Legal Page

DISCLAIMER

Okinawa Hai and its affiliate sites and products are owned and operated by Okinawa Hai (“Okinawa Hai” or “we”). We have no legal, contractual, or other affiliation, written or verbal, with the US Military, the US Department of Defense (DoD), United States government entities, or any representative thereof.  All opinions and ideas expressed here are our own and those of our writers, and do not represent those of any official DoD institutions or individuals.

Many of us who work and write for Okinawa Hai are affiliated with the US Military, either as employees or dependents; as such we make every effort to abide by the SOFA agreement set forth between the DoD and our host country.  We also make every attempt to assure the content on our site is not in violation of OPSEC guidelines, in order to protect ourselves, our readers, and US military operations based in Okinawa.

CONTENT

Okinawa Hai reserves the right to publish original articles from writers of our choosing on topics of our choosing.  We reserve the right to accept or deny submissions from anyone at our own discretion.

When writing about a business (restaurant, school, hotel, product, etc) all opinions are exclusively those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of Okinawa Hai or our other Sites.  We purposefully do not publish reviews or articles that take an entirely negative tone as this is not in keeping with our goal as a website.  We make every effort to maintain an overall positive point of view when publishing our posts, but we welcome differing opinions from our readers in the comments.

If you are the owner/proprietor of a business (restaurant, school, hotel, product, etc) that has been reviewed on Okinawa Hai and wish to have that post removed from our site for any reason you may request to have this done.

If you are the owner/proprietor of a business (restaurant, school, hotel, product, etc) that has been reviewed on Okinawa Hai and find that you are receiving negative feedback from our readers in the comments of a post, you have the right to take one of the following courses of action:

1. Owner/proprietor may converse with our readers in the comments section
2. Owner/proprietor may request to allow Okinawa Hai to leave the post on the Site with all approved comments, but close the post to new comments.
3. Owner/proprietor may request to have the post and all associated comments removed from Okinawa Hai.  Please note it may take several days or weeks for search engines to remove results matching a post on the Okinawa Hai site even after it has been removed from our archives.

If you (owner/proprietor) request to have a post and all its associated comments removed from our site, Okinawa Hai will not publish any further reviews on your business (restaurant, school, hotel, product, etc) at any time in the future, either at your request or that of a writer.

Please note: Okinawa Hai and its Sites are not responsible for comments left by our readers.  All comments that meet the requirements of our Comment Policy will be left on our site.

TERMS OF USE

Please read the below Terms Of Use.  They contain important information about your rights when using our website.

