Association for Entrepreneurship USA d/b/a AFEUSA.org (“AFEUSA”, “we”, “us” or “our”) provides the AFEUSA.org site (the “Site”) and the offered services and features (the “Services”) subject to these Terms of Service (“Terms of Service”). By using the Site and Services, you are deemed to accept and be bound by these Terms of Service, INCLUDING A MANDATORY ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER CONTAINED IN SECTION 16 BELOW. If you do not accept these Terms of Service, please discontinue using the Site and Services. Your use of the Site or a service included within the Site may also be subject to additional terms that govern particular services, offers, or features, or special promotions or contests or sweepstakes (the “Additional Terms”). In the event that any of the provisions in these Terms of Service conflict with Additional Terms provided with any particular service, then these Terms of Service shall control. The Terms of Service applies regardless of the device used to access the Site and/or Services (e.g., personal computer, a mobile device or any other technology or software known today or developed in the future).

1. Modification of These Terms of Service

These Terms of Service may change from time to time, without any notice other than posting on the relevant page. Your continued use of the Site and Services following our posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of any such changes. Please check this page from time to time for current Terms of Service.

2. Privacy

For all questions about how we use the information we obtain through your use of the Site and Services, please visit our Privacy Policy. By using the Site and Services, you agree to also be bound to the Privacy Policy.

3. Your License to Access Content on Site

All right, title and interest to the content displayed on the Site, including but not limited to the Site’s look and feel, data, information, text, graphics, images, sound or video materials, photographs, designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, URLs and content provided by third parties, are our property, or respective third parties, and are protected by copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights and laws. You are granted a personal, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable, limited license to view, reproduce, print, cache, store and distribute content retrieved from our Site via a generally available consumer web browser for non-commercial use only. You are not granted any other license or right (including by implication, by estoppel or otherwise), with respect to the Site, Services, or any content accessible through the Site or Services. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Service are reserved by us.
In your use of the Site and Services, you agree to comply with all applicable laws including those regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.

4. Age Restriction

The Site and Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age, and you may not use the Site or Services or create a user profile, if applicable, if you are under 13. You hereby represent and warrant that you are at least 13 years of age.

5. Code of Conduct

When using any portion of and/or functionality on or through the Site or Services, you agree to abide by the following Code of Conduct.

a. You may not:

  • Copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code of the Site or Services;
  • Remove or obscure the copyright notice or other notices displayed in connection with the content accessible through the Site or Services;
  • Interfere with or disrupt the Site functionalities, Services, or servers and networks connected to Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected directly or indirectly to the Site;
  • Modify the Site or Services in any manner or form, or use modified versions of the Site or Services, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Site or Services;
  • Reproduce, print, cache, store or distribute content retrieved from the Site or Services in any way, for any commercial use without our prior written permission;
  • Sell, assign, sublicense, or otherwise transfer any right in the Services or content accessible through the Site;
  • Access the Site or Services by any means other than through the interface that is provided by us;
  • Violate the restrictions in any robot exclusion headers on the Site or in the Services, if any, or bypass or circumvent other measures employed to prevent or limit access to the Site or Services;
  • Collect or store personal data about other users of the Site or Services;
  • Engage in any activities that would violate the personal privacy rights of others, including but not limited to, collecting and distributing information about Internet users without their permission, except as permitted by applicable law; or
  • Use the Site or Services to violate any law (whether local, state, national, or international), whether or not intentionally.

b. No Automated Querying:
You may not send automated queries of any sort to the Site, including:

  • using any software which sends queries to determine how a website or webpage “ranks” for various queries;
  • “meta-searching”; and
  • performing “offline” searches on the Site.

c. You agree not to use the Site or Services to:

