Welcome to Kindling, an online home for live, participatory experiences for the Burning Man community and beyond, operated by Burning Man Project (“Burning Man”). By using Kindling (also referred to herein as the “Service”), you agree to the following Terms of Service (“Agreement”).

This Agreement sets out the legally binding terms of your use of Kindling and may be modified by Burning Man at any time and without prior notice, such modifications to be effective upon posting by Burning Man. You can always review the most current version of the Terms of Service here. This Agreement includes and incorporates by reference the Criteria for Kindling Community Events (listed at the end of this document) and Burning Man’s Privacy Policy.

1. Eligibility. You must be at least 13 years old to register as a Kindling user. Use of the Service is void where prohibited. By using Kindling, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement and you agree to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

2. Registration. In consideration of your use of the Service, you agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service’s registration form; and (b) maintain and promptly update the registration data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or Burning Man has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, Burning Man has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof).

3. User Account, Password and Security. You will receive a password and account designation upon completing the Service’s registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to (a) immediately notify Burning Man of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. Burning Man cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.

4. Term. This Agreement will remain in full force and effect while you use Kindling. You may terminate your registration at any time, for any reason, by contacting Kindling administrators.

5. Content Posted on Kindling.

   • You agree to use Kindling in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

   • You understand and agree that Burning Man may review and delete any content, message, photo or profile (collectively, “Content”) that in the sole judgment of Burning Man violates this Agreement, might be offensive or illegal, or might harm, violate the rights of, or threaten the safety of other Kindling users.

   • You may not create or maintain any user accounts that misrepresent yourself, by declaration or implication, as any other real-life person, living or dead.

   • You are solely responsible for the Content that you publish through Kindling’s content submission process on the Service.

   • Illegal and/or unauthorized uses of Kindling, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of other users by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email and unauthorized framing of or linking to Kindling will be investigated, and appropriate legal action will be taken, including without limitation, civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

   • The following is a partial list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited on Kindling. Burning Man reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action in its sole discretion against anyone who violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending Content from the Service and terminating the accounts of such violators, in connection with all available civil, criminal, and injunctive remedies. You agree not to use the Service to:

     • harass or advocate harassment of another person;

     • interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected to the Service; or

     • upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content:

       • that constitutes advertising, commercial listings, contests, sweepstakes, barter, pyramid schemes, “junk mail,” “chain letters,” or any other form of unsolicited mass mailing or “spamming”;

       • that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;

       • that you know is false, misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory, tortious or libelous;

       • that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any party, including, but not limited to, providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, and providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;

       • that contains restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);

       • that displays pornographic or sexually explicit material of any kind;

       • that exploits, harms, or solicits personal information from anyone under 18;

       • that provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone’s privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;

       • that solicits passwords or personally identifiable information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users;

       • that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interfere with the Service and/or any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; or

       • that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationship (such as inside information, proprietary, and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements).

   • Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand there is a chance that you might become exposed to Content that is prohibited on Kindling, and you waive your rights to any damages (from any party) related to such exposure.

   • You agree not to use the Service to advertise or to solicit other users of the Service to buy or sell any products or services outside of expressly designated areas.

   • Although Burning Man does not monitor the conduct of Kindling users off Kindling, it is a violation of this Agreement to use any information obtained from the Service in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, solicit, or advertise to any Kindling user without their prior explicit consent.

6. Privacy. Use of Kindling is governed by Burning Man’s Privacy Policy. You understand and agree that Burning Man may access, preserve, and disclose your account information and Content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access, preservation, or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce this Agreement; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Burning Man, other Kindling users, or the public.

7. Proprietary Rights in Content on Kindling. Burning Man does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on Kindling. Each user owns and retains all proprietary rights to the Content they provide on Kindling. You agree that no  Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service will disclose any proprietary information that you do not own, control, or have written permission to disclose, unless such information is in the public domain. You hereby grant Burning Man a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform, and publicly display Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service solely for the purpose of providing the Content submitted on the Service or otherwise in accordance with Burning Man’s Privacy Policy.