1. Acceptance of Terms. Access to and use of the Sites are subject to the terms and conditions of this User Agreement,  and Copyright Notice and all applicable laws and regulations, including laws and regulations governing copyright and trademark. “Sites” or “Okinawa Hai” shall include any information or services made available through OkinawaHai.com or the above products, regardless of the medium, and shall include any affiliated websites, videos, products and applications we make available. BY ACCESSING THE SITES, YOU ACCEPT, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN THIS USER AGREEMENT INCLUDING ALL OF THE DISCLAIMERS BELOW. We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. The changes will appear on this screen. A Site may contain additional terms and conditions and those terms and conditions shall apply to your use of such Site, in addition to these terms and conditions; in the event of a conflict with these terms and conditions, the conflicting terms and conditions of such Site shall apply only to your use of that Site and only to the extent of the conflict.
2. Intellectual Property. The materials used and displayed on the Sites, including but not limited to text,  photographs, video, and names, logos, trademarks and service marks, are the property of Okinawa Hai or its affiliates and are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. Any such content may be used solely for your personal, non-commercial use. You agree not to modify, reproduce, retransmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish, broadcast or circulate any such material without the written permission of Okinawa Hai or the appropriate affiliate. You agree not to “scrape” or disaggregate data from the Sites (whether by manual or automated means), for any commercial, marketing, or data compiling or enhancing purpose.
3. Your License to Use the Sites, and Your Applicable Obligations and Restrictions. Okinawa Hai grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Sites, solely under the following conditions: The Sites may include forums and Facebook communities which allow users and members to post information, provide feedback to us, and interact. You agree not to post or transmit any fraudulent, unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, libelous or defamatory, vulgar, obscene, profane, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable material of any kind, including, but not limited to, any material which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, constitute hate speech, violate the rights of others, or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law. You agree to only post information that is true and correct in light of your knowledge. You shall not, without the express approval of Okinawa Hai, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, or advertising or solicitation for goods or services.
4. Your Indemnification of Us. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Okinawa Hai, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of (b) any material that you post or transmit, or (b) breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or any representations, warranties and covenants contained in these terms and conditions. You shall cooperate fully and reasonably in the defense of any such claim. Okinawa Hai reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.
5. We Do Not Control The Information on the Sites Or Have An Obligation to Review It. Although Okinawa Hai and its affiliates will make every effort to monitor and review discussions, chats, postings, and other user and member generated pages on the Sites, we are under no obligation to do so. You acknowledge that we do not control the information provided by users on our Facebook Page or Group and other user and member generated pages and that any opinions, advice, services, offers or other information or content disseminated through the Sites are those of their respective authors. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted through the Sites. You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the Sites (i.e., user-generated content including but not limited to: text, video, audio and photographs) (each, a “Submission”) may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by Okinawa Hai and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant Okinawa Hai a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for Okinawa Hai or any third party Okinawa Hai designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Submission posted by you on or to Okinawa Hai or the Sites, including any Submission posted on Okinawa Hai through a third party.You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; or (iii) violate Okinawa Hai’s Comment Policy and (b) that you are at least thirteen years old.
6. Okinawa Hai does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Sites by any user, information provider or any other person or entity, including Editors, Managers, and other writers. You acknowledge and agree that communications with managers, writers and other content providers through the Sites are not confidential and not subject to any confidentiality privilege, such as attorney-client or doctor-patient. All communication directly between you and a manager is at your own risk. Okinawa Hai relies on information provided by our contributors regarding their direct experience. Okinawa Hai does not represent or warrant the accuracy of the credentials or identity of writers or other contributors, including users, of the Service or Sites. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk.
7. You Agree Not to Rely on A Post Writer’s Personal Advice. The writers on Okinawa Hai are laypeople who are paid to share their direct experiences with the readers of Okinawa Hai.  Their postings and articles are provided on a purely informational basis, and you must evaluate them on their own merit. Content available on the Sites is to be used for general informational purposes only and never as a substitute for in person evaluation or professional advice (including without limitation regarding medical, legal, tax, financial, or veterinary issues).
8. The Sites Are Provided On An “As Is” Basis. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement on the Sites. The information, facts, and opinions provided are no substitute for professional advice.
9. Further Disclaimers. Your use of the Sites is at your own risk. NEITHER OKINAWA HAI, NOR ANY OF THEIR SUBSIDIARIES, DIVISIONS, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES OR LICENSORS SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY LOSS OR INJURY OR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR SIMILAR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF, OR YOUR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE, THE SITES AND THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE SITES OR ARISING OUT OF ANY ACTION TAKEN IN RESPONSE TO OR AS A RESULT OF ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE SITES. YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AGAINST OKINAWA HAI AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, DIVISIONS, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES AND LICENSORS ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE SITES AND THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE THEREON.
10. Third Party Links, Advertisements, Websites and Content. We do not review or monitor any web sites or other media linked to or available through the Sites and are not responsible for the content of any such linked web sites. Prior to purchasing any third party products or services described on the Sites, you are advised to verify pricing, product quality and other information necessary to make an informed purchase. Okinawa Hai shall not have any liability arising from your purchases of third party products or services based upon the information provided on the Sites, and we shall not receive or review complaints regarding such purchases.
11. Public Forums. If you voluntarily disclose personal information (e.g., user name, email address) on the Sites, such as on our Facebook Page or Group, other user or member generated pages, that information can be viewed in search engines, collected and used by others and may result in unsolicited contact from other parties. We advise that you not post any personal or other sensitive information on our Sites.
12. Modifications. We reserve the right at any time, and from time to time, to modify, suspend or discontinue (temporarily or permanently) the Sites, or any part of the Sites, with or without notice. You agree that we shall not be liable to you for any such action.

Updated September 28, 2016