Preamble
SRI-CONNECT is a research tool designed to help investors, companies and their respective advisors.
It is driven by the voluntary contributions (‘posts’) made by users.
We understand that users will only ‘post’ contributions if they are confident that such ‘contributions’ will be used appropriately.
In this section we define ‘appropriately’ and describe how information may and may not be used.
For research and communication purposes
Information published on SRI-CONNECT may only be used by you for the research of companies, sectors and issues, for communications with companies, SRI investors and their respective advisors and to enhance your understanding of SRI, its strategies and markets.
Viewing information: Good faith
‘Posters’ are required to post ‘in good faith’ (to ensure accuracy, timeliness and freedom from undeclared interest or conflicts of interest). You should therefore accept the information you view ‘in good faith’.
That said, we foresee that there will be instances where honest mistakes are made and we, therefore, recommend that you should satisfy yourself of the accuracy of any information you find on the site before making any significant decisions based upon it.
‘Posters’ are encouraged to declare any material interest in information or views that they contribute. You should be aware, however, that this is a grey-area’ and is dependent on self-certification by the ‘poster’. You should therefore assume that ‘posters’ have a level of vested interest in your use of the information that they provide; as such, you should be prepared to evaluate for yourself the views expressed as they may not necessarily reflect a true and fair assessment of the issues at play.
Chatham House Rule
SRI Network and Market Buzz operate under the Chatham House Rule which means that participants are free to use information received from the site but may not reveal the identity nor the affiliation of the poster of that information.
The Chatham House rule states that:
“When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.”
It is explained on Wikipedia (as at Sept’10) as allowing “people to speak as individuals and to express views that may not be those of their organisations, and therefore, encourages free discussion. Speakers are free to voice their own opinions, without concern for their personal reputation or their official duties and affiliations. The Chatham House Rule resolves a boundary problem faced by many communities of practice, in that it permits acknowledgment of the community or conversation, while protecting the freedom of interaction that is necessary for the community to carry out its conversations.”
By putting this measure in place, contributors should feel confident expressing their own personal thoughts, especially when conducting exploratory discussions on potential new issues and topics for analysis where opinions have not yet been fully formed or refined for public consumption.
Exceptions to the Chatham House rule
The following exceptions to the Chatham House rule apply:
- If a ‘Poster’ actively wishes his/her contributions to the site to be republished elsewhere and their authorship credited, they should state this explicitly within the body of that content.
- Material that is published freely elsewhere on the Internet and merely referenced on the SRI-CONNECT website shall be considered as exempt from the Chatham House rule
Not employer views
Users are required to post ‘in a professional capacity’ (i.e. as befits their role and SRI experience). They are not expected to post ‘in an organisational capacity’ (i.e. as a representative of their employer).
You must recognise this and may not infer the views of any organisation from the views expressed by its employees on the SRI-CONNECT site - unless, of course, a user specifically attributes a view as the official view of their employing organisation.
Using other site content – rules and controls
The Chatham House rule covers content contributed by site users to SRI Network and to Market Buzz. Other content on the site may be used as follows:
- “SRI Fundamentals” & “SRI Dynamics” reports – may be republished freely provided viewers acknowledge SRI-CONNECT as the source
- “SRI-kipedia” - operates under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike licence whereby you are free to share and remix the work provided that the original author is credited and that future sharing is allowed
- New(s)ources items – may be used under the same terms as they are originally published (i.e. according to the rules specified by the sites on which they were originally published)
SRI-CONNECT’s usage of Content posted by users
The Content that you post on the SRI-CONNECT site is made available to registered users and subscribed members for free.
It cannot however be seen by ‘unregistered browsers’ of the site.
We do not rent, sell, or otherwise provide content you post on our website to third parties (whether for marketing purposes or otherwise). (Third parties are defined as individuals or organisations that have not registered with SRI-CONNECT and the SRI Network).
We may, however, share the Content you provide:
- if compelled to do so by law
- as necessary to enforce these Conditions of Use, or
- to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of SRI-CONNECT, its Users, and the public
