HCI International (HCII) services are provided by World Conference Services Inc. These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of HCI International 2024 Conference (HCII2024) website, Conference Management System (CMS), apps, and any other products and services of the HCII2024 Conference. These terms also apply to every registered participant of the HCII2024 Conference, regardless of whether the attendance is in person or virtual. As some of our Services may be software that is downloaded to your computer, phone, tablet, or other device, you agree that we may automatically update this software, and that these Terms will apply to such updates. Please read these Terms carefully, and if you have any questions contact us at: privacy@2024.hci.international

 

Who May Use our Services

You may use our website and services only in compliance with these Terms and all applicable laws. When you create your HCI International 2024 account at the Conference Management System, and subsequently when you use certain features, you must provide us with accurate and complete information, and you agree to update your information to keep it accurate and complete. Any use or access by anyone under the age of 16 is prohibited, and certain services may have additional requirements and/or restrictions.

Acceptable Use

HCI International 2024's mission is to provide a universal floor to the world's best scientific and technological developments in the domain of the Human Computer Interaction. We believe strongly in preserving academic free speech and expression for our participants as well as freedom for our partner institutions. We also want to make sure that all of our users feel safe and comfortable while using our website and services. We provide these guidelines to ensure that people understand and follow the rules when using our website and services.

Although we do not routinely screen or monitor content provided by users, we may remove or edit inappropriate content or activity reported to us or suspend, disable, or terminate a user's access to all or part of the website and services.

You are prohibited from using our website and services, including those related to the attendance of the virtual parts of the Conference, to share content that:

• Contains illegal content or promotes illegal activities with the intent to commit such activities.
• Contains credible threats or organizes acts of real-world violence. We don't allow content that creates a genuine risk of physical injury or property damage, credibly threatens people or public safety, or organizes or encourages harm.
• Is harmful to children, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable.
• Harasses others. We encourage commentary about people and matters of public interest, but abusive, intimidating, discriminatory derogatory or in any way harassing speech or behavior is NOT allowed.
• Violates intellectual property, privacy, or other rights. Do not share content that you do not have the right to share, claim content that you did not create as your own, or otherwise infringe or misappropriate someone else's intellectual property or other rights. Always attribute materials used or quoted by you to the original copyright owner.
• Spams others. Do not share irrelevant or inappropriate advertising, promotional, or solicitation content.
• Otherwise violates the HCI International 2024 Terms.

You are also NOT allowed to:

• Do anything that violates local, state, national or international law, including copyright and trademark law/legislation and all local regulations or laws set forth to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 or breaches any of your contractual obligations or fiduciary duties.
• Abuse, intimidate or in any way harass other individuals.
• Share your password, let anyone access your account, or do anything that might put your account at risk.
• Attempt to access any other user's account.
• Reproduce, transfer, sell, resell, or otherwise misuse any content from our website and services as well as all types of content which will be made available through the third party platform unless specifically authorized to do so.
• Access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of our systems, unless specifically authorized to do so.
• Break or circumvent our authentication or security measures or otherwise test the vulnerability of our systems or networks, unless specifically authorized to do so.
• Try to reverse engineer any portion of our website and services.
• Try to interfere with any user, host, or network, for example by sending a virus, overloading, spamming, or mail-bombing.
• Use our website and services to distribute malware.
• Impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
• Encourage or help anyone do any of the things on this list.

HCI International 2024 reserves the right to terminate your participation / connection to the (in-person / virtual / hybrid) conference, without previous notice and with immediate effect in case you display any of the above prohibited behavior. If this occurs, you are not entitled to any refund. Please note that HCI International 2024 assumes no liability or responsibility for the actions of any participant.
Furthermore HCI International reserves the right to prohibit you from participating in future conferences and activities.

 

User Content

The website and services, including those related to the hosting of the Conference, that enable you to share with us your content, such as scientific papers and posters, demonstration material, in any type of content, including but not limited to text, scripts, videos, digital pictures and presentations. You retain all intellectual property rights in, and are responsible for, the User Content you share. If you believe that your copyright or intellectual property rights have been infringed, please contact us at: privacy@2024.hci.international

Feedback

We welcome your suggestions, ideas, comments, and other feedback regarding the website and services ("Feedback"). By submitting any Feedback, you grant us the right to use the Feedback without any notice, restriction or any compensation to you and you waive (or agree not to enforce) any and all rights that may now or in future exist (including moral and equivalent rights) in any Feedback. By accepting your Feedback, HCI International 2024 does not waive any rights to use similar or related Feedback previously known to HCI International 2024, developed by its employees or contractors, or obtained from other sources.