  • Post any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, degrades others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual preference, disability or other classification or otherwise objectionable in any way;
  • Harm or threaten to harm anyone in any way;
  • “Stalk” or otherwise harass any other person or entity;
  • Impersonate any person or entity (including an agent of our, enthusiast, or moderator), or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
  • Post any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of solicitation;
  • Disseminate or transmit any content that (i) violates any law (whether local, state, national, or international), (ii) infringes or violates any copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or any other proprietary right (including, but not limited to, using third party copyrighted materials or trademarks without appropriate permission or attribution), or (iii) includes third party information (whether or not protected as a trade secret) in violation of a duty of confidentiality;
  • Disseminate or transmit any worms, viruses or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files, code, programs or other similar technologies; or post any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, programs or other similar technologies designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  • Manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any comment you post on the Site;
  • Post any content that would violate the personal privacy rights of others, including but not limited to revealing personal or private information about others without their permission; or
  • Facilitate violations of these Terms of Service or the Privacy Policy.
  • We reserve the right to take any action we deem appropriate if we determine, in our sole and absolute discretion, that you have engaged in any of these practices or otherwise violated these Terms of Service. Such action may include removing any of your content, cancelling the account of any user we believe to be in violation of the Terms of Service, terminating your license to access the Site or use the Services or initiating civil or criminal legal proceedings. Internet transmissions are never completely secure.

6. Account Terms

a. Email

You may create a user profile by providing your name, an email address and a password. By providing your email address to us, you agree that we can send you email communications in connection with the account feature. You can choose at any time to no longer receive emails in connection with the account feature through your account setting page or by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email sent by afeusa.org.

If you choose to forward content from the Site via email, you agree that you will forward such content only to willing recipients known to you and that you will not use the Site or Services for engaging in spam or other unauthorized conduct.

b. Password and Security

You must submit a password to set up and access your profile. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for all activities that occur under your password or profile. If you are using a public or shared computer, we recommend that you log out of your profile at the end of each session; otherwise, a subsequent user of the computer could access your account and impersonate you. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or profile or any other breach of security. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from a third party accessing or using your profile.

c. Account Content

You agree that all of your account content will comply with the requirements of these Terms of Service. We reserve the right (but do not have the obligation) to remove or edit, at any time and without notice to the user who posted it, any account content that is inappropriate. You will indemnify us and our affiliates for all claims resulting from the Content you post to the Site.

7. Use the Site and Services at Your Own Risk

The Site and Services include links to other websites or resources. Because we have no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You acknowledge that such external sites usually have their own terms and conditions, including privacy policies, over which we have no control and which will govern your rights and obligations with respect to the use of those websites.

To offer use of the Site and Services to our users for free, we allow advertisers to display advertisements on the Site. Your dealings with advertisers and third party vendors found on or through the Services and/or on the Site, including your participation in promotions, purchase of goods and services, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such activities, are solely between you and the third party advertiser or vendor. We do not make any representations or warranties with respect to any goods, services or websites that appear in advertisements and you agree that we will have no liability for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of any activities you undertake in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, services, information or other materials available, through advertisers and/or third party vendors. You understand that there is an inherent risk in submitting content to the Site and/or Services, and that any communications may be subject to interception by a third party.

You understand that by using the Services, you may be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. In addition, if you rely on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any linked third party websites or resources, you do so solely at your own risk. Under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for such content, including, but not limited to, for any errors, omissions or misrepresentations in any linked third party website, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred by you as a result of your use of, or reliance on, any linked third party website.

You acknowledge that we are a provider of interactive computing service as set forth in the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230, and expressly reserves our rights to not be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider of the Site.

You acknowledge, consent, and agree that we may access, preserve, and disclose your account information and/or any content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Site and/or Services, if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access, preservation, or disclosure is reasonably necessary for any of the following reasons: (1) to comply with legal process; (2) to enforce these Terms of Service; (3) to respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; (4) to protect the rights, property, or our personal safety, our users, and the public; or (5) to respond to your requests for customer service.

8. Modifications to the Services

We reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify, suspend, discontinue or terminate the Services (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, discontinuation or termination of the Services.

