Terms and Conditions

On January 1 2017, Mashauri adopted amended Terms of Service, providing as follows

Welcome to Mashauri. Please read these Terms of Service (“TOS”) and the Mashauri Privacy Policy and Honor Code prior to registering for Mashauri.org or using any portion of the Mashauri website (the “Site,” which consists of all content and pages located within the Mashauri.org web domain), including accessing any course material, chat rooms, or other electronic services. These TOS, the Privacy Policy and the Honor Code are agreements (the “Agreements”) between you and Mashauri. By using the Site, you accept and agree to be legally bound by the Agreements, whether or not you are a registered user. If you do not understand or do not wish to be bound by the terms of the Agreements, you should not use the Site.

Mashauri reserves the right to modify these TOS at any time without advance notice. Any changes to these TOS will be effective immediately upon posting on this page, with an updated effective date. By accessing the Site after any changes have been made, you signify your agreement on a prospective basis to the modified TOS and all of the changes. Be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of these TOS.

DESCRIPTION OF MASHAURI

Mashauri offers online courses that include opportunities for professor-to-student and student-to-student interactivity, individual assessment of a student’s work and, for students who demonstrate their mastery of subjects, a certificate of achievement or other acknowledgment.

RULES FOR ONLINE CONDUCT

You agree that you are responsible for your own use of the Site and for your User Postings. “User Postings” include all content submitted, posted, published or distributed on the Site by you or other users of the Site, including but not limited to all forum posts, wiki edits, notes, questions, comments, videos and file uploads. You agree that you will use the Site in compliance with these TOS, the Honor Code and all applicable local, state, national and international laws, rules and regulations, including copyright laws, any laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from your country of residence, and all United States export control laws.

As a condition of your use of the Mashauri services, you will not use the Site in any manner intended to damage, disable, overburden or impair any Mashauri server or the network(s) connected to any Mashauri server or to interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Site. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to any Mashauri server through hacking, password mining or any other means. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information stored on the Site, its servers or associated computers through any means not intentionally made available through the Site.

THE FOLLOWING LIST OF ITEMS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED ON THE SITE:

• Content that defames, harasses or threatens others;
• Content that discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them;
• Content that infringes another’s intellectual property, including, but not limited to, copyrights or trademarks;
• Profane, pornographic, obscene, indecent or unlawful content;
• Advertising or any form of commercial solicitation;
• Content related to partisan political activities;
• Viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, corrupted files, malware, spyware or any other similar software that may damage the operation of another’s computer or property; and
• Content that contains intentionally inaccurate information or that is posted with the intent of misleading others.

Furthermore, you agree not to scrape, or otherwise download in bulk, any Site content, including but not limited to a list or directory of users on the system, on-line textbooks, User Postings or user information. You agree not to misrepresent or attempt to misrepresent your identity while using the Site (although you are welcome and encouraged to use an anonymous username in the forums and to act in a manner that keeps your identity concealed).

USER ACCOUNTS AND AUTHORITY

In order to participate fully in Site activities, you must provide your name, an email address and a user password in order to create a user account (“User Account”). You agree that you will never divulge or share access or access information for your User Account with any third party for any reason. In setting up your User Account, you may be prompted to enter additional optional information (e.g., your address). You represent that all information provided by you is accurate and current. You agree to maintain and update your information to keep it accurate and current.

We care about the confidentiality and security of your personal information. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about what information about you Mashauri collects and how Mashauri uses that information.

YOUR RIGHT TO USE CONTENT ON THE SITE

Unless indicated as being in the public domain, the content on the Site is protected by England and Wales and foreign copyright laws. Unless otherwise expressly stated on the Site, the texts, exams, video, images and other instructional materials provided with the courses offered on this Site are for your personal use in connection with those courses only. We aim to make much of the Mashauri course content available under more open license terms that will help create a vibrant ecosystem of contributors and further Mashauri’s goal of making education accessible and affordable to the world.

Certain reference documents, digital textbooks, articles and other information on the Site are used with the permission of third parties, and use of that information is subject to certain rules and conditions, which will be posted along with the information. By using this Site you agree to abide by all such rules and conditions.

You agree to retain all copyright and other notices on any content you obtain from the Site. All rights in the Site and its content, if not expressly granted, are reserved.

USER POSTINGS

User Postings Representations and Warranties. By submitting or distributing your User Postings, you affirm, represent and warrant (1) that you have the necessary rights, licenses, consents and/or permissions to reproduce and publish the User Postings and to authorize Mashauri and its users to reproduce, modify, publish and otherwise use and distribute your User Postings in a manner consistent with the licenses granted by you below, and (2) that neither your submission of your User Postings nor the exercise of the licenses granted below will infringe or violate the rights of any third party. You, and not Mashauri, are solely responsible for your User Postings and the consequences of posting or publishing them.

