Website Terms of Use

Approved January 13, 2023

1. INTRODUCTION

These Terms of Use (“Terms of Use”) are entered into by and between you and Amateur Radio Digital Communications, Inc. (“ARDC,” “we,” or “us”). These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of ARDC’s websites, ardc.net and ampr.org, including any content, functionality, and services offered on or through ardc.net and ampr.org (the “Website”). Please read the Terms of Use carefully before you start to use the Website.

2. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS OF USE

By using the Website, or by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms of Use when this option is made available to you, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of Use, and ARDC’s Privacy Policy, found at the Privacy Policy link at the bottom of the Website.

You may not agree to these Terms of Use or any other terms if you are under 18 years old. Users under the age of 18 (“Minor Users”) require a parent or legal guardian (a “Guardian”) to allow them to use the Website and to agree to these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. By permitting a Minor User to use the Website, the Guardian of the Minor User becomes subject to these Terms of Use and agrees to be responsible for the Minor User’s activities on
the Website.

If you (or your Guardian, as may be applicable) do not agree to these Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, you may not use the Website.

3. CHANGES TO THE TERMS OF USE

ARDC may revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time in ARDC’s sole discretion. All changes to these Terms of Use are effective immediately when posted to the Website and apply to all access to and use of the Website thereafter. However, any changes to the dispute resolution provisions set out in Governing Law and Jurisdiction will not apply to any disputes for which the parties have actual notice before the date the change is posted on the Website.

Your continued use of the Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to the changes. You are expected to check this page from time to time, so you are aware of any changes, as such changes are binding on you.

4. ACCESSING THE WEBSITE AND ACCOUNT SECURITY

ARDC reserves the right to withdraw or amend this Website, and any service or material we provide on the Website, in ARDC’s sole discretion without notice. ARDC will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, ARDC may restrict access to some parts of the Website, or the entire Website, to users, including registered users. You are responsible for both: (i) making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Website; and (ii) ensuring that all persons who access the Website through your internet connection are aware of these Terms of Use and comply with them.

To access the Website or some of the resources it offers, you may be asked to provide certain registration details or other information. It is a condition of your use of the Website that all the information you provide on the Website is correct, current, and complete. You agree that all information you provide to register with this Website or otherwise, including, but not limited to, through the use of any interactive features on the Website, is governed by ARDC Privacy Policy found at the Privacy Policy link at the bottom of the Website, and you consent to all actions ARDC takes with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy.

If you choose, or are provided with, a username, password, or any other piece of information as part of ARDC’s security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with access to this Website or portions of it using your username, password, or other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your username or password or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. You should use caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.

ARDC has the right to disable any username, password, or other identifier, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time, in our sole discretion for any or no reason, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms of Use.

5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The Website and its entire contents, features, and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by ARDC, its licensors, or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.

Except for those portions of the Website that feature Open Source content pursuant to the terms of specific Open Source license(s) approved by the Open Source Initiative, these Terms of Use permit you to use the Website for non-commercial purposes only. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on our Website, except as follows: (i) your computer may temporarily store copies of such materials in RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials; (ii) you may store files that are cached by your Web browser for display enhancement purposes; (iii) you may print or download a reasonable number of pages of the Website for your own non-commercial use and not for further reproduction, publication, or distribution unless it is for a educational purpose; and (iv) you may use Open Source content on the Website pursuant to the terms of the applicable Open Source license.

If you wish to make any use of material on the Website other than that set out in this section, please address your request to: privacy@ardc.net.

If you print, copy, modify, download, or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the Website in breach of the Terms of Use, your right to use the Website will stop immediately and you must, at ARDC’s option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right or interest in or to the Website or any content on the Website is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by ARDC. Any use of the Website not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use.

The ARDC name and all related names, logos, service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks of ARDC or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of ARDC. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans on this Website are the trademarks of their respective owners.

6. PROHIBITED USES

You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use.

