Verizon Community Terms of Service 3/24/2015

Question

Your use of the Verizon Community (Forums, Blogs, and Idea Exchange) is governed by these Verizon Community Terms of Service, together with the Verizon Privacy Policy and Verizon Terms of Use (collectively, the "Terms"). The Terms describe the permitted and prohibited uses of Verizon Community, among other things. Your access or use of Verizon Community evidences your acceptance of the then-current version of the Terms, and any related rules and guidelines posted on Verizon branded web sites.
Verizon reserves the right to modify the Terms at any time, effective upon posting of the modified Terms on Verizon Community or, in the case of the Verizon Privacy Policy or the Verizon Terms of Use, on any other Verizon sponsored Web site. Verizon also reserves the right to apply, waive, or modify these Terms as they apply to a specific posting and user without affecting the application of these Terms to all other postings and users.
"Posting" means, but is not limited to, any text, links, images, communications, opinions, software, data, and any other content any person provides on Verizon Community, including, but not limited to message boards, chats, blogs, or otherwise. Your use of Verizon Community, or any materials or services accessible through it, after a Posting or notification regarding modifications to the Terms constitutes your acceptance of those modifications. Your violation of any of the Terms may result in the suspension or termination of your access or use of Verizon Community.
Participating in the Verizon Community
The Verizon Community is intended to provide consumers with the opportunity to exchange useful and helpful information.  All participants must be above the age of eighteen. We may edit or remove any posting we consider, in our sole discretion, to violate the Terms or be inappropriate for the Verizon Community for any reason.
Appropriate Conduct
Users of the Verizon Community are responsible for exercising careful and appropriate judgment in evaluating and taking action based on other participants' postings on Verizon Community, since such postings may reflect significantly different levels of knowledge and experience by participants. Users of the Verizon Community agree that Verizon is not responsible for the accuracy of the content of the Verizon Community and will not be liable for any damages incurred as a result of their use of any such content. Participants may post hypertext links to content hosted and maintained by third parties. Verizon has no obligation to monitor these linked sites, and is not responsible for them. Accessing any such linked sites is done entirely at the user's own risk.
Posting to the Verizon Community
Users of the Verizon Community agree not to upload, post, or otherwise transmit any content (including but not limited to text, links, communications, software, images, sounds, data, or other information) that includes any of the following inappropriate content:
Any personal information belonging either to the poster or another person, such as full name, address, phone number, personal email address, chat ID numbers, router serial numbers and trouble ticket repair numbers. Also no phone/fax numbers, emails, for any business or their employees;
Spam such as advertisements for other web sites and services, chain letters, or pyramid schemes, unauthorized solicitation;
Flood, such as excessive posting or padding posts;
Profanity; material that is libelous, fraudulent, unlawful, defamatory, pornographic, obscene, profane, abusive, offensive, threatening, hateful, or otherwise objectionable;
Discussion of illegal activities or providing links to other websites containing such information;
Discussions that veer off topic, are unrelated to resolving the issue at hand, or abuse any company or product.
Discussions of moderator actions on the boards. If you need to comment on a moderator action, please private message any administrator/moderator;
Material, the posting of which violates any party's copyright or other intellectual property rights;
Posting, publishing, uploading, reproducing, transmitting or distributing in any way any content belonging to Verizon, or derivative works with respect thereto;
Posting or transmitting any information or software containing a virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other damaging or destructive component;
Posting a link directing users to any information or content that, if posted on the Verizon Community, would constitute a violation of the Terms or of any State or Federal law;
"Bombing" the Verizon Community or individual threads with repetitive or meaningless postings, postings unrelated to the purpose of the Verizon Community, excessive cross-posting; "bumping" or making posts with no new useful content in order to move them to the top of the subject area.
Attacks, including "Flaming" another user or entity in such a way as to incite or perpetuate an argument or conflict; creating usernames to attack other users' identities; impersonating other individuals or falsely representing one's identity or qualifications; posts made under secondary user names or other aliases for the purpose of either endorsing or denigrating others; posts that breach any participant's privacy by including name, address, phone, email address, or any other identifying information.
Posts that describe how to violate Verizon policies or terms or conditions are considered unacceptable and will have the offensive language deleted.
Posts that discuss hacking and/or rooting a wireless phone from any carrier will be removed.
Posts that discuss how to circumvent Verizon’s security.
Posts that discuss any litigation or potential litigation (past, present, future or otherwise) is prohibited since the Verizon Community forum is not a legal venue.
Kudos abuse including soliciting others for kudos, or giving an excessive number of kudos to a specific user.
User may not repost any private communications they have had with Verizon agents or staff on the boards.
If a user posts a thread threatening Verizon with Legal action, that post will be removed so it can be reviewed by the appropriate teams within Verizon. The user will be sent a PM to be notified of this action and the resolution.
Small business customers may provide information about the company in a post or profile, e.g  “We sell phones.  Click here to learn more about our phones and our company.”   However  small business customers may not spam or advertise specific offers, e.g.  “We sell phones.  Click here and for $19.99 you can buy our phones.”
