CAREFULLY READ THE TERMS OF USE
By accessing or using this site, you are deemed to have read, understand and agree to be bound by (\”Visitor(s)\”) or a registered member
(\”Member(s)\”) (Visitors and Members shall collectively be referred to as, \”User(s)\”). In addition, when using particular forums, you will be required to abide by posted house rules or guidelines applicable to any such forums (\”House Rules\”). The House Rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the Terms of Use.
Scope of Terms of Use
The Terms of Use apply to your use of PrivateOfficer.org (the \”Site\”), which is owned and operated by Private Officer International, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies and related entities, including companies owned and/or controlled by POI (collectively,\” \”we,\” \”us\” or \”our\”).
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify the Terms of Use at any time. We shall have no obligation to notify the Users of any such changes other then posting such modifications on the Site and indicating the date of last revision on the Terms of Use. It is your responsibility to check these Terms of Use periodically to review any such changes. Upon each visit to the Site, you agree to be bound by the then-current Terms of Use. If you do not to accept these Terms of Use, please do not use or access (or continue to use or access) the Site.
User Requirements
You must be at least 18 years old in order to participate on our Site, and we will not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. However, if you are under the age of 18 and have obtained the consent of your parent or legal guardian, you may view the Site as a Visitor only. Further, you may not make use of the Site if such use violates any applicable law or regulation. You agree to abide by these restrictions and not to help anyone avoid these restrictions.
User Registration
If you access the Site as a Visitor, you will not be required to provide personally identifiable information. However, in order to access message boards, blogs, POI groups, chat rooms, workbooks and user review forums, such as comments or other interactive services, including both public boards and private folders on the Site (collectively, \”Forums\”), you will be required to register as an PrivateOfficer.org Member, to create a Member account (\”Account\”) and to provide specific information.
If registering as a Member, you also agree to:
i. Provide true, accurate and current information about yourself (you may not use any aliases or other means to mask your true identity) as prompted by any registration forms on the Site;
ii. Create a username that is not patently offensive or deceptive and does not violate any other party\’s legal rights;
iii. Not register for more than one Account, register for an Account on behalf of an individual other than yourself or register for an Account on behalf of any group or entity;
iv. Maintain the security of your passwords and identification;
v. Be fully and solely responsible for any and all use and activity (including content that is posted, transmitted, shared or otherwise made available) under your Account, and the consequences thereof, regardless of whether it\’s been authorized by you;
vi. Immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or Account or any other breach of security;
You participate on the Site at your own risk. Additionally, you hereby release POI, its directors, officers, agents, contractors, partners, assigns, successors-in-interest and its employees from any and all liability, direct or indirect, and for any liability, loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to you from your use of the Site.
We reserve the right to remove your Account and/or deny, restrict, suspend or terminate your access to all or any part of the Site without notice if we determine that you have violated these Terms of Use or our House Rules or for any other behavior that we, in our sole discretion, believe is harmful to the Site.
Restrictions on Use of Site Content
POI-owned trademarks and service marks, including but not limited to, those listed at https://www.privateofficer.org, along with our trade names, trade dress and designs (collectively, the \”Marks\”) are the property of POI. Additionally, other content found on our Site, including, but not limited to, text, postings, photographs, video, information, art, graphics, music, sound and other files, and their selection and arrangement (collectively, the \”Site Content\”) is the property of POI and/or its respective owners. Unless noted otherwise, you may access the Site, the Site Content and the Marks for your personal and noncommercial use only. You will not acquire any ownership rights by downloading the Site Content. You may not use, modify, copy, publish, display, transmit, adapt, frame or in any way exploit the Site
Content or Marks, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent from POI and all respective owners of the Site Content. You must abide by all copyright notices or other restrictions contained in the Site. Any use of the Marks or the Site Content other than as specifically authorized is strictly prohibited and will terminate any permission(s) granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws, including copyright and trademark laws. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms of Use shall be construed as conferring any license to any intellectual property rights.
User Conduct
By accessing the Site, you agree not to:
i. Use the Site in any unlawful manner or in any manner that could damage, disable, disrupt or impair the Site or interfere with any other User\’s use and enjoyment of the Site;
ii. Use spiders, robots, data mining techniques or similar data gathering or extraction methods to catalog, download or otherwise reproduce, store or distribute the Marks or Site Content;
iii. Post or transmit any information, software or other material that contains a virus or other harmful component.
