14.1     Virtual Office – for the Member’s Client Access.  A Participant may do in the virtual presence of his, her or its client anything permitted under these Rules and Regulations that is allowed in their physical presence.  A virtual office website (a “VOW”) is defined as a Member’s Internet office website (other than a public access IDX site through which members of the general public receive certain real estate listing information) that includes the opportunity for a Member’s clients to search for MLS Data conditional on the Participant’s oversight, supervision and responsibility.  In order to have a VOW, a Participant must obtain a separate license agreement with BAREIS to establish a VOW, and must also have its VOW vendor obtain a separate license agreement from BAREIS pursuant to Regulation 14.4.  A VOW must operate in a manner consistent with the following guidelines:

 (a)       Confirmation and Verification.  Members can provide access to a client only after (i) obtaining the name and valid email address of such client, and (ii) sending an email to such client in order to confirm that the client has a valid address and has received and agreed to the VOW’s terms of use. 

 (b)       Terms of Use.  Terms of use shall include the following: (i) that the client acknowledges entering into a client-broker relationship with the Participant; (ii) that all data obtained from the VOW is only for the client’s personal, non-commercial use; (iii) that the client has a bona fide interest in the purchase, sale or lease of real estate of the type being offered through the VOW; (iv) that the client will not copy, redistribute or retransmit any of the MLS Data or information provided; and (v) that the client acknowledges BAREIS’ ownership of and the validity of the copyright in the MLS Data.

 (c)       User Name and Password.  Members must obtain from or supply to each client a user name and a password, the combination of which must be different from those of all other clients on the VOW, before being permitted to search and retrieve information from the MLS Database using the VOW.

 (d)       Protection for Misappropriation.  Members’ VOWs must protect MLS Data from misappropriation by employing reasonable efforts to monitor for and prevent “scraping” and other unauthorized accessing, reproduction or use of the MLS Database.

 (e)       Seller Withholding.  Listings or property addresses of sellers who have directed their listing brokers to withhold their listing or their property address from display on the Internet shall not be accessible in any display directed to the general public. This does not preclude listing Participants from displaying the listings or property address to their clients on their VOW site.

 (f)        Distribution of Database.  No portion of the MLS Database shall be distributed to, provided to or made accessible to any person, except as provided for in these Rules and Regulations.

 (g)       Privacy Policy.  All VOWs must display the Members’ privacy policies informing clients how information they provide may be used.

14.2     Listing Data on the Internet – BAREIS Website.  Members are not restricted from downloading, displaying or reproducing their own listing information on the Internet.  This Regulation 14.2 does not prohibit Members from linking their own Internet sites to other Internet sites where other brokers’ listings may be advertised.  Members may link or “frame” from their public-access website, any public-access website owned and operated by BAREIS (currently GreatHomes.org), provided the BAREIS website and data is displayed in its entirety.  Display of the BAREIS public website in its entirety shall not be considered a violation of Regulation 13.3.  Members may not frame the MLS Member’s site (currently Rapattoni).

14.3      Internet Data Exchange (IDX) Listing Data for the General Public Access – Member Websites.  Members may not download, display or reproduce listings in the MLS Database of other Members on the Internet without the prior written consent of the listing broker, or through both Participants’ enrollment in the IDX program.

 (a)       Subject to paragraphs (b) through (j) below, and notwithstanding anything in these Rules and Regulations to the contrary, Members may display on their public websites aggregated active MLS Data identified through the listing process by the listing broker as “permitted to be advertised by other Brokers” (IDX Internet data) and identified as permissible to “pass to Internet.”  There is no “presumed consent” for such Internet display, and both of the permissions above are granted through listing input.

 (b)       A Member may not advertise IDX listings of other brokers granting permission to do so on the Internet until the broker Participant has signed and agreed to the terms of an IDX license agreement provided by BAREIS.  As a part of that agreement, the broker Participant must commit to making all of his, her or its listings available for transmission through the MLS Database to other brokers participating in IDX license agreements for display on the Internet.

 (c)       A broker Participant that is not advertising the listings of other brokers on the Internet, but wishes to grant permission to other Members to advertise his, her or its listings, is required to sign a BAREIS IDX license agreement.

 (d)       Subscribers may not advertise IDX active MLS Database listings of other brokers on the Internet unless their Participant has signed an IDX license agreement.

 (e)       Members may not display confidential information fields as determined by BAREIS in BAREIS’ sole discretion that would normally be information for cooperating brokers rather than consumers.

 (f)        All listings on a Member’s IDX website shall identify the firm name of the listing brokerage and listing agent in a manner designed to easily identify such listing brokerage or agent.

 (g)       Members shall not modify the information displayed pursuant to these Rules and Regulations.

 (h)       IDX Information displayed shall indicate the source of the information being displayed, and the most recent date the data was updated.  Members shall update all downloads and refresh all data at least once every seven days.

  (i)       Sharing of the MLS Database with any third party, or permitting a third-party vendor not authorized by a BAREIS IDX license agreement to access the MLS Database, is prohibited. 

 (j)        Members shall indicate on their websites that the information being provided is for the consumer’s personal, non-commercial use, and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.

 (k)       Members must adhere to the seller’s instructions regarding use of “address on Internet (full/partial)” flags on the listing.