Terms of Use

Welcome to the GOOD Morning Wilton community!  Like any good community, we hope everyone keeps in mind the rights and responsibilities we each have to make sure things keep running smoothly. This page explains some of our basic policies and the guidelines we ask everyone to follow.

Please note, these policies and guidelines are subject to change at any time depending on events or changes within the GMW community.

Each time you access or use GOOD Morning Wilton, or any of its digital services (including social media accounts), you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use along with our Privacy Notice and any additional guidelines, terms, procedures or rules that may apply to a specific feature of the media that are owned or operated by GOOD Morning Wilton, LLC, or its affiliates (“we”, “us”, “our” or “GMW”).

Conduct Guidelines

Commentary, debate and discussion are welcomed and encouraged!  Part of the GOOD Morning Wilton mission is to encourage Wilton residents to be more involved and aware of what’s happening within our community. We hope you’re as passionate about what happens in our town as we are, and that you want to be a part of making it great.

That doesn’t mean we all have to agree. In fact, learning that your neighbors may feel differently—and why—is all part of learning to be a complex, multidimensional community.  Most important to us here at GOOD Morning Wilton is that we all respect that fact—and that we respect one another. We hope the members of the community (i.e. all of you) will be proactive about reminding anyone who isn’t respectful about just what kind of place this site strives to be.

Along those lines, all comments on the website, as well as any GOOD Morning Wilton social media accounts, will be moderated and the editors of GOOD Morning Wilton reserve the right to delete any comment. It is not the intent to censor or block any particular viewpoint or opinion, we’re just trying to keep the GMW community a place where everyone treats one another in a respectful way. Deletion of comments will be at the sole discretion of GOOD Morning Wilton editors and GMW shall have no obligation to retain any comment deemed inappropriate or otherwise detracting from the site. Editors will use the following criteria as a basis for allowing comments to remain and therefore we ask you to please abide by the following in all comments and communication:

• Signing your full, real name is a criteria for publication of comments. Providing your first and last name is now required for participation through comments on GOOD Morning Wilton or its digital services. Verifiable names and emails must be provided and editors reserve the right to request verification before considering comments for publication. Pseudonyms will no longer be allowed except under extenuating circumstances and with editor permission.
• Please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, suggestions, eyewitness accounts or information, especially if it furthers a story and discussion. Comments that cannot be verified or that are based in rumor and hearsay will be removed at the discretion of the editors. Speculation and misinformation will not be published.
• Provide upon request additional information, data, verified documentation or proof of any assertions they submit.
• No profane, abusive, violent, racist, sexist, bigoted, offensive, unlawful, threatening, harassing, degrading, abusive, pornographic, inflammatory, intimidating or discriminatory language.  Turning off CAPS LOCK also goes a long way.
• Please do not publish personal information about another member of the community.
• Please do not insult, defame, denigrate or attack another commenter or writer on the site or any other individual. Let’s discuss the ideas, not the person suggesting them or any other such person.
• Please avoid generalizing about groups of people. Comments stating “all Republicans” or “all Democrats” will garner an additional level of editorial screening and possible decline to publish. Other words that raise red flags:  troll, snowflake, lib-tard, racist, sexist, left-wing, right-wing, commie, nutjob, and others that will invite more scrutiny.
• Please avoid comments that are clearly commercial, self-promotional or promoting a product; a PR pitch; or an affiliate or referral link.
• Please share the space. Over-posting will red-flag a user as a potential troll or spammer and will risk suspension or a permanent ban.
• Also, please try to stay on topic.

You are responsible for the comments that you post on the site. Your participation on the site signals your agreement that you will not hold GOOD Morning Wilton responsible or liable for any comments, contributions or information contributed by other users.

If you continue to disregard any of the guidelines posted by GOOD Morning Wilton, we retain the right to ban you as a user of any GMW digital service (website, social media, etc.) for violating these policies.

We may use comments (partially or in full) on our website, or in another form of technology and communication.

If you feel someone has not followed these guidelines, you can always send an email to editor@goodmorningwilton.com.

Terms of Use

Anyone who accesses the GOOD Morning Wilton site is a “User.”  By becoming a User, the User agrees to abide by the following terms of service and agree to indemnify, defend and hold GMW harmless for any violation of these rules.

Information provided by GOOD Morning Wilton (including, but not limited to news, articles, editorials, photographs, illustrations, video, advertising, links, etc.) is not guaranteed, and it is understood that any use of the information is at the User’s own risk. Usage of the website and the information contained herein signifies agreement that Users will not hold GMW liable for any inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or missing information, or for materials which they find via links to outside sources published on the site.