9. Termination of Your Access to the Services

You can terminate your account and delete your profile information at any time by contacting us at membership@afeusa.org. We may terminate your use of the Site and/or Services or account in our sole discretion due to: (i) your violation of these Terms of Service; or (ii) if we consider, in our sole discretion, that (a) certain comments you have posted are inappropriate, (b) your use of the Site or Services or your behavior does not meet our standards or (c) you have otherwise violated these Terms of Service. You agree that any termination of your access to the Services may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that we may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and/or bar any further access to your account or the Site or Services. If you use the Site or Services in violation of these Terms of Service, we may, in our sole discretion, retain all data collected from your use of the Site or Services. Further, you agree that we shall not be liable to you or any third party for the discontinuation or termination of your access to the Site or Services.

10. Disclaimers

BY USING THE SITE AND SERVICES YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:
THE SITE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NO CONTENT ON OUR SITE IS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, WHETHER MEDICAL, FINANCIAL, LEGAL OR OTHERWISE. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES RELATING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY TO ANY ACTION YOU TAKE OR FAIL TO TAKE BASED ON THE INFORMATION, SERVICES OR OTHER MATERIAL ON THE SITE.

YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SITE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR OUR PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON- INFRINGEMENT.

WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT THE SITE OR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, CURRENT OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SITE AND SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE, TIMELY, USEFUL OR RELIABLE.

ANY MATERIAL OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH USE OF THE SITE OR SERVICES IS OBTAINED AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO COMPUTER SYSTEMS OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR DOWNLOAD OR USE OF ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE OR MATERIAL.

11. Limitation of Liability

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES, AND OUR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS, ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, HOWSOEVER CAUSED, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY), OR OTHERWISE RESULTING FROM:

  • THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE OR SERVICES,
  • THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES,
  • UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OF DATA,
  • THE STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SITE,
  • RELIANCE ON CONTENT OR POSTINGS ON THE SITE, OR
  • ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SITE OR SERVICES.

THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.

BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold us, our subsidiaries, and affiliates, and our and their officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any and all liability, losses, claims, demands, disputes, damages or costs of any kind, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, resulting from or in any way connected with (a) content you post to the Site or otherwise display or transmit through the Services, (b) your use of or reliance on the Site or Services, (c) your connection to the Site or Services, (d) your violation of these Terms of Service, or (e) your violation of any rights of another party.

13. Copyright and Trademark Protection

All contents of this Website, including logos, marks, product and service names that appear throughout the Site (the “AFEUSA Search & Media Marks”) belong to AFEUSA and are protected by U.S. and international trademark laws. You agree not to display or use the AFEUSA Search & Media Marks in any manner without AFEUSA’s prior written permission. To seek permission to use any of AFEUSA Search & Media Marks, please contact AFEUSA in writing at the following address:

AFEUSA.
16427 North Scottsdale Road, #410,
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

14. Notice for Claims of Copyright Infringement

We respect the intellectual property rights of others and require those that visit the Site and use the Services to do the same. We may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, remove or disable access to material on the Site or Services that infringes upon the copyright rights of others. We also may, at our discretion, remove or disable links or references to an online location that contains infringing material or infringing activity. In the event that any visitors to the Site or users of our Services repeatedly infringe on others’ copyrights, we may in our sole discretion terminate those individuals’ rights to use the Site and/or Services pursuant to our Digital Millennium Copyright Act repeat infringer policy.

If you believe that your work has been used on AFEUSA.org’s Site or in connection with our Service in any manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please notify our copyright agent by written notice. The notice should include the following information:

  • An electronic or physical signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright allegedly infringed;
  • A description of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed, including a copy of the copyrighted work or the web page address where the copyrighted work may be found;
  • Identification of the location on the Site or Services of the material you claim has been infringed, or the link or reference to another website that contains the material you claim has been infringed;
  • Your name, address, telephone number and email address;
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the material at issue is not authorized by the copyright owner, the agent of the copyright owner or the law; and
  • A statement by you that the information in this notification is accurate and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner of the material allegedly infringed or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

The contact information for our copyright agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on the Site and/or in connection with the Services is:

Mail: AFEUSA.org, Attn. Legal Dept, 16427 North Scottsdale Road, #410, Scottsdale, AZ 85254
E-mail: membership@afeusa.org
Telephone: (844) 750-5927

15. Applicable Law

These Terms of Service and the relationship between you and us are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

16. Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY – IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND TO HAVE A JURY HEAR YOUR CLAIMS.