8. Intellectual Property. You may not use Kindling to post, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such rights. Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on Kindling in a way that constitutes infringement, please email the following information to Burning Man’s Kindling administrator for notice of claims of infringement at kindling@burningman.org:

   • an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;

   • a description of the trademark or copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;

   • a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on Kindling;

   • your address, telephone number, and email address;

   • a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright or trademark owner, its agent, or the law; and

   • a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright or trademark owner or authorized to act on the copyright or trademark owner’s behalf.

9. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.
   YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING: YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. BURNING MAN EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. BURNING MAN MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (i) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (ii) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR (iv) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE ACCESSED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE ACCESS OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. NO INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, THAT YOU OBTAIN FROM BURNING MAN OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE AGREEMENT.

10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
    YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BURNING MAN SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU 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 (EVEN IF BURNING MAN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICE; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, BURNING MAN’S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO BURNING MAN, IF ANY, FOR USE OF THE SERVICE.

11. Termination. You agree that Burning Man may, without prior notice to you, immediately terminate your account and access to the Service by any associated email address. Cause for such termination shall include, but not be limited to, (a) breaches or violations of this Agreement or other incorporated agreements or guidelines; (b) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies; (c) a request by you (self-initiated account deletions); (d) discontinuance of or material modification to the Service or any part thereof; (e) unexpected technical or security issues; or (f) extended periods of inactivity. Termination of your account includes (a) removal of access to all offerings within the Service; (b) deletion of your password and all related information, files and content associated with or inside your account (or any part thereof); and (c) barring further use of the Service. You agree that all terminations for cause shall be made in Burning Man’s sole discretion and that Burning Man shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your account or access to the Service.

12. Disputes. By using Kindling, you agree that any dispute between you and Burning Man about or involving Kindling will be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. For resolution of any such dispute, you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts of the State of California, City and County of San Francisco. You understand that you are solely responsible for your interactions with other Kindling users, and that Burning Man reserves the right to monitor disputes between you and other users, but has no obligation to do so.

13. Indemnity. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Burning Man, including its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, contractors, and employees, from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, made by any party due to or arising out of your use of the Service in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement, including but not limited to any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says, “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”

14. No Agency. You understand and agree that there is no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer, or franchisor-franchisee relationship between Burning Man and any user of the Service.

15. Miscellaneous Terms. This Agreement, accepted upon your use of Kindling, contains the entire agreement between you and Burning Man regarding Kindling. The failure of Burning Man to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a subsequent or prospective waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, the remainder shall continue in full force and effect. The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

Please contact us with any questions regarding these Terms of Service.

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Criteria for Kindling Community Events

Through Kindling, participants will discover three kinds of events, broadly speaking: (1) events created entirely by others in our community; (2) events created or curated directly by Burning Man Project; and (3) events produced as a collaboration between Burning Man Project and others. We’ve established the following initial criteria to help evaluate if events are a good fit for Kindling in its current phase. 

• Events should have a live, participatory element. This may range from fully immersive environments to something as simple as chat and Q&A, or a specific call to participatory action.​

• Events need their own platform or home that Kindling can point to and help drive audiences to your content. As a contributor, you will be asked to provide a link to your content via Zoom, Twitch or whatever platform or technology it’s hosted on.​

• Events are managed by their content providers. In this initial phase, the Kindling team will not be able to provide direct technology support, tech moderation, or content facilitation for events created by others.​

• Events should offer a quality participant experience. This may be as simple as good lighting and a steady camera, or as elaborate as you care to create.​

• Event content should demonstrate Burning Man’s impact in the world, expressing the values of the culture that has issued from the Burning Man event through engaging, creative, and inclusive experiences.​

• Events should operate within reasonable community standards, as should anyone who participates in these events. Kindling will not publish any events that promote hate, discrimination, explicit sexual activity, graphic language, or other content that is not appropriate for all-ages participation. 

• Events should be a decommodified experience. Kindling is a space for creative and participatory experiences, not commercial consumption and promotion. We value who you are, not what you have. In the spirit of Burning Man’s Decommodification Principle, Kindling will not promote events that are branded, sponsored, or fundamentally commercial in nature.

• Events should comply with Burning Man Project’s intellectual property policy, which limits the use of Burning Man’s most recognizable words, symbols, and designs in order to protect our community from commercial exploitation. Burning Man’s trademarks and copyrights should never be used to promote commercial events, brands, or products for sale. If you have any questions, please let us know at kindling-inquiries@burningman.org.