Accessing GOOD Morning Wilton may require registration, including but not limited to signing up for an account and providing a user name, email address and password. Accounts are for individual, personal use. Users agree to maintain accounts only for personal usage, and to refrain from transferring accounts to any other individual. We require email addresses be valid emails for Users, and we ask users to use their real and verifiable names and email addresses. GOOD Morning Wilton does not maintain a list of passwords, and we remind users to follow safe protocols to protect the security of passwords, as users are solely responsible for any password security or unauthorized use of such.

Information that is required for User registration is transmitted securely using SSL protocol, including data encryption. Any financial transactions conducted via the website are processed through PayPal, and its privacy and security policy can be viewed here; or Stripe, and its privacy and security policy can be viewed here. Information collected for newsletter registration is maintained by MailChimp, and their privacy and security policy can be viewed here. Information collected for membership registration is maintained by Memberful, and its privacy and security policy can be viewed here. GOOD Morning Wilton does not collect or maintain financial or personal information, and we never sell lists or data.

Users who comment and contribute either solicited or unsolicited information to any of the published information services (online, social media, or other) grant GOOD Morning Wilton permission to use, revise, republish, copy, perform and distribute such content, including any intellectual property contained therein, in any medium now known or hereinafter developed without payment or compensation and without seeking any further approval from Users. We may include publicly accessible information, including Users’ names, likeness and any other information in connection with such content provided by Users. Users grant permission that GMW may use such content and contributions via, but not limited to, licensing, advertising, social media and other publication, without additional approval or related compensation. Users release GMW from responsibility of seeking third-party permission to use such content as described in these Terms of Use. All materials published on the site are the property of GOOD Morning Wilton, unless granted temporary permission by the rights holder (e.g. supplied a photo to use, or press release material). Any usage of material owned by GMW is prohibited unless securing prior written permission by contacting GMW, which permission shall be conditioned on linking back to GMW and crediting GMW, as well as for additional compensation.

Users are also solely responsible for:

• maintaining the accuracy of any information submitted to GMW in relation to your access to and use of our digital services.
• any user content provided to us.
• their conduct in relation to the digital services, and their access to or use of the services and content.
• abiding by the rules of GMW conduct guidelines.

By using the site, users agree to abide by the “Conduct Guidelines” explained herein, and they accept responsibility for any and all content they post or transmit to other users via the website and all other media.

Without limitation, users agree to not post or transmit to other users any content that:

• violates the privacy of another individual;
• is profane, abusive, violent, racist, sexist, bigoted, offensive, unlawful, threatening, harassing, degrading, disparaging, insulting, intimidating, defamatory or pornographic;
• incites, encourages or initiates violence;
• infringes or violates another individual’s copyrights or intellectual property rights without permission
• is illegal or promotes any illegal activities, or is criminal;
• contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; or
• contains any advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation.

All editorial control over GMW and the display of any content is in its sole discretion. GMW may include, edit or remove any Content at any time without notice.

Users are solely responsible for your content provided to or submitted to GMW. You assume all risks associated with use of your supplied or submitted content, including any reliance on its accuracy, completeness or usefulness by others, or any disclosure of your content that makes you or any third party personally identifiable. You may not state or imply that your content is in any way provided, sponsored or endorsed by GMW. Because you alone are responsible for your content (including backing up your data), you may expose yourself to liability. Under no circumstance will GMW be liable for any inaccuracy or defect in any submitted or supplied content.

Age Eligibility and Restrictions

GOOD Morning Wilton is not intended for access or use by children, especially those under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, you may not access or use the services or provide information to us, without express written permission of a parent or legal guardian.

By accessing or using GMW and its services, you represent that you have legal capacity to enter into this Agreement and to fulfill your obligations set out in this Agreement. If you are not of an age old enough to enter into contracts in your state (i.e., a minor), you need to review this Agreement with your parent or guardian before using the Newspaper Services; if your parent or guardian do not agree with the Agreement as applied to you, then you are not authorized to access or use the Newspaper Services.

Termination of Access

If any User has violated the Terms of Use, GOOD Morning Wilton reserves the right to suspend, limit or terminate any User account, at any time with or without notice and with or without cause. In addition, we may refer any information on illegal activities, including a User’s identity, to the proper authorities. Including the police and/or your parents.

Updated Sept. 7, 2021