The following are the rules, conditions, and guidelines that apply to the European Respiratory Society (ERS) website.

ERS web site legal disclaimer

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Introduction

The European Respiratory Society is based in Switzerland and this privacy policy has been developed according to the legal obligations in this country and may be updated from time to time.

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Copyright

• All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of ERS.
  
  
• ERS hereby authorises the copying/downloading of materials published by it on the website for non-commercial use only, provided any copy retains all copyright and other proprietary notices contained herein.
  
  
• Users may not post or transmit any messages that are libellous, defamatory, abusive, anti-competitive, illegal, or violate any other person's copyrights, privacy rights, trademarks, trade secrets, or rights in other confidential information.
  
  
• The names, trademarks and logos of ERS appearing on this site may not be used in any advertising or publicity, or otherwise used to indicate sponsorship, endorsement of, or affiliation with any product or service, without prior written permission from the ERS.
  
  
• Users may not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner.

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Linking to external sites

• The ERS site includes external links which provide direct access to other internet sites, the ERS takes no responsibility for the content or information contained in them, and does not exert any editorial or other control over these external sites.
  
  
• The ERS cannot guarantee that these external links will work at all times and has no control over their availability.
  
  
• Please note that once you leave the ERS website you are no longer under the obligation of our privacy policy but of the external site you are visiting.

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Reliance on information

• The ERS shall not be liable for any financial loss, damage or injury which may arise from the use of or reliance upon any information or advice provided in this website.
  
  
• The ERS does not guarantee that the material contained in this site will be uninterrupted or error free and that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs.
  
  

• Information provided on the website does not constitute medical advice or treatment. ERS expressly disclaims all liability for treatment, diagnosis, decisions and actions taken or not taken in reliance upon information contained in this website.
  
  

• ERS does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings, nor does ERS exercise editorial control over postings. In the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of ERS, ERS reserves the right, but has no obligation, to review and remove such postings that ERS considers to be inappropriate, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable.

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IP Addresses/Statistics

Please note that all IP addresses are logged onto the ERS web server each time information is requested from the website. This may be used by the ERS for statistical purposes to determine the rate at which pages are being accessed. This information will help the ERS to develop the website and its services according to the specific requirements identified. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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ERS Roster

The ERS Roster has been placed on-line to enhance communication among ERS members. This is a member service, and is not to be used for commercial purposes. It is the members' responsibility not to share membership information with other individuals or institutions.

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Applicable law and Dispute resolution

• "Applicable law: the use in any way of the European Respiratory Society website will be governed and constructed in accordance with the laws of Switzerland"
  
  
• "Dispute resolution: Any dispute arising in any way in connection with the use of the European Respiratory Society website will be resolved by the ordinary courts of Lausanne, Switzerland."

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Intellectual Property

Website content:
The content of the website is protected by the author's right.

The ERS is also responsible for the content of the website. It should therefore regularly review it's content, in particular regarding the information that could be posted, if any, by members.

Website presentation:
The presentation of the website is also protected by the author's right, as long as it's sufficiently distinctive and individualized. This is not the case if the website can be considered as "standard".

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Protection against abusive use of the website

The ERS may not be liable for any financial loss or damage which may arise consequently to an unauthorized and illegal use by a third party of the ERS website.

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Data Protection

The ERS may not be liable for any financial loss or damage which may arise consequently to an unauthorized and illegal use by a third party of the information filed on the ERS website server.

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Data Transmission

The ERS reserves it's right to provide any data filed on its server upon a formal and legal request by the competent authorities.