIS SITE AND/OR THE RELATED MATERIALS, AND NEITHER THE SPE NOR ANY OF THE AUTHORS OR EDITORS HEREIN PROVIDE A WARRANTY EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. CORRESPONDINGLY, THE DISCUSSION OF MATERIALS, METHODS, OR TECHNIQUES THAT MAY BE COVERED BY LETTERS PATENTS, OR ANY OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, NEITHER IMPLIES NOR GRANTS FREEDOM TO USE SUCH MATERIALS, METHODS OR TECHNIQUES WITHOUT PERMISSION THROUGH APPROPRIATE LICENSING AND AUTHORIZATION.

NOTHING DESCRIBED WITHIN THIS WIKI SHOULD BE CONSTRUED TO LESSEN THE NEED TO APPLY SOUND ENGINEERING JUDGMENT OR TO CAREFULLY APPLY ACCEPTED ENGINEERING PRACTICES IN THE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION, OR ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Limitation on liability for incidental and consequential damages

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SPE will not be liable to you or to any other party for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses, regardless of whether we were advised of the possibility of such damage. In no event shall our liability exceed one hundred US dollars (USD 100.00) in aggregate. In the case that applicable law may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability or incidental or consequential damages, the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you, although our liability will be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.