License Grant to Mashauri. By submitting or distributing your User Postings, you hereby grant to Mashauri a worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, assignable, sub licensable, fully paid-up, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to host, transfer, display, perform, reproduce, modify, distribute, re-distribute, relicense and otherwise use, make available and exploit your User Postings, in whole or in part, in any form and in any media formats and through any media channels (now known or hereafter developed).

License Grant to Mashauri Users. By submitting or distributing your User Postings, you hereby grant to each user of the Site a non-exclusive license to access and use your User Postings in connection with their use of the Site for their own personal purposes.

CERTIFICATES, ETC.

Generally. Mashauri and the colleges, universities and other institutions providing courses on the Site (collectively, the “Members”) may offer a certificate of achievement or other acknowledgment (a “Certificate”) for students who, in their judgment, have satisfactorily demonstrated mastery of the course material. Certificates will be issued by Mashauri .The decision whether a Certificate will be awarded to a given student will be solely within the discretion of the awarding Member. Mashauri and/or the Members providing courses on the Site may choose not to offer a Certificate for some courses.

Registration and Payment. Subject to the foregoing, you may be required to pay a fee to receive an ID Verified Certificate of Achievement (a “Verified Certificate”) with respect to certain courses on the Site, in which case, the following processes and requirements shall apply:

• As part of your registration, you will be prompted to submit a photo of yourself, along with one other form of photo identification (“photo ID”). Although these items are collected by Mashauri in accordance with these TOS and the Mashauri Privacy Policy, you should be aware that the actual authentication of your identify is performed by an Mashauri third party service provider. Please refer to the Privacy Policy for additional details on how we handle those items once received by us.
• In addition, the processing of your payment information is done by an Mashauri third party vendor, and you will be re-routed to a secure website to complete the payment transaction. The Privacy Policy posted at the payment landing page operated by such third party vendor will govern the submission and processing of your payment details. Please familiarize yourself with those terms prior to initiating a transaction.
• Once your payment transaction is completed, you will be re-routed back to an Mashauri confirmation page and will receive a confirmation email with your name, order number and the payment amount. Please retain this email for your records as this information will be required if you seek a refund from Mashauri, as described below.

Course Withdrawal and Refunds.

• Verified Certificate Track: For enrollment in the verified certificate track, you have a period of 14 days after your payment or 14 days after your course starts (“Drop Period”) (up to 60 days after your payment) whichever comes second, during which you may withdraw or unregister from the course by clicking on the unenroll link on the student dashboard and request a refund by emailing info@Mashauri.org. Please include your full name and order number in your email request. Refunds will be credited to the credit card used when you registered and may take up to two billing cycles to process. Mashauri has no obligation to issue a refund after the Drop Period, but if you believe a refund is warranted, please email us at info@mashauri.org.
• Professional Education Courses: For enrollment in a Professional Education course, you have a period of 2 days after the course starts (up to 60 days after your payment) to unenroll from the course by clicking on the unenroll link on the student dashboard and request a refund by emailing info@mashauri.org. Please include your full name and order number in your email request. Refunds will be credited to the credit card used when you registered and may take up to two billing cycles to process. Mashauri has no obligation to issue a refund 2 days after a course start date, but if you believe a refund is warranted, please email us at info@mashauri.org.

No Other Enrollment. When you take a course through Mashauri, you will not be an applicant for admission to, or enrolled in, any degree program of the Member as a result of registering for or completing a course provided by such Member through Mashauri. You will not be entitled to use any of the resources of the Member beyond the online courses provided on the Site, nor will you be eligible to receive student privileges or benefits provided to students enrolled in degree programs of the Member.

AUTHENTICATION

In order that Mashauri can authenticate your identity as required by these TOS, you will be prompted to take a webcam photo of yourself, as well as a photo of an acceptable form of photo ID (described below). Once submitted to Mashauri, this information will be subject to the Mashauri Privacy Policy and will be used only for the purpose of verifying your identity. Acceptable forms of photo ID’s are:

• Government or State-issued driver’s license
• Passport
• National ID card
• State or Province ID card (including cards issued by motor vehicle agencies)

In order to be accepted by Mashauri, your photo ID must:

• Contain your full name exactly (excluding hyphens, accents and spaces)
• Contain a relatively current photograph of yourself
• Be an original document; photocopied documents cannot be accepted
• Be current and valid; expired documents cannot be accepted

Unfortunately, if you do not posses a photo ID meeting the criteria described above, Mashauri is unable to provide you with an ID Verified Certificate at this time.

