Terms of Use

The paragraphs below set out and define the Terms of Use of the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec’s Web site shapingourdestiny.com, hereinafter referred to as “the Site”. The provisions shown under the heading “Netiquette” are also an integral part of the terms of use of the Site.

Ownership

The Site is owned by the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec (“Desjardins”) which is also the Site’s administrator. Desjardins allows everyone to visit and use the Site for the purpose of expressing, consulting and sharing ideas, subject to compliance with the Terms of use. By visiting or using the Site, you accept the Terms of Use. Should you object to those terms or not agree to comply with them, you must refrain from visiting or using the Site.

Restrictions on use of content

Visitors and users, hereinafter referred to as “Users”, consent to the following:

It is prohibited to use the Site for commercial purposes for any reason.
It is prohibited to use the Site for illegal or unauthorized purposes for any reason. Consequently, foreign Users agree to comply with all local laws governing online behaviour and permissible content.
It is prohibited to modify, adapt or hack into the Site, or to modify any other Web site by falsely suggesting that it is associated with this Site.

It is prohibited to reproduce by any means whatsoever the information, data, text, software, music, sounds, photographs, images, videos, communications and other materials included on the Site. More specifically, it is prohibited to:

forge headers or otherwise manipulate content transmitted through the Site
upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any content that contains computer viruses or other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any software, computer, application or telecommunications equipment (this list may include other elements without limitation)
interfere with, disrupt, or make abusive use of the Site, or servers or networks connected to the Site, or refuse to comply with any requirements, procedures, general rules or regulatory provisions applicable to networks connected to the Site
collect and store personal information relating to other Users
sell, resell or operate on any commercial basis whatsoever any portion of the Site or any use of the Site or access privileges associated with the Site

Users’ responsibilities

Users consent to the following:

Users are responsible for any text, as well as for any photos (“User Content”) that they may submit, display and/or post on the Site.
Users shall not submit, display and/or post any content which, in the sole opinion of Desjardins, could be considered by Desjardins as defamatory, obscene, pornographic, threatening, invasive, abusive, illegal or otherwise unacceptable, or which could constitute or give rise to a criminal offence, or infringe anyone’s rights, including intellectual property rights, or which could incur the liability of Desjardins or of its partners or which could contravene any law.

Desjardins right of use

By using this Site, each User agrees that Desjardins may use his/her name, place of residence, likeness, voice and statements arising from his/her participation in the Site, as well as the User’s Content, for promotional purposes without any compensation whatsoever.

Users agree that Desjardins may use, produce or reproduce their text submitted for the purposes of this contest for internal and external purposes in Canada, free of charge, with no time limitations, in whole or in part, and without obligation on the part of Desjardins to state the name of the author of said text. Users also agree that upon using the text, Desjardins may mention the name of the author of the text, city or town of origin and status as declared on the Site (i.e. Desjardins member, non-member, Desjardins employee, elected officer or administrator of a Desjardins caisse). Users agree that Desjardins may translate said text if needed without requiring approval from the User regarding the accuracy of the translation. Users also agree that Desjardins may correct texts as necessary for spelling errors.

Use of the Site by children

Desjardins is concerned about protecting children who use this Site. We invite parents to monitor their children's Internet usage and to bear in mind that the Site is designed to appeal to a broad audience. Therefore, as the legal guardians of their children, parents are responsible for determining which services may or may not be appropriate for their children and monitoring their use in this regard. The parent, guardian or teacher is responsible for any content submitted, displayed or posted by children.

Moderation and application of the Terms of Use of the Site

In order to ensure that Users may visit the Site safely, Desjardins makes sure that any new or existing User Content is compliant with the Terms of Use. Desjardins bears no liability for User Content; however, it reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or delete submissions that seem to contravene the Terms of Use. Desjardins also reserves the right, should it deem it necessary, to provide the IP address and/or any other information identifying Users to the police.

Modification, suspension or closure of the Site

Desjardins reserves the right to modify, temporarily suspend or permanently close down the entire Site, at any time, for any reason and without advance notice, at its sole discretion. User Content shall continue to be subject to the Terms of Use until such time as the Site is closed completely.

Warranty, exoneration and limitation of liability

The Site is not completely free of errors or disruptions, and there is no guarantee regarding the results obtained by using the Site. The Site is offered to everyone AS IS.

Desjardins reserves the right at any time to change, temporarily suspend or permanently close down the Site in whole or in part without informing you in advance. In no event will Desjardins be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or closure of the Site.

The Site is provided to you and is accessible to you based on its availability. Desjardins makes no warranties, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties as to the quality of the Site or its fitness for a particular purpose, or as to the non-infringement of the Site's Terms of Use by Users.
More specifically, Desjardins does not warrant that:

i. the Site will operate without interruption or error or in a secure and timely manner
ii. results obtained by using the Site will be accurate and reliable
iii. the quality of any product, service, information or other materials purchased
or obtained by you on the Site will meet your expectations
iv. defects in the software and applications, if any, will be rectified.