Further, by participating in the Forums, you agree not to:
i. Intimidate, harass or insult other Users;
ii. Post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any language or material that is abusive, vulgar (including masked vulgarity), harmful, unlawful, infringing on the rights of others, fraudulent, threatening, hateful, harassing, defamatory, insulting, obscene, profane, racist, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable;
iii. Post, transmit, share or otherwise make available 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 laws or regulation;
iv. Post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any advertising, solicitations (for funds, goods, services or otherwise), promotional materials, \”junk mail,\” \”spam,\” \”pyramid schemes\” or any other commercial material, including, but not limited to, business and charity solicitations;
v. Post, transmit, share, or otherwise make available or solicit personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, social security numbers, last names (you may use last initials) or any other private information;
vi. Post the same message or comment more than once;
vii. Impersonate any person or entity (including, but not limited to, any POI employees or representatives), or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity;
viii. Use or attempt to use another Member\’s Account, without that Member\’s authorization;
ix. Post, transmit, share or otherwise make available links to Third-Party Sites (as defined herein). Although you are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users, we reserve the right, to monitor communications between you and other Users.
User-Generated Content Posted in the Forums
We are not responsible for content posted, transmitted, shared or otherwise made available by Users on or through the Forums, including, but not limited to, trademarks, trade names, service marks, trade dress, articles, recipes, art, designs, graphics, text, postings, images, links, photographs, videos, information, music, song lyrics, sound and other files, (collectively, \”User Generated Content\” or \”UGC\”). POI is a distributor (and not a publisher) of UGC. Accordingly, we have no more editorial control over such UGC than does a public library, bookstore, or newsstand. UGC does not reflect the opinions or views of POI. Although we may monitor the Forums, we do not review all UGC. We do not endorse any UGC and make no warranties, whether express or implied, as to the accuracy, integrity or quality of any UGC. Under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for UGC, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any UGC or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of or reliance on any UGC. We retain, however, the right to archive or make any Forum discussion \”Read Only\” or to reject, modify or remove any UGC (without notice or liability) if we, in our sole discretion, consider any UGC to be in violation of these Terms of Use or any House Rules or otherwise harmful to the Site. Regardless of whether we remove such UGC, Users remain solely responsible and liable for the UGC they supply.
By posting, transmitting, sharing or otherwise making available UGC on the Forums, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such UGC has expressly granted POI the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, adapt, translate and distribute such UGC (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such UGC. You also permit any other User to access, view, store or reproduce the UGC for that User\’s personal use only. You hereby grant POI the right to copy and distribute any UGC made available on the Site by You. You represent and warrant that you are the sole creator and owner of or have all the necessary licenses, rights, consents, releases and permissions to post the UGC submitted through your Account or otherwise posted, transmitted or shared by you on or through the Site.
Additionally, you represent and warrant that no element of your UGC will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, copyright, trademark, privacy rights, right of publicity or other personal or proprietary rights. By using the Site, you further represent and warrant that you (and any licensor of content that you post on the Site), have waived any \”moral rights\” in connection with your UGC and that you will be solely responsible for paying all royalties and other fees that might be due to any person or entity by reason of any UGC posted by you on or through the Site. You are not entitled to any compensation for any UGC you post on the Site.
Links to Third-Party Sites
The Site may contain links to other sites (\”Third-Party Sites\”) containing content, goods, services, and applications not owned by us (collectively, \”Third-Party Content\”). We do not control and are not responsible for the Third-Party Sites or Third-Party Content.
These Terms of Use apply to and govern our Site only. We do not endorse, take responsibility for, investigate, monitor or check for accuracy, appropriateness or completeness of any Third-Party Content. Further, you hereby release POI from any and all liability, direct or indirect, and for any loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to you in connection with your use of, or reliance on, any Third-Party Content. You should direct any concerns to that Third-Party Site\’s administrator or webmaster.
Copyright Complaints
We respect the intellectual property rights of others, and we prohibit Users from posting, sharing, transmitting or otherwise making available any materials that infringe upon another party\’s intellectual property rights. However, material is posted on the Site by third parties not within our control, and we are under no obligation to and do not review all content on the Site for the inclusion of illegal or impermissible content. However, it is our policy not to permit material known by us to infringe another party\’s copyright to remain on the Site. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the \”DMCA\”) and other applicable law, we will promptly remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material when we receive proper notification of an alleged copyright infringement as described below. Further, we will terminate, in appropriate circumstances and at our sole discretion, the accounts of Members who are deemed to be repeat infringers.