TRADEMARKS

Use of Mashauri, Trademarks and Service Marks. The “Mashauri,” names, logos and seals are trademarks (“Trademarks”) of the respective entitiy. Likewise, the names, logos, and seals of the other Members are Trademarks owned by the respective Member. You may not use any of these Trademarks, or any variations thereof, without the owner’s prior written consent. You may not use any of these Trademarks, or any variations thereof, for promotional purposes, or in any way that deliberately or inadvertently claims, suggests or, in these institutions’ sole judgment, gives the appearance or impression of a relationship with or endorsement by these institutions.

All Trademarks not owned by Mashauri or the Members that appear on the Site or on or through the services made available on or through the Site, if any, are the property of their respective owners.

Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the Site without the written permission of the owner of the applicable Trademark.

DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT

Copyright owners who believe their material has been infringed on the Site should contact Mashauri’s designated copyright agent at info@Mashauri.org or at

Notification must include:

• Identification of the copyrighted work, or, in the case of multiple works at the same location, a representative list of such works at that site.
• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity. You must include sufficient information for us to locate the material (e.g., URL, IP address, computer name).
• Information for us to be able to contact the complaining party (e.g., email address, phone number).
• A statement that the complaining party believes that the use of the material has not been authorized by the copyright owner or an authorized agent.
• A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTY / LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITIES

THE SITE AND ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT OR SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE), INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, EXCEPT INSOFAR AS ANY SUCH IMPLIED WARRANTIES MAY NOT BE DISCLAIMED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

MASHAURI AND THE MASHAURI PARTICIPANTS (AS HERINAFTER DEFINED) DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL OPERATE IN AN UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE MANNER, THAT THE SITE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT THE COURSES OR CONTENT PROVIDED WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS. MASHAURI AND THE MASHAURI PARTICIPANTS ALSO MAKE NO WARRANTY ABOUT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS, OR QUALITY OF THE SITE OR ANY COURSES OR CONTENT, OR THAT ANY PARTICULAR COURSES OR CONTENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE MADE AVAILABLE. “MASHAURI PARTICIPANTS” MEANS MIT, HARVARD, THE OTHER MEMBERS, THE ENTITIES PROVIDING INFORMATION, CONTENT OR SERVICES FOR THE SITE, THE COURSE INSTRUCTORS AND THEIR STAFFS.

USE OF THE SITE, AND THE CONTENT AND SERVICES OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE, IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOUR ACCESS TO OR DOWNLOAD OF INFORMATION, MATERIALS OR DATA THROUGH THE SITE OR ANY REFERENCE SITES IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY (INCLUDING YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM) OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF SUCH MATERIAL OR DATA, UNLESS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THE MASHAURI Privacy Policy. 

User Postings Disclaimer. You understand that when using the Site you will be exposed to User Postings from a variety of sources and that neither Mashauri nor the Mashauri Participants are responsible for the accuracy, usefulness, reliability or intellectual property rights of or relating to such User Postings. You further understand and acknowledge that you may be exposed to User Postings that are inaccurate, offensive, defamatory, indecent or objectionable and you agree to waive, and hereby do waive, any legal or equitable rights or remedies you have or may have against Mashauri or any of the Mashauri Participants with respect thereto. Neither Mashauri nor any of the Mashauri Participants endorse any User Postings or any opinion, recommendation or advice expressed therein. Neither Mashauri nor any of the Mashauri Participants have any obligation to monitor any User Postings or any other user communications through the Site.

However, Mashauri reserves the right to review User Postings and to exercise its sole discretion to edit or remove, in whole or in part, any User Posting at any time and for any reason, or to allow the Mashauri Participants to do so. Without limiting the foregoing, upon receiving notice from a user or a content owner that a User Posting allegedly does not conform to these TOS, Mashauri may investigate the allegation and determine in its sole discretion whether to remove the User Posting, which it reserves the right to do at any time and without notice.

Links to Other Sites. The Site may include hyperlinks to sites maintained or controlled by others. Mashauri and the Mashauri Participants are not responsible for and do not routinely screen, approve, review or endorse the contents of or use of any of the products or services that may be offered at these sites. If you decide to access linked third-party websites, you do so at your own risk.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER MASHAURI NOR ANY OF THE MASHAURI PARTICIPANTS WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGES, EITHER ACTUAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, OR YOUR (OR ANY THIRD PARTY’S) USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, OR YOUR PLACEMENT OF CONTENT ON THE SITE, OR YOUR RELIANCE UPON INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE, WHETHER YOUR CLAIM IS BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTORY OR OTHER LAW.