You agree not to use the Website: (i) in any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local, or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries); (ii) for the purpose of exploiting, harming, or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information, or otherwise; (iii) to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use, or re-use any material that does not comply with the Content Standards set out in these Terms of Use; (iv) to transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail,” “chain letter,” “spam,” or any other similar solicitation; (v) to impersonate or attempt to impersonate ARDC, an ARDC employee, another user, or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using email addresses or screen names associated with any of the foregoing); or (vi) to engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Website, or which, as determined by us, may harm ARDC or users of the Website, or expose them to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to: (i) use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the Website, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Website; (ii) use any robot, spider, or other automatic device, process, or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Website; (iii) use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Website, or for any other purpose not expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, without ARDC’s prior written consent; (iv) use any device, software, or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Website; (v) introduce any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs, or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful; (vi) attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to the Website; (vii) attack the Website via a denial-of- service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack; or (viii) otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website.

7. USER CONTRIBUTIONS

The Website may contain message boards, personal profiles, forums, bulletin boards, and other interactive features (collectively, “Interactive Services”) that allow users to post, submit, publish, display, or transmit to other users or other persons (hereinafter, “post”) content or materials (collectively, “User Contributions”) on or through the Website.

All User Contributions must comply with the Content Standards set out in these Terms of Use.

Any User Contribution you post to the site will be considered non-confidential and non- proprietary. By providing any User Contribution on the Website, you grant us and our affiliates and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors, and assigns the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute, and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose.

You represent and warrant that: (i) you own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and have the right to grant the license granted above to us and our affiliates and service providers, and each of their and our respective, licensees, successors, and assigns; (ii) all of your User Contributions do and will comply with these Terms of Use; and (iii) you understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not ARDC, have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy, and appropriateness.

ARDC is not responsible or liable to any third party for the content or accuracy of any User Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Website.

8. MONITORING, ENFORCEMENT, AND TERMINATION

ARDC reserves the right to: (i) remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any or no reason in ARDC’s sole discretion; (ii) take any action with respect to any User Contribution that ARDC deems necessary or appropriate in ARDC’s sole discretion, including if ARDC believes that such User Contribution violates the Terms of Use, including the Content Standards, infringes any intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity, threatens the personal safety of users of the Website or the public, or could create liability for ARDC; (iii) disclose your identity or other information about you to any third party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy; (iv) take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Website; and (v) terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Website for any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of these Terms of Use.

Without limiting the foregoing, ARDC has the right to cooperate fully with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting any materials on or through the Website, subject to the Privacy Policy.

However, ARDC does not review all material before it is posted on the Website and cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, ARDC assumes no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications, or content provided by any user or third party. ARDC has no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this section.

9. CONTENT STANDARDS

These content standards apply to all User Contributions and use of Interactive Services. User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local, and international laws, and regulations.

Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must not: (i) contain any material that is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, or inflammatory; (ii) promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age; (iii) infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person or entity; (iv) violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy; (v) promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote, or assist any unlawful act; or (vi) impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization.

10. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

ARDC will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable law. If you believe any materials accessible on or from Website infringe your copyright, you may request removal of those materials (or access to them) from the Website by submitting written notification to our copyright agent designated below.
In accordance with the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) (“DMCA”), the written notice (the “DMCA Notice”) must include substantially the following: (i) your physical or electronic signature; (ii) identification of the copyrighted work you believe to have been infringed or, if the claim involves multiple works on the Website, a representative list of such works; (iii) identification of the material you believe to be infringing in a sufficiently precise manner to allow ARDC to locate that material; (iv) adequate information by which ARDC can contact you (including your name, postal address, telephone number, and, if available, email address); (v) a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (vi) a statement that the information in the written notice is accurate; (vii) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

If you fail to comply with all the requirements of Section 512(c)(3) of the DMCA, your DMCA Notice may not be effective. Please be aware that if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity on the Website is infringing your copyright, you may be held liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) under Section 512(f) of the DMCA.