If you believe any material on the Site infringes a copyright, you should provide us with written notice.
Disclaimers
THE SERVICES, PRODUCTS AND MATERIALS ON THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED \”AS IS\” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER WE, NOR ANY OF OUR RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS, WARRANT THAT ANY FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THEM AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. NEITHER WE, NOR ANY OF OUR RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS, WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SERVICES, PRODUCTS OR MATERIALS IN THIS SITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. YOU (AND NOT WE OR ANY OF OUR RESPECTIVE LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION TO YOUR SYSTEM.
We do not endorse, warrant or guarantee any products or services offered on the Site. We assume no responsibility for the monitoring of or any transaction between Users and third-party providers of products or services.
Personal Advice
The information contained in or made available through the Site (including, but not limited to, information contained in text files or in Forums) cannot replace or substitute for the services of trained professionals in any field, including, but not limited to, financial, medical or legal matters. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information found on the Site. Your access and use of the Site does not in any way create a physician/patient, confidential or privileged relationship, or any other relationship that would give rise to any duties on POI\’s part or the part of its contributors. We do not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians,services, procedures, opinions, or other information that may appear on the Site. Your use of or reliance on any information provided on the Site is solely at your own risk. We, and our licensors or suppliers, make no representations or warranties concerning any treatment, action or application of medication or preparation by any person following the information offered or provided within or through the Site. Neither we, nor our partners or any of their affiliates, will be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages that may result, including but not limited to, economic loss, injury, illness or death.
Limitation of Liability
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL WE, OR ANY OF OUR LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE MATERIALS ON THE SITE OR ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THE SITE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND, IF APPLICABLE LAW PERMITS, EVEN IF DUE TO OUR OR OUR LICENSORS\’ OR SUPPLIERS\’ NEGLIGENCE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU BY US OR ANY OF OUR LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU TO US, IF ANY, FOR ACCESSING THE SITE.
Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless POI and its directors, officers, agents, contractors, partners, assigns, successors-in-interest and its and their employees from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, debt and expenses (including but not limited to attorney\’s fees) arising from or in connection with: (i) your use of the Site in violation of these Terms of Use, (ii) any breach by you of these Terms of Use or any representation and warranty made by you herein, (iii) your UGC, (iv) your use of materials or features available on the Site (except to the extent a claim is based upon infringement of a third-party right by materials created by us) or (v) a violation by you of applicable law or any agreement or terms with a third party to which you are subject.
Submissions
We welcome your comments about the PrivateOfficer.org Site. However, we will not review or consider any unsolicited submissions, such as articles, e-books, photos, video clips, and graphics. We hope you will understand that the intent of this policy is to avoid the possibility of future misunderstandings in the event that projects developed by our professional staff appear to others to be similar to their own work. If, despite our request, you send us any unsolicited ideas, suggestions or material(s) (collectively, \”Submission(s)\”), such Submissions will become the property of POI. POI is not obligated to keep any Submission confidential, and we will not be liable for any use or disclosure of any such Submission. We will exclusively own all known or later-existing rights to the Submissions worldwide and in perpetuity and will be entitled to the unrestricted use of the Submission for any purpose, without compensation to the provider of the Submission.
If you are submitting something to a Third-Party Site that contains a submissions policy, please consult that site for its specific requirements.
Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting your privacy and security and have explained in detail the steps we take to do so. Please read our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms of Use by reference.
Jurisdictional Issues
We control and operate the Site from our offices in the United States. We do not represent that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. People who choose to access the Site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.
Miscellaneous
These Terms of Use will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the internal laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its choice of laws principles.
You agree that any and all disputes that may arise out of or relate to these Terms of Use shall be submitted for resolution to the American Arbitration Association\’s (\”AAA\”) Atlanta Georgia, office. In agreeing to arbitrate such disputes you agree to waive any rights to bring any civil action in any court regarding such disputes. The award rendered by the arbitrator shall be final and judgment may be entered into it in accordance with the applicable law in the Circuit Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
If either you or we desire arbitration, that party agrees to serve written notice of the arbitration with the other party and the AAA\’s Atlanta Georgia, office. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be severed from the remaining Terms of Use and will not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect. The Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and us relating to the subject matter contained herein. This agreement may be modified only by our posting of changes to these Terms of Use or by a writing signed by both you and POI.