Please Note:  Verizon  reserves the right to remove or move any posts or any profile content either deems inappropriate.
Idea Exchange License
You grant to Verizon and its designees a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable, transferable, fully-paid up and royalty free license to use (i) any ideas, expression of ideas or other materials you submit to the Verizon Community (collectively, "Materials"), and (ii) any and all intellectual property rights you have that cover or are in any way related to the Materials, whether in patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, or any other proprietary right, in each case without restrictions of any kind and without any payment or other consideration of any kind, or permission or notification, to you or any third party (the “License”).
The License shall include, without limitation, the right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, combine with other works, alter, translate, distribute copies, display, perform, and sublicense the Materials, and own all rights therein in the name of Verizon or its designees, throughout the universe in perpetuity in any and all media now or hereafter known.  The License shall also include the right to, directly or indirectly (including through multiple layers of persons/entities), make, have made, use (including by Verizon customers), sell, offer for sale, import, distribute, and otherwise dispose of any product or service that includes any ideas, inventions, embodiments, or other concepts that are part of the Materials, and use any and all intellectual property rights you have related to such Materials.  The License shall also permit Verizon and its designees to use the Materials (including portions thereof), rerecord or modify any audio tracks or visual images you provide, rewrite any Materials you submit, and/or incorporate other materials, either created by Verizon and its designees or any third party, with the Materials you submit. Any such works shall be owned by Verizon and shall not be subject to your approval or payment by Verizon of any compensation to you.
You agree that the Materials you submit: (i) are original to you and accurate, (ii) do not violate and will not violate the rights of any third party or any local, state, national or foreign law, including any right of publicity, right of privacy or any other proprietary right, (iii) are owned by you and are not subject to any claim of ownership by your current employer, a former employer, or any third party, (iv) do not contain the confidential information of any third party, and to the extent they contain your confidential information, immediately become non-confidential the moment you submit the Materials to the Verizon Community; and (v) are submitted by you on your personal behalf, and not on behalf of your employer or any third party.  You also agree that you have filed to protect and/or preserve any protectable ideas contained in the Materials, to the extent you wish to protect and preserve them (e.g., through copyright registration, patent application filing, etc.) prior to your submission of such Material to the Verizon Community.
You acknowledge and agree that the relationship between you and Verizon is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship. We shall have the right, but not the obligation, to use your name, likeness, biography and other information about you in connection with any use of the Materials you submit.
By making a submission, you acknowledge and agree that Verizon and its designees (i) are continually and independently of the Materials working on ways to improve upon and expand Verizon’s product and services offerings, and may create on their own new products or services that are similar to the Materials, (ii) obtain many submissions from others that may be similar or identical to the Materials you submit through Verizon Community or other channels and means. You hereby waive any and all claims you may have had, may currently have, and/or may have in the future related to Verizon’s review, acceptance, and/or use of the Materials, (iii) are under no obligation to review, use, or in any way process your Materials, regardless of the status indicated on the Verizon Community.
Registration Requirements
While registration is not required to read postings on the Verizon Community, users must register an account with Verizon in order to post to the Verizon Community. Verizon may refuse to grant you, and you may not use, a user name that is already being used by someone else, belongs to or impersonates another person, violates the intellectual property or other rights of any person (including but not limited to trademark rights), is offensive, or that Verizon rejects for any other reason in its sole discretion. Participants agree that all information provided in a profile is accurate, up to date, and complete, and that it will be kept updated. Verizon may terminate your account if any of the information provided is found to be inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete.
Privacy Concerns
Verizon strongly discourages users from posting personally identifiable information in the Verizon Community. Any information posted on the Verizon Community is at the user's own risk. Verizon respects and protects the privacy of our customers and those who use our Web sites, and the Verizon Privacy Policy provides details of our approach to privacy and how we collect, use and protect personal information. But information posted on the Verizon Community is not protected and can be easily obtained and used by others.
Moderators
Verizon reserves the right to manage the postings on the Verizon Community to provide an orderly presentation of this information. To effectively manage the Verizon Community, Verizon may designate employees or others to act as moderators and administrators for the Verizon Community ("Moderators"). These Moderators are the only representatives of Verizon authorized to manage the Verizon Community. Any Verizon employees who are not designated as Moderators or Employees are not authorized to represent themselves on the Verizon Community as Verizon employees. Authorized Verizon Employees are distinguished by the Rank of "Employee" and/or an official Verizon logo as an Avatar.  Verizon is not responsible for content provided by any Verizon employee who is not designated as a Moderator or an Employee.
Community Monitoring
Users are asked to help Verizon keep the Verizon Community a valuable and enjoyable information resource for all participants by notifying us of any offending messages or other violations of these Terms. To advise us of such a posting, click the confidential "Report Inappropriate Content" link on the applicable post. Repeat offenders will be contacted by email and eventually banned from the Verizon Community. If violations are egregious in nature, we will contact the appropriate authorities.
