Terms of Use
Terms of Use
- This document sets the conditions of use of "Opencaching benelux" also referred to as "OCNL" - a voluntarily operated Internet geocaching service available at http://www.opencaching.nl (hereinafter referred to as the "Service"). Each person registering an account (hereinafter called a "User") agrees to observe the rules of these terms and conditions, starting from the beginning of the registration procedure.
- The Terms of Use enter into force on 2002 and are effective from that date for all Users of the Service. The Terms of Use can be changed as deemed necessary by the Service.
- Throughout this document, a Geocache is understood as any geocache of any type that is registered with the Service.
- The Service operates in the BeNeLux and is subject to mentioned law. Nullity of any section of the Terms of Use does not limit its validity in other areas. In matters not governed by the Terms of Use, the provisions of the BeNeLux law and common sense prevails.
OC Team
- The Service is monitored and supervised by a group of volunteer supporters, hereinafter referred to as the OC Team. The OC Team is not responsible for the content posted by users on the Site or for damages resulting from the use of information from the Service. Any information obtained or derived from the Service shall be used at the user's risk. In particular, the OC team does not guarantee that the caches are secure, nor that it does not infringe the law. You must always check and evaluate the information before the start of the search. Any content published on our site is for informational use only.
- OC Team keeps compliance with the Rules of Procedure, make its binding interpretation to resolve any disputes, and its provisions are final. In order to ensure a smooth, safe and legal operation of the Service, OC Team may limit a user's access to the Service, to delete log entries, block the user's account (temporarily or permanently) and suspend or archive geocaches.
Users
- Registering an account with the Service, a User agrees to comply with these Terms of Use. Minors or those not having full capacity to act may use the Service only with the consent of and under the supervision of parents or legal guardians, who bear full responsibility for any damages arising from these acts or omissions.
- The Users who use the Service, take part in the game, and hide and seek geocaches do so entirely at their own risk and responsibility. In particular, each User bears the full civil and legal responsibility for their actions (including harm done to users, third parties and damage to property). The OC team does not bear any responsibility for any damage arising directly or indirectly from the activities of users.
- Registration is free but is required to use the service. During registration the user provides an email address, which will be used to communicate with the user. The user agrees to keep the email address updated on the service.
- You must ensure that information published by you on the Site does not violate US law or the provisions of these Terms of Use. In particular, the content published by the user may not violate the copyright of third parties. All content (including descriptions of the caches, illustrations and all their entries in the logs) made available by publishing them on our site, users are licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA version 2.5, whose complete content is available online at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/legalcode. Public domain content is also admitted. The user is responsible directly to the copyright holder for any violations in this area associated with him published by the content on our site.
- Content published by you on the site may not contain vulgar expressions, offensive, abusive, or illegal content. This applies in particular to the selected user name when registering an account, geocache names, elements of their names and web log entries in the caches (the so-called logs).
Geocaches
- The person who registered the Cache in the Service, the "geocache owner" is responsible for all the contents contained in the Cache's description in the Service. The geocache owner bears full responsibility for compliance in the establishment of their Caches with the law and the rules of the service, as well as for any damages that may arise in connection with its establishment. The geocache owner is required to maintain the geocache and keep the contents in good condition, and keep their description on this site up to date.
- The geocache owner is solely responsible for obtaining sufficient permission for the establishment of the geocache. When registering a Cache with the Service, its owner has a duty to put in unencoded description of the full details of any potential dangers that may arise from time to time in searching for, and any information necessary to identify the cache, including information about any query, with the necessary skills and possibly the required specialized hardware. In addition, when determining the type, size and level of difficulty caches during its registration, the owner is required to comply with the definition of these parameters governing the Site. In the case of caches, which the search may be associated with danger, the cache must be marked to advise the special attribute.
- The cache can not contain explosives, flammable, corrosive or other dangerous objects, perishable items (e.g. food), as well as objects of an illegal nature. The logbook contained in the geocache must contain contact details of the geocache owner.
- Without authorization, caches can be established only on publicly accessible areas, such as permanently or temporarily available to the public. Caches may also be placed inside a publicly accessible building or other object, but in the case other than virtual caches then it is necessary to obtain the prior written consent of the administrator of that part of a building or facility, which will be hidden. Such consent must involve both the fact of placing caches and its subsequent exploration by third parties.
- Caches may not be placed in facilities and in areas which forbid trespassing or which forbid placing traditional geocaches. This applies in particular to strict nature reserves, federal parks, national parks, national forests or private property. Caches may not be placed in a way that could result in a damage of a historical or architectural area during the search. In addition, other than virtual, caches may not be placed directly in birds nests and tree hollows suitable for habitation by birds, also outside the breeding season, in monuments, and in their protection zones. Caches at cemeteries or places of worship may not violate the peace of the places. It is strictly forbidden to bury a cache in the immediate vicinity of a tomb. Caches must be clearly labeled so that if the container is reported to authorities, it can be quickly and easily identified as harmless. Caches are not to be placed in locations where they may cause alarm or cause the general public to contact authorities about a suspicious container.
- If a cache has 2 or more consecutive "Did Not Find" or DNFs, it will be flagged as Temporarily Unavailable so that the cache owner may check on it. It can be reactivated by the cache owner when they post a comment on the cache listing verifying that cache is intact and in place. This is a measure to prevent muggled, abandoned or orphaned caches from continuing to be listed.
- Any geocache that violates the law or is contrary to the Opencaching.nl guidelines (see below) may be suspended or archived by the OC Team. Any user who has more than TWO caches removed or archived for rules violations will be banned from submitting new caches to the site. The OC Team may suspend or archive a geocache at the request of the Police or other Civil or Military Authority. In summary, the rules for placing a geocache are as follows:
- Caches may not be used for business advertising or solicitation of any kind unless assigned by the administrator..
- Ensure the cache container is clearly marked, stating that the content is harmless and giving the placers email address or other contact method.
- Only items that would be deemed safe and acceptable for an unaccompanied child to find should be placed in a cache.
- No cache should be placed in such a way as to risk damage or disturbance to any Site of Special Scientific Interest, Scheduled Monument or Historical Place.
- A cache should not be placed within acceptable of an existing cache (excluding virtual or webcam caches).
- When placing a cache, the onus is on the placer to seek the permission of the landowner.
- Caches should be placed in a way that they will not be accidentally found by non-geocachers (muggles).
- No items of food or drink of any kind should be placed in the cache.
- USB caches may not contain pornographic material, illegal content or malicious content
- Caches should not be buried. Holes should not be dug in order to place a cache.
- Caches should not be hidden in animal holes or runs.
- Fences should never be crossed (other than through a gate or by a stile) when placing or seeking a cache.
- Maintenance of the cache is the responsibility of the placer.
- When leaving the cache site, after hiding or placing a cache, there should be no visual sign of disturbance.
- No cache should be placed in or on a dry stone wall.
- Please do not bring geocaching into disrepute, never drive your car anywhere other than on roads, and always park legally.