You alone will be responsible for any damage sustained by your computer or any loss of data that may result when downloading material.
No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from Desjardins or in the course of using the Site may be construed as creating any warranty not expressly stipulated in these Terms of Use. Moreover, with respect to information originating from sources outside Desjardins, Desjardins bears no liability for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information provided by said external sources.
Desjardins bears no liability for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information contained in content created by the general public. It neither endorses nor recommends any of the information contained in such vehicles. Content is displayed in the language in which it was created, regardless of the language chosen for viewing the Site.
Desjardins bears no liability for any content transmitted by a User to any party by means of the “Share this site” function that is provided on the Site. Desjardins does not keep a record of the User’s name, the addressee’s name, or the content of the message, comment or image transmitted.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent possible pursuant to applicable law, Desjardins will at no time be liable for any direct or indirect damage, including without limitation the loss of profits, customers or data, or other loss of intangible assets, even if Desjardins has been advised about the possibility of such damage, that may arise:

from the use of, or inability to use, the Site
following unauthorized access to the Site by a User or following a change in your transmissions or your database
from the actions or conduct of a third party in the course of using the Site

Compensation

The User agrees to compensate Desjardins for any harm or damage, liability, loss or expense, including legal costs and expenses incurred by Desjardins with respect to any claim, suit or procedure undertaken against Desjardins pursuant to (a) any action caused by the User and his/her agents or his/her content or information, including the Terms of Use, that is submitted, displayed and/or posted with respect to the Site or (b) any violation of the Terms of Use by the User.

Internet software and viruses

It is possible that inaccurate or incomplete results may be generated on the Site due to Internet software or transmission problems. It is also possible that computer viruses or other destructive programs may be inadvertently downloaded from the Site.

Desjardins shall not be held liable for any software, computer virus or other destructive, damaging or disruptive file or program that may infect or otherwise disrupt the operation of the User’s computer or other personal device as a result of the User visiting, using or exploring the Site or downloading any content existing on the Site.

Desjardins recommends that Users install antivirus or other protective software.

The Site or third parties may include links to other Web sites or other Internet sources. Since it has no control over these outside sites and sources, Desjardins is not responsible for their availability, nor can it assume any responsibility for the content, links, advertising, products, services or other materials made available by or through such external sites or sources. Furthermore, Desjardins is not liable for any loss or damage, caused or alleged to be caused by, or arising in connection with, the use of or reliance on content, products and services made available on these outside sites or sources.

Consequently, it is up to you to exercise discretion in your use of such content. Likewise, you are responsible for assuming all inherent risks, particularly when you rely on the timeliness, usefulness or completeness of the content made available on or through the sites or sources referred to by the Site.

Links leading to software download sites are provided for your convenience; Desjardins is not liable for any difficulty arising from the download of any such software applications.

Links to other sites do not indicate that these outside sites endorse Desjardins or its products and services.

Jurisdiction

The Site will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of Québec. All disputes, controversies, or claims arising out of or in connection with the Site shall be submitted to and be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the province of Québec. Thus, in the event of any suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Site, the courts of the province of Québec will have exclusive jurisdiction.

Desjardins and intellectual property

The Site and any software or applications used in connection with the Site ("Software and Applications") may contain confidential information protected by existing intellectual property laws or other legislation.

Content included on the Site or in advertising and information made available to you as part of the Site, or presented by merchants on the Site, are protected by the laws applicable to copyright, trademarks and patents and by any other rights set forth in existing legislation, and are the intellectual property of Desjardins, its licensors or the person recognized as the content supplier.

The Site is protected by copyright legislation as a collective work or compilation as defined in Canadian and foreign laws.

Except as expressly authorized by Desjardins or by a merchant, it is strictly prohibited to:

copy, alter, rent, borrow, sell, distribute or create derivative works based in whole or in part on the content, the Site or related Software and Applications;
reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise attempt to locate the source code (except as provided for by law) or to sell, assign, sub-license or transfer in any way the rights attached to the Software and Applications;
modify the content or the Software and Applications in any way or to use modified versions of the Software and Applications in order to gain unauthorized access to the Site or for other purposes not limited to this;
access the Site by any means other than the interface provided to you by Desjardins for this purpose; or
use the Site or its content, in whole or in part, except as expressly fixed by these Terms of Use.

Copyrights and trademarks

All information on this Web site is protected by copyright. Users may only copy its contents for their own personal use. No one may redistribute, reproduce, republish, store in any medium, retransmit, or modify the information on this Web site for commercial purposes without the written authorization of Desjardins, or make public use thereof without crediting the source.

All trademarks and logos (including certain names, words, titles, drawings, illustrations and icons) appearing on the Site are trademarks or registered trademarks of Desjardins or third parties. Any use of these trademarks is strictly forbidden without the owner's written authorization. Any unauthorized downloading, retransmission, or other copying or modification of trademarks and/or Site content may be a violation of federal or other laws applying to trademarks and/or copyrights and could subject the copier to legal action.

Amendments to the Terms of Use

Desjardins may, at any time, amend and update the Terms of Use, at its discretion or as a result of changes to any law or policy.

Acknowledgment

The Terms of Use and Netiquette of the Site constitute the full agreement between the User and Desjardins regarding the User’s relationship with Desjardins and with the Site, and cancel any previous statement or representation.

Acceptance of the Terms of Use

By using the Site, the User agrees to the Terms of Use as stipulated. Furthermore, continued use of the Site by the User following any amendment to the Terms of Use indicates that the User consents to said amendments.