 

We care about the security of our users. While we work to protect the security of your account and related information, HCI International 2024 cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security measures. A set of username and password (stored encrypted) is unique to your account. Each user shall be solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of their username and password and for all activities that occur under his account. No user may share, assign or permit the use of his username and password by another person. Please notify us immediately of any compromise or unauthorized use of your account by emailing privacy@2024.hci.international.

 

Through the website and services, including those related to the hosting (both 'in-person' and virtual) of the HCII2024 Conference, you will have the ability to access and/or use content provided by other users, and/or other third parties and links to websites and services maintained by third parties. HCI International 2024 cannot guarantee that such third party content, in the website and services or elsewhere, will be free of material you may find objectionable or otherwise inappropriate or of malware or other contaminants that may harm your computer, mobile device, or any files therein. HCI International 2024 disclaims any responsibility or liability related to your access or use of such third party content.

 

HCI International 2024 respects the intellectual property rights of our participants, participating institutions, and other third parties and expects our users to do the same when using the website and services, including those related to the hosting of the virtual parts of the Conference. We have adopted and implemented the HCI International 2024 Copyright and Trademark Policy in accordance with applicable law, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. HCI International 2024 may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, disable, terminate, and/or take other appropriate steps relating to the accounts of users who may be infringers. HCII 2024 disclaims any responsibility or liability related to intellectual property rights infringement of the participants, participating institutions, and other third parties.

 

HCI International 2024 offers paid Services (e.g. conference registration) for a fee. Unless otherwise stated, all fees are quoted in U.S. Dollars. You represent that you are at least the minimum age required to enter into a legal agreement. You are responsible for paying all fees and applicable taxes in a timely manner with a payment mechanism associated with the applicable paid Services. You are responsible for all charges incurred under your account, including charges made by you or anyone you allow to use your account or anyone who gains access to your account as a result of your failure to safeguard your authentication credentials. If your payment method fails or your account is past due, we may collect fees using other collection mechanisms. Fees may vary based on your location and other factors, and surcharges may apply if you use certain payment methods, such as payment from your checking or savings account. HCI International 2024 reserves the right to change any fees at any time at its sole discretion. Any change, update, or modification will be effective immediately upon posting through the relevant website and services. Refunds may be available for paid Services as described in our Cancellation and Refund Policy.

 

We are constantly changing and improving our website and services. We may add or remove functions, features, or requirements, and we may suspend or stop a Service altogether. Accordingly, HCI International 2024 may terminate your use of any Service for any reason. If your use of a paid Service is terminated, a refund may be available under our Cancellation and Refund Policy, except in cases of violation of these Terms. None of the HCI International 2024 Conference organizers, participating institutions, contributors, sponsors, and other business partners, and their employees, contractors, and other agents (the "HCI International 2024 Parties"), shall have any liability to you for any such action.

 

The website and services and all included content are provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied. The HCI International 2024, its employees and its agents make no representations or warranties of any kind or nature whatsoever regarding the contents of the website and services, or hypertext links to other outside websites. The HCI International 2024 parties specifically disclaim any expressed or implied warranties of any kind or nature whatsoever, including, without limitation, any and all warranties and conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, and any warranties arising out of course of dealing or usage of trade. The HCI International 2024 parties further disclaim any and all liability related to your access or use of the website and services or any related content and do not warrant that this website and material accessible from this website are free of viruses or other harmful components. You acknowledge and agree that any access to or use of the website and services or such content is at your own risk.

 

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the HCI International 2024 parties shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, treble or other multiples of damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data / use / goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from: (1) your access to or use of or inability to access or use the website and services, including those related to the hosting of the virtual parts of the Conference; (2) any conduct or content of any party other than the applicable HCI International 2024 party, including without limitation, any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct; (3) links provided by the website and services, including those related to the hosting of the virtual parts of the Conference or third parties to external sites or resources; (4) your dealings with or participation in promotions of advertisers found on or through the website and services; (5) any goods or website and services sold by such advertisers; (6) unauthorized access, use, or alteration of your content or information as well as the limiting, suspension or termination of your account; and (7)  downloading or sharing of information,  via the website and services, including those related to the hosting of the virtual parts of the Conference. To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event shall the HCI International 2024 Conference aggregate liability for all claims related to the website and services exceed the total amount of fees received by the HCI International 2024 Conference from you for the use of our paid services.