Modification and discontinuance of the Verizon Community
Verizon reserves the right at any time to delete, modify, suspend, or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Verizon Community (or any part of the Verizon Community, including any postings) with or without notice. Users agree that Verizon will not be liable to users or third parties for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Verizon Community.
Termination
A user's privilege to utilize or access the Verizon Community may be terminated by Verizon immediately and without notice if the user fails to comply with any term or condition of the Terms. Upon such termination, the user must immediately cease accessing or utilizing the Verizon Community and agree not to re-register or otherwise make use of the Verizon Community. Furthermore, the user acknowledges that Verizon reserves the right to take action -- technical, legal, or otherwise -- to block, nullify, or deny the user's ability to access the Verizon Community. The user understands that Verizon may exercise this right in its sole discretion.
Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability
MOST OF THE CONTENT POSTED TO THE VERIZON COMMUNITY IS PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES NOT AFFILIATED WITH VERIZON. THIRD-PARTY CONTENT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PERSON ORIGINATING THAT CONTENT. THE USER AGREES THAT VERIZON DOES NOT CONTROL, AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE IN ANY WAY FOR, THIS THIRD-PARTY CONTENT. ADDITIONALLY, THE USER AGREES THAT VERIZON IS NOT LIABLE FOR, AND THE USER SHALL INDEMNIFY AND HOLD VERIZON, AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, AGENTS, AND EMPLOYEES HARMLESS FROM ANY CLAIM, INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES, MADE BY ANY THIRD PARTY RELATING TO OR ARISING OUT OF CONTENT SUBMITTED, POSTED, TRANSMITTED, OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH VERIZON COMMUNITY, USE OF VERIZON COMMUNITY, VIOLATION OF THE TERMS OR VIOLATION OF ANY RIGHTS OF ANOTHER. THE CONTENT ON VERIZON COMMUNITY IS "AS IS" AND CARRIES NO WARRANTIES. VERIZON DOES NOT WARRANT OR GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, USEFULNESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, OR QUALITY OF ANY CONTENT ON VERIZON COMMUNITY, REGARDLESS OF WHO ORIGINATES THAT CONTENT. VERIZON DOES NOT WARRANT THAT VERIZON COMMUNITY  IS SECURE, FREE FROM BUGS, VIRUSES, INTERRUPTION, ERRORS, OR OTHER LIMITATIONS. YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU BEAR ALL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH USING OR RELYING ON THAT CONTENT. VERIZON IS NOT LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE IN ANY WAY FOR ANY CONTENT POSTED ON OR LINKED FROM VERIZON COMMUNITY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN CONTENT, OR FOR ANY LOSSES OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF OR RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, VERIZON AND ITS REPRESENTATIVES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES RELATING TO LOSS OF BUSINESS, TELECOMMUNICATION FAILURES, LOSS, CORRUPTION, SECURITY OR THEFT OF DATA, LOSS OF PROFITS OR INVESTMENT, OR THE LIKE), WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF VERIZON OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND EVEN IF A REMEDY IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. THE LIMITATIONS OF DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN VERIZON AND THE USER.
Miscellaneous
The Terms are a complete statement of the agreement between you and Verizon, and set forth the entire liability of Verizon and your exclusive remedy with respect to your access and use of the Verizon Community. In the event of a conflict between these the Verizon Community Terms of Service and either the Verizon Privacy Policy or the Verizon Terms of Use applicable to Verizon, these Terms of Service prevail. The agents and employees of Verizon (including Moderators) are not authorized to make modifications to the Terms, or to make any additional representations, commitments, or warranties binding on Verizon. Any waiver of the Terms by Verizon must be in a writing signed by an authorized officer of Verizon and expressly referencing the applicable provisions of the Terms. Your privilege to use or access the Verizon Community may be terminated by Verizon immediately and without notice if you fail to comply with any of the Terms. Upon such a termination, you must immediately cease accessing or using the Verizon Community. If any provision of the Terms is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, then it is to be, to that extent, deemed omitted, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force. The Terms do not limit any rights that Verizon may have under trade secret, trademark, copyright, patent, or other laws.
*If you feel you have a solicitation that should be posted to the Verizon Community Forums, please ask for pre-authorization by contacting Verizon at:  [email protected] or you can reach out directly by private message to any official moderator or admin in the community.

Answer 1

Looks to me (and I haven't been advised on changes) that this is a customer protection.  I don't know what the previous policy was, but this guarantees that if FiOS is no longer serviced in your area, you cannot be charged an early termination fee if there remains time left on your account.  It seems obvious that you wouldn't be he held responsible in such a case, but this is just putting it in writing. 
Brian K
Verizon Telecom
Fiber Solution Center
Notice: Content posted by Verizon employees is meant to be informational and does not supercede or change the Verizon Forums User Guidelines or Terms or Service, or your Customer Agreement Terms and Conditions or Plan.