Disclaimers
Welcome to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A Department of Energy National Laboratory Managed and Operated by the University of California, engaged in fundamental, unclassified research in the public interest.
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Privacy, Security, Copyright, Disclaimers, and Accessibility Information
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this page, as your use of all Berkeley Lab (LBNL) websites, services, networks, and systems is subject to these policies and terms of service.
Privacy and Security
This web site and this computer system (and all similarly situated systems*) are created, managed, and operated by the University of California to enable our work under the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Prime Contract for the Department of Energy. The University of California is responsible for the management of these systems, and many of these systems are owned by the US Government.
Users (authorized or unauthorized) have no explicit or implicit expectation of privacy. Any or all uses of this system, associated connected systems and all files may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized University and law enforcement personnel. By using this system, the user consents to such interception, monitoring, recording, copying, auditing, inspection, and disclosure at the discretion of authorized site personnel. Unauthorized or improper use of this system may result in administrative disciplinary action and civil and criminal penalties. By accessing our website, interacting with any of our systems, or operating your own system on one of our networks, you are expressly consenting to these monitoring activities and to abide by LBNL Policies and applicable State of California, University of California, and Federal Law. Some Berkeley Lab services are provided by third party providers. Where applicable, you agree to monitoring by both Berkeley Lab and the third party provider.
Unauthorized attempts to defeat or circumvent security features, to use the system for other than intended purposes, to deny service to authorized users, to access, obtain, alter, damage, or destroy information, or otherwise to interfere with the system or its operation are prohibited. Evidence of such acts may be disclosed to law enforcement authorities and result in criminal prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-474) and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-294), (18 U.S.C. 1030), or other applicable state, federal, and international criminal laws.
Email is not a private form of communication and email traffic to and from LBL is logged. It is also possible that email you send to an LBL address (for instance a mailing list), could be automatically posted in a publicly accessible way. Email which transits LBL networks, unless it is encrypted, is also monitored for computer security purposes. By sending email to an LBL address, you consent to such monitoring.
It is against LBNL policy to transmit Protected Information, such as Personally Identifiable Information (Social Security Numbers, Financial Account Numbers, Personally Identifiable Health Information) via insecure means (such as email). Do not transmit this information to us except via applications approved for this purpose. Contact privacy at lbl.gov for any questions.
Unless explicitly noted otherwise, the systems you are accessing have a FIPS 199 rating of Low/Low/Low. LBL systems, excluding certain business systems, are designed to provide protection to confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a level in keeping with our fundamental research mission and as befits open research and educational institutions. Information requiring higher protection then is afforded by these controls is not permitted without approval per RPM 9.01. When you operate your system on this network, or share content with LBL employees, you agree that this level of control is acceptable to you. Classified information of any kind is never permitted at Berkeley Lab.
Information Collected for Tracking and Optimization
Berkeley Lab utilizes web measurement technology provided by Google Analytics. The information collected is used to optimize our website; helping us determine top tasks, improve our user interface and diversify our content offerings to meet the needs of our visitors. This website also uses the third-party DoubleClick cookie for Google Demographic and Interests reports to gather anonymous summary demographic information about website visitors such as gender, age range, and areas of interest for adults over the age of 18. (About Google Demographics and Interests)
The information that is collected is only retained for as long as is needed for proper analysis and optimization of our websites, is not used to identify or track specific individuals, and is accessible only to Berkeley Lab employees whose position necessitates it.
You can prevent your information from being collected and used by Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Berkeley Lab does not endorse and makes no representation about the effectiveness of the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Opting-out in no way affects your access to content or how you see our websites.
Copyright
Materials on our websites not specifically noted otherwise are © in the current year and/or the year of their creation The Regents of the University of California. Requests to reproduce, modify, or distribute materials on our websites should be directed to the page owner. The Regents of the University of California reserve all rights to these materials unless a different license is explicitly designated.
Because of the nature of our contract, the US Government is granted for itself and others acting on its behalf a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in these documents to reproduce, prepare derivative works, and perform publicly and display publicly by or on behalf of the Government for all information produced under the Prime Contract, subject to its provisions.
For requests to reproduce LBL information, materials, or images, please click here.
If you assert ownership over any materials found on LBL websites or systems and wish for them to be removed or modified, or if you wish to file a DMCA complaint or takedown notice, please contact security at lbl.gov. Under the DMCA, the University is required to name a DMCA agent. Contact information for our agent is available here.