HCI International 2024 shall assume no liability whatsoever in the event that a presentation, session, tutorial, workshop or any other form of participation in the conference is cancelled, rescheduled or postponed due to fortuitous event, Act of God, government regulation, restrictions imposed by Government authorities and/or municipal authorities, unforeseen occurrences, or any other circumstances that render the performance of this conference, or part of this conference, impracticable, illegal or impossible. For the purposes of this clause, a fortuitous event shall include, but not be limited to: war, fire, pandemic, labor strike, extreme weather or any other emergency.

HCI International 2024 reserves the right to alter the content or timing, the presenters and the location/venue of any conference event. HCI International 2024 will not be liable for any costs or losses incurred as a result of the aforementioned alterations.

You acknowledge and agree that the disclaimers and the limitations of liability set forth in this terms of use reflect a reasonable and fair allocation of risk between you and the HCI International 2024 parties, and that these limitations are an essential basis to HCI International 2024 ability to make the website and services available to you on an economically feasible basis.

You agree that any cause of action related to the website and services must commence within three (3) months after the cause of action accrues. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.

You acknowledge and agree that participating in-person in the HCI International 2024 Conference includes possible exposure to and illness from infectious diseases including but not limited to COVID-19. Therefore you knowingly and freely assume all such risks related to illness and infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and you knowingly assume: (i) the risk of injury, harm and loss associated with the Event, including any injury, harm, and loss caused by the negligence, fault or conduct of any kind on the part of HCI International 2024; (ii) the risk of any COVID-19 related travel costs that may incur in connection with in-person attendance, including, but not limited to, the costs associated with any mandatory quarantine regulations, cancelled travel, etc.

 

Should HCI International 2024 be unable to perform any obligations under these Terms and Conditions, including but not limited to the organization of the Conference, due to causes or circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to any Act of God, war or threatened war, terrorism or threatened terrorism, government regulation, restrictions imposed by Government authorities and/or municipal authorities, pandemic, fire, flood, drought, strike, lock out or actions of the venue, HCI International 2024 will not be liable for any losses or claims arising from this.

In the event that a participant is unable, for any reason, to attend the Conference, but the event remains unaffected, HCI International 2024 will not be liable for any costs or losses.

 

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the HCI International 2024 Conference Parties from any and all claims, liabilities, expenses, and damages, including attorneys' fees and costs, made by any third party related to: (a) your use or attempted use of the website and services in violation of these Terms; (b) your violation of any law or rights of any third party; or (c) User Content, including without limitation any claim of infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property or other proprietary rights.

 

The website and services of the HCI International 2024 Conference are managed by World Conference Services Inc. which is located in New York, USA. You agree that any dispute related to these Terms will be governed by the laws of the State of New York, excluding its conflicts of law provisions. You further consent to the personal jurisdiction of and exclusive venue in the Federal and State courts located in and serving New York as the legal forum for any such dispute.

Excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief, for claims related to the website and services where the total amount sought is less than ten thousand U.S. Dollars ($10,000.00 USD), either you or HCI International 2024 may elect at any point during the dispute to resolve the claim through binding, non-appearance-based arbitration. The dispute will then be resolved using an established alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") provider, mutually agreed upon by you and HCI International 2024. The parties and the selected ADR provider shall not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses, unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; rather, the arbitration shall be conducted, at the option of the party seeking relief, online, by telephone, or via written submissions alone. Any judgment rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any competent court of the State of New York, USA.

 

Revisions to the Terms

Except as otherwise indicated, these Terms govern your use of the HCI International 2024 website, Conference Management System, apps, and other products and services ("website and services"). By accessing and using the website and services you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to these Terms. If you do not agree to be bound by these Terms you are requested to stop using the website and services immediately. We reserve the right to revise the Terms at our sole discretion at any time. For that reason, please refer to these Terms regularly. Any revisions to the Terms will be effective immediately upon posting by us. For any material changes to the Terms, we will take reasonable steps to notify you of such changes. In all cases, your continued use of the website and services after publication of such changes, with or without notification, constitutes binding acceptance of the revised Terms.

Severability; Waiver

If it turns out that a particular provision of these Terms is not enforceable, this will not affect any other terms. If you do not comply with these Terms, and we do not take immediate action, this does not indicate that we relinquish any rights that we may have (such as taking action in the future).

Disclaimer - Political Neutrality

The HCI International Conference respects the decisions of all its contributors, engaged in any way, regarding their institutional affiliations and designations of territories, in all material / content published in its website, taking a neutral stance in relation to any disputes or claims. Moreover, the HCI International Conference fully concurs with the Territorial Neutrality Policy of Springer Nature, Publisher of its proceedings.

Participating Institutions

HCI International 2024 participating institutions are third party beneficiaries of the Terms and may enforce those provisions of the Terms that relate to them.