PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS CAREFULLY.
The Adoption Exchange Association, Inc. (“AEA,” “we,” or “us”) offers the websites adoptuskids.org and diligentrecruitment.org (collectively, the “Websites”). By registering for an account (“Account”) or by using the Websites in any way, you accept these terms of use (“Terms”), which forms a binding agreement between you and AEA.
Use of the Websites
You and other users of the Websites (collectively, “Users”) have access to the Websites at the sole discretion of AEA. The Websites are intended for use by persons who are at least 18 years old. By using the Websites, you represent and warrant that you: (i) are at least 18 years old and of legal age to form a binding contract, and you hereby ratify any prior grant of rights, consents, agreements, assignments, and waivers made by you; (ii) all information supplied by you on the Websites is true, accurate, current, and complete; and (iii) will not allow your Account to be used by anyone other than you. We retain the right at our sole discretion to deny access to anyone to the Websites and the services we offer, at any time and for any reason, for violation of these Terms.
We grant you a limited, revocable, non transferable, non sublicensable, nonexclusive license, under the rights AEA has in the content displayed on the Websites, including any message, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, videos, graphics, code, or any other material posted by a User (the “Content”), to privately display such Content on your computer for your own personal, noncommercial purposes, or, if you are a government employee or contractor accessing one of the Websites in connection with that role, for the purpose of providing services in that role, and to print a reasonable number of copies of the Content as needed for that use. We reserve all other rights in the Content, on our own behalf and the behalf of our licensors (including contributors), and we do not, directly or by implication, by estoppel or otherwise, grant any other rights or licenses to you under these Terms. Except as expressly stated in this paragraph, you may not reproduce, distribute, modify, publicly perform or display, or prepare derivative works of any Content without prior written consent from AEA or the contributor of the Content or other third-party owner of the rights in that Content (if any).
You hereby grant AEA a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free, freely transferable, freely sublicensable (through unlimited levels of sublicense), nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, transmit, distribute, publicly perform and display (including in each case by means of a digital audio or video transmission), and create derivative works of the Content that you post or upload to the Websites, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, and any message, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, videos, graphics, code, or any other material that you share with us in any other manner, including sharing your story and photolisting. You also hereby waive any moral rights you may have in such Content under the laws of any jurisdiction. You agree that we may (but are not obligated to) display the Content that you have posted or uploaded to the Websites and your username or your actual name along with your Content, and that any decision to discontinue the display of the Content posted or uploaded by you to the Websites shall not affect our rights under the license that you grant pursuant to these Terms.
You may use the Websites only when and as available. We reserve the right from time to time to temporarily or permanently modify or discontinue and restrict or block access to the Websites (or any part thereof) without notice. We may temporarily or permanently modify or remove any part or all of Content posted or uploaded by you from the Websites at any time without any notice to you. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, discontinuance, or removal.
Privacy policy
Your privacy rights are set forth in our Privacy Policy, posted on each of the Websites, the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference. All capitalized terms not defined in these Terms will carry the meaning given to such terms in our Privacy Policy.
Prohibited activities
You agree not to do, or attempt to do, any of the following when using the Websites, subject to applicable law: (a) access or use the Websites or any service on the Websites in any way that violates or is not in full compliance with any applicable local, state, national, or international law, regulation, or statute (including export laws), contracts, intellectual property rights or constitutes the commission of a tort, or for any purpose that is harmful or unintended (by us), or other than in full compliance with these Terms; (b) access, tamper with, or use services or areas of the Websites that you are not authorized to access; (c) alter information on or obtained from the Websites; (d) tamper with postings, registration information, profiles, submissions, or Content of other Users of the Websites; (e) use any robot, spider, scraper, or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the Websites or extract data or gather or use information, such as email addresses or images, available from the Websites in a way that interferes with or is inconsistent with the intended operation of the Websites, as determined by us in our sole discretion, or transmit any unsolicited commercial email, advertising, “junk mail,” “spam,” or “chain letters” to or from the Websites; (f) frame any part of the Websites, or deceptively link to the Websites, or otherwise make it look like you have a relationship to us or that we have endorsed you or Content you posted to the Websites for any purpose except as expressly permitted in writing by us, as determined in our sole discretion; (g) impersonate or misrepresent your identity or your affiliation with any person or entity; (h) reverse engineer any aspect of the Websites or do anything that might reveal or attempt to reconstruct source code or bypass or circumvent measures employed to prevent or limit access to any area, Content, or code of or on the Websites (except as otherwise expressly permitted by law); (i) send to or otherwise direct to or from the Websites or operate on it harmful, illegal, deceptive, or disruptive code such as a virus, “spyware,” “adware,” or other code that could adversely impact the Websites or any recipient; (j) take any action which might impose a significant burden (as determined by us in our sole discretion) on the Websites’ infrastructure or computer systems, or otherwise interfere with the ordinary operation of the Websites); or (k) engage in phishing or other deceptive practices for the purpose of collecting usernames or passwords.