ARBITRATION IS DIFFERENT FROM COURT; THE RULES, INCLUDING DISCOVERY ARE DIFFERENT AND NO JUDGE OR JURY IS PRESENT AT AN ARBITRATION. THE AWARD IS FINAL AND BINDING AND SUBJECT ONLY TO LIMITED REVIEW BY A COURT

a. General

Except as otherwise provided in this section 16, by using the Site and Services, you and we agree to submit any disputes arising from the use of the Site or Services or any interpretation, violation, non-performance, termination or invalidity of these Terms of Service or this arbitration provision (including questions of its formation and enforceability) to final and binding arbitration under the Commercial Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association, which can be found here, by one or more arbitrators appointed in accordance with those Rules. Notwithstanding these rules, however, such proceeding shall be governed by the laws of the state of Arizona as set forth in section 15 above. You agree to submit to binding arbitration in either Phoenix, Arizona or your county of residence. We will agree to commence arbitration in your county of residence. At your written request, we will consider any requests to advance or reimburse any arbitration filing fee, or administrative and hearing fees that you are required to pay to pursue a claim in arbitration. The arbitrator will decide who will ultimately be responsible for paying those fees. In no event will you be required to reimburse us for any arbitration filing, administrative, or hearing fees in an amount greater than what your court costs would have been if the claim had been resolved in court.

Any award in an arbitration initiated under this clause shall be limited to monetary damages and shall include no injunction or direction to any party other than the direction to pay a monetary amount. Further, the arbitrator(s) shall have no authority to award punitive, consequential or other damages not measured by the prevailing party’s actual damages in any arbitration initiated under this section, except as may be required by statute.

b. Class Action Waiver

Any proceedings to resolve any dispute will be conducted solely on an individual basis. Neither you nor we will seek to have any dispute heard as a class action, private attorney general action, or in any other proceeding in which either party acts or proposes to act in a representative capacity. No arbitration proceeding may be combined with another without the prior written consent of all parties to the applicable proceeding.

c. NO RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL FOR ARBITRAL CLAIM.

YOU AND WE ALSO HEREBY WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL FOR ANY ARBITRAL CLAIM. IF FOR ANY REASON THIS SECTION 16 IS HELD NOT TO APPLY TO AN ARBITRAL CLAIM, WHETHER SUCH ARBITRAL CLAIM IS AGAINST YOU, US, OR OUR INDEMNIFIED PARTIES, BOTH YOU AND WE STILL AGREE TO WAIVE TRIAL BY JURY FOR THAT ARBITRAL CLAIM. BY USING THE SITE AND/OR SERVICES, YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.

d. Exception

Notwithstanding the parties’ decision to resolve all disputes through arbitration, this agreement does not preclude claims by us to enforce our intellectual property rights and/or remedy unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, unauthorized access, fraud or computer fraud, and/or industrial espionage. Neither party is precluded from seeking relief in a court located in Phoenix, Arizona, for provisional remedies, including temporary restraining order, preliminary injunctions, and receiverships, pending arbitration or comprehensive litigation, to the extent authorized in this section 16.

17. Severability of These Terms of Service

If any provision of these Terms of Service is found by a court or other binding authority to be invalid, the remaining provisions contained in these Terms of Service shall continue in full force and effect.

18. Limitation of Actions Brought against Us

You agree that any claim or cause of action arising out of your use of the Site or Services or these Terms of Service must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or it shall forever be barred, notwithstanding any statute of limitations or other law to the contrary. Within this period, any failure by us to enforce or exercise any provision of these Terms of Service or any related right shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.

19. Third Party Beneficiaries

You agree that, except for us and as otherwise expressly provided in these Terms of Service, there shall be no third party beneficiaries to this agreement.

20. Section Titles

The section titles in this Terms of Service are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

21. Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns with respect to these Terms of Service or Site and Services, please see our Customer Support Page here.

Updated: June 1, 2021