If you believe that material you posted on the Website was removed or access to it was disabled by mistake or misidentification, you may file a counter notification with us (a “Counter Notice”) by submitting written notification to our copyright agent designated [above/below]. Pursuant to the DMCA, the Counter Notice must include substantially the following: (i) your physical or electronic signature; (ii) an identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access disabled; (iii) adequate information by which we can contact you (including your name, postal address, telephone number, and, if available, email address); (iv) a statement under penalty of perjury by you that you have a good faith belief that the material identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; (v) a statement that you will consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or if you reside outside the United States for any judicial district in which the Website may be found) and that you will accept service from the person (or an agent of that person) who provided the Website with the complaint at issue.

Our designated agent to receive DMCA Notices and Counter Notices is:

Northwest Registered Agent, Inc.
Amateur Radio Digital Communications
2108 N St, Suite N
Sacramento, CA 95816-5712
858.477.9700
privacy@ardc.net

The DMCA allows us to restore the removed content if the party filing the original DMCA Notice does not file a court action against you within ten business days of receiving the copy of your Counter Notice. Please be aware that if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity on the Website was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, you may be held liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) under Section 512(f) of the DMCA.

It is ARDC’s policy in appropriate circumstances to disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who are repeat infringers.

11. RELIANCE ON INFORMATION POSTED

The information presented on or through the Website is made available solely for general information purposes. ARDC does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is at your own risk. ARDC disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

This Website may include content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users, bloggers, and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators, and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by ARDC, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ARDC. ARDC is not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.

If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. ARDC has no control over the contents of those sites and accepts no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.

12. CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE

ARDC may update the content on this Website from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Any of the material on the Website may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.

13. INFORMATION PRIVACY POLICY

All information ARDC collects on this Website is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is found at the Privacy Policy link at the bottom of the Website. By using the Website, you consent to all actions taken by ARDC with respect to your information in compliance with the Privacy Policy.

14. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

You understand that ARDC cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data.

To the fullest extent provided by law, ARDC will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data, or other proprietary material due to your use of the website or any services or items obtained through the website or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any website linked to it.

Your use of the website, its content, and any services or items obtained through the website is at your own risk. The website, its content, and any services or items obtained through the website are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Neither ARDC nor any person associated with ARDC makes any warranty or representation with respect to the completeness, security, reliability, quality, accuracy, or availability of the website. Without limiting the foregoing, neither ARDC nor anyone associated with ARDC represents or warrants that the website, its content, or any services or items obtained through the website will be accurate, reliable, error-free, or uninterrupted, that defects will be corrected, that our site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components, or that the website or any services or items obtained through the website will otherwise meet your needs or expectations. To the fullest extent provided by law, ARDC hereby disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, statutory, or otherwise, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, and fitness for particular purpose. The foregoing does not affect any warranties that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

15. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

To the fullest extent provided by law, in no event will ARDC, its affiliates, or their licensors, service providers, employees, agents, officers, or directors be liable for damages of any kind, under any legal theory, arising out of or in connection with your use, or inability to use, the website, any websites linked to it, any content on the website or such other websites, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to, personal injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of revenue, loss of profits, loss of business or anticipated savings, loss of use, loss of goodwill, loss of data, and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract, or otherwise, even if foreseeable. The foregoing does not affect any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

16. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ARDC, its affiliates, licensors, and service providers, and its and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, successors, and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms of Use or your use of the Website, including, but not limited to, your User Contributions, any use of the Website’s content, services, and products other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, or your use of any information obtained from the Website.

17. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

All matters relating to the Website and these Terms of Use, and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction).

Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Website shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the State of California, in each case located in the County of San Diego. You waive all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.

18. ARBITRATION

ARDC may require You to submit any disputes arising from these Terms of Use or use of the Website, including disputes arising from or concerning their interpretation, violation, invalidity, non-performance, or termination, to final and binding arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying California law.

19. LIMITATION OF TIME TO FILE CLAIMS

Any cause of action or claim that you may have arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or the Website must be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues; otherwise, such a cause of action or claim is permanently barred.

20. WAIVER AND SEVERABILITY

No waiver by ARDC of any term or condition set out in these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of ARDC to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.

21. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

The Terms of Use and ARDC’s Privacy Policy constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and ARDC regarding the Website and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Website.

22. COMMENTS

All other feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications relating to the Website should be directed to: contact@ardc.net.