When you contribute materials to LBL, for instance, by posting to a publicly accessible mailing list or by adding material to a wiki, you grant the University of California an irrevocable license to display and modify the content.
Disclaimer
This website and related content were prepared as an account of or to expedite work sponsored at least in part by the United States Government. While we strive to provide correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor The Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or The Regents of the University of California. Use of the Laboratory or University’s name for endorsements is prohibited.
The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or The Regents of the University of California. Neither Berkeley Lab nor its employees are agents of the US Government.
Berkeley Lab web pages link to many other websites. Such links do not constitute an endorsement of the content or company and we are not responsible for the content of such links.
Accessibility
The University of California and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory endeavor to make information available to all interested parties. We attempt to maintain the primary LBL website, and other sources of information intended for the general public, in a manner that meets generally agreed upon accessibility criteria. Other information, such as bulk data and automatically generated content, may not always be accessible using existing assistive technology. If you encounter information which you cannot access with assistive technology, please contact us at help at lbl.gov and we will work with you to see if such information can be provided in an appropriate way.
Open Source Software at the Lab
Berkeley Lab is managed by The Regents of the University of California (“The Regents”) under a contract between U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) and The Regents. By virtue of the University of California’s (“UC”) systemwide intellectual property policies as well as delegations of authority starting from The Regents to the UC President (e.g., The Regents’ Standing Order 100.4), Berkeley Lab is authorized to grant licenses or transfer its rights in intellectual property (“IP”) owned by The Regents, but only to the extent that such IP rights are within the control and jurisdiction of Berkeley Lab and subject to DOE regulations.
Therefore, Berkeley Lab may not grant licenses or otherwise encumber any patents, copyrights, or trademarks created at and under the control and jurisdiction of another UC campus (and vice-versa), without the other campus’s consent. A license grant of IP rights beyond the delegated authority violates UC’s policies and standing orders, and is considered by UC to be invalid and unenforceable.
The specific limited delegated authority granted to UC locations for IP matters means that Berkeley Lab can bind only itself regarding IP licenses, including open source software (“OSS”) licenses. Some OSS licenses – notably General Public License version 3 and Apache License version 2.0 – contain a patent license requiring each contributor to software licensed under such OSS licenses to provide a royalty-free, irrevocable license to others for any relevant patent claims owned or controlled by the contributor. Such licenses are usually intended to bind the legal entity whose employees are contributing to or publicly distributing the OSS project. Because the legal entity for Berkeley Lab may be considered The Regents, absent the limited delegated authority for patents, the possible effect of Berkeley Lab entering into such patent-granting OSS licenses might be that all relevant patents owned by The Regents (not just those within control of Berkeley Lab) would be encumbered. To this point, The Regents considers such licenses as voidable and/or unenforceable to the extent the license requires a particular campus or unit of The Regents to agree to a covenant beyond the scope of that campus’s or unit’s delegated authority. In other words, the official with appropriate delegated authority at Berkeley Lab can agree to an “open” patent license for only any relevant patents within Berkeley Lab’s jurisdiction, but not for any other patents owned or controlled by The Regents.
It is, therefore, important to involve the appropriate official with delegated authority at Berkeley Lab before entering into OSS licenses for IP owned by The Regents and under the control and jurisdiction of Berkeley Lab. At Berkeley Lab, that official is the Chief Technology Transfer Officer, currently Russell Carrington who leads the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Any IP created at Berkeley Lab or by Berkeley Lab employees is likely owned by The Regents and must be formally reported to IPO before the technology is distributed or licensed to anyone outside of Berkeley Lab, even if it is to be distributed for free or via an OSS license. Among other things, the purposes of such reporting are to ensure that, prior to distribution: (1) Berkeley Lab has the appropriate rights and authority to license or otherwise distribute the software; (2) the OSS license is appropriate for the software and its contemplated distribution; and (3) Berkeley Lab is in compliance with its DOE requirements.
For questions about this notice, please contact Berkeley Lab’s IPO: ipo@lbl.gov.
*Similarly situated systems include all systems in the lbl.gov, nersc.gov, es.net, jgi.doe.gov, lbnl.us, and berkeleylab.org domain spaces and in those accompanying IP spaces. This policy also applies to LBL owned assets whether or not they are on LBL networks.