IN PARTICULAR, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER MASHAURI NOR ANY OF THE MASHAURI PARTICIPANTS WILL HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE AND WHETHER OR NOT MASHAURI OR ANY OF THE MASHAURI PARTICIPANTS HAS BEEN NEGLIGENT OR OTHERWISE AT FAULT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CLAIMS FOR DEFAMATION, ERRORS, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA OR INTERRUPTION IN AVAILABILITY OF DATA).

CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, hold harmless and indemnify Mashauri and the Mashauri Participants, and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, faculty, students, fellows, governing board members, agents and employees from and against any third-party claims, actions or demands arising out of, resulting from or in any way related to your use of the Site, including any liability or expense arising from any and all claims, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys’ fees, of every kind and nature. In such a case, Mashauri or one of the Mashauri Participants will provide you with written notice of such claim, suit or action.

MISCELLANEOUS

Termination Rights; Discontinuation of Courses and Content. You agree that Mashauri, in its sole discretion, may terminate your use of the Site or your participation in it, for any reason or no reason, upon notice to you. It is Mashauri’s policy to terminate in appropriate circumstances the accounts of users of the Site who are repeat copyright infringers. Mashauri and the Mashauri Participants reserve the right at any time in their sole discretion to cancel, delay, reschedule or alter the format of any course offered through Mashauri, or to cease providing any part or all of the Site content or related services, and you agree that neither Mashauri nor any of the Mashauri Participants will have any liability to you for such an action. If you no longer desire to participate in the Site, you may terminate your participation at any time. The rights granted to you hereunder will terminate upon any termination of your right to use the Site, but the other provisions of these TOS will survive any such termination.

Entire Agreement. These TOS, the Honor Code, and the Privacy Policy together constitute the entire agreement between you and Mashauri with respect to your use of the Site, superseding any prior agreements between you and Mashauri regarding your use of the Site.

Waiver and Severability of TOS. The failure of Mashauri to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these TOS is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision and the other provisions of these TOS shall remain in full force and effect.

Choice of Law/Forum Selection. You agree that these TOS and any claim or dispute arising out of or relating to these TOS or any content or service obtained from or through the Site will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, excluding its conflicts of law provisions. You agree that all such claims and disputes will be heard and resolved exclusively in the appropriate courts of England and Wales. You consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts over you for this purpose, and you waive and agree not to assert any objection to such proceedings in those courts (including any defense or objection of lack of proper jurisdiction or venue or inconvenience of forum).

Effective Date: October 22, 2014.

Mashauri Honor Code Pledge

COLLABORATION POLICY

By enrolling in a course on Mashauri, you are joining a special worldwide community of learners. The aspiration of Mashauri is to provide anyone with an internet connection access to courses from the best universities and institutions in the world and to provide our learners the best educational experience internet technology enables. You are a part of the community that will help Mashauri achieve this goal. Mashauri depends upon your motivation to learn the material and to do so with honesty and academic integrity. In order to participate in Mashauri, you must agree to the Honor Code below and any additional terms specific to a class. This Honor Code, and any additional terms, will be posted on each class website.

Mashauri depends upon your motivation to learn the material and to do so with honesty. In order to participate in Mashauri, you must agree to the Honor Code below and any additional terms specific to a class. This Honor Code, and any additional terms, will be posted on each class website.

MASHAURI HONOR CODE PLEDGE

By enrolling in an Mashauri course, I agree that I will:

• Complete all tests and assignments on my own, unless collaboration on an assignment is explicitly permitted.
• Maintain only one user account and not let anyone else use my username and/or password.
• Not engage in any activity that would dishonestly improve my results, or improve or hurt the results of others.
• Not post answers to problems that are being used to assess student performance.

VIOLATIONS

If you are found in violation of the Terms of Service or Honor Code, you may be subject to one or more of the following actions:

• Receiving a zero or no credit for an assignment;
• Having any certificate earned in the course withheld or revoked;
• Being unenrolled from a course; or
• Termination of your use of the Site.
• Additional actions may be taken at the sole discretion of Mashauri and Mashauri Member course providers.

No refunds will be issued in the case of any corrective action for such violations.

Honor code violations will be determined at the sole discretion of Mashauri Members. You will be notified if a determination has been made that you have violated this honor code and you will be informed of the corresponding action to be taken as a result of the violation.

CHANGING THE HONOR CODE

Please note that we review and may make changes to this Honor Code from time to time. Any changes to this Honor Code will be effective immediately upon posting on this page, with an updated effective date. By accessing the Site after any changes have been made, you signify your agreement on a prospective basis to the modified Honor Code and any changes contained therein. Be sure to return to this page periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version of this Honor Code.

Effective Date: January 1, 2017