You agree that you shall not post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create, or otherwise publish through the Websites any of the following:
- Content that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent, or otherwise objectionable.
- Content that would constitute, encourage, or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any person or entity, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national, or international law.
- Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party.
- Content that impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your identity or affiliation with a person or entity, including AEA.
- Unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, advertising, contests, raffles, or solicitations.
- Private information of any third party, including, without limitation, surname (family name) addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, or credit card numbers.
- Viruses, corrupted data, or other harmful, disruptive, or destructive files.
- Content or links to Content that, in the sole judgment of AEA, (a) violates the previous subsections herein, (b) is objectionable, or (c) which may expose AEA or its affiliates or its Users to any harm or liability of any type.
In order to cooperate with legitimate governmental requests, subpoenas, or court orders; to protect AEA’s systems and customers; or to ensure the integrity and operation of AEA’s operations and systems; AEA may access and disclose any information it considers necessary or appropriate, including, without limitation, User profile information (i.e., name, email address, etc.), IP addressing, and traffic information, usage history, and posted Content.
Disclaimer
THE CONTENT PUBLISHED ON THE WEBSITES MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR ERRORS. AEA DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF AND DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR OTHER INACCURACIES RELATING TO THE CONTENT DISPLAYED ON THE WEBSITES. THE WEBSITES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” “WHERE IS” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS.”
AEA DOES NOT ENDORSE OR RECOMMEND ANY PRODUCTS, PROCESSES, OR SERVICES. THEREFORE, MENTION OF PRODUCTS, PROCESSES, OR SERVICES ON THE WEBSITES CANNOT BE CONSTRUED AS AN ENDORSEMENT OR RECOMMENDATION.
AEA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND INDEMNITIES WITH RESPECT TO THE WEBSITES EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ANY USE AND/OR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, AEA DOES NOT WARRANT THAT: (I) THE WEBSITES SHALL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE, SECURE, OR TIMELY, (II) AEA WILL CORRECT ALL PROGRAM ERRORS, OR (III) THE WEBSITES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. TO THE EXTENT THAT DATA IS BEING TRANSMITTED OVER THE INTERNET, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AEA HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE FUNCTIONING OF THE INTERNET AND AEA MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND REGARDING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE INTERNET.
Limitation of liability
THE TOTAL LIABILITY, IF ANY, OF AEA UNDER THESE TERMS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF NEGLIGENCE, BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF WARRANTY CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES, OR OTHERWISE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT IN ANY EVENT EXCEED, IN THE AGGREGATE, THE LESSER OF FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU TO AEA DURING THE ONE (1) MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO SUCH LIABILITY OR $10.00.
AEA SHALL IN NO EVENT WHATSOEVER BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOST DATA OR ECONOMIC LOSS, EVEN IF AEA HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS.
The limitation of liability reflects the allocation of risk between the parties. The limitations specified in this section will survive and apply even if any limited remedy specified in these Terms is found to have failed of its essential purpose.
Indemnification
You agree to defend and indemnify AEA and its affiliates and any of their officers, directors, members, managers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, causes of action, demands, recoveries, losses, damages, fines, penalties, or other costs or expenses of any kind or nature, including but not limited to reasonable legal and accounting fees, brought by third parties as a result of:
(i) Your breach of these Terms;
(ii) Your violation of any law or the rights of a third party; or
(iii) Your use of one or both of the Websites.
Third-party websites
The Websites may contain advertisements, offers, or other links to other websites and resources of third parties that we do not control. These links, if any, are provided on the Websites for informational purposes and the convenience of its Users. You acknowledge and agree that AEA is not responsible or liable for (a) the availability or accuracy of such websites or resources; or (b) the content, advertising, or products or services on or available from such websites or resources. The inclusion of any link on the Websites does not imply that we endorse the linked website. You use the links at your own risk. Once you choose to link to another website, you should read and understand that website’s privacy statement and terms of use before disclosing any personal information.
General
The Websites are operated by a U.S. entity and these Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, USA. You agree that all claims you may have against AEA arising from or relating to the Websites must be heard and resolved exclusively in a court of competent jurisdiction located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
To the extent allowed by applicable law, you agree that you will bring any claim or cause of action arising from or relating to your access or use of the Websites within one (1) year from the date on which such claim or action arose or accrued, or such claim or cause of action will be irrevocably waived.
If any part of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remaining provisions in these Terms shall continue in effect.
These Terms (and any other terms and conditions referenced herein), constitutes the entire agreement between you and AEA with respect to the Websites, and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral, or written, between you and AEA with respect to the Websites. A printed version of these Terms and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to these Terms to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.
We will occasionally update these Terms. When we post changes to these Terms, we will revise the date at the top of these Terms. If we make any changes to these Terms that we deem to be material changes, we will notify you by sending an email to the email address you most recently provided us in your Account, profile, or registration (unless we do not have such an email address), and/or by prominently posting notice of the changes on the Websites. We recommend that you check the Websites from time to time to inform yourself of any changes to these Terms or any of our policies.