The Site is intended as a useful complement to the services provided by CSA and to provide a more efficient means of sharing information and networking among members. CSA welcomes members' suggestions on ways to enhance the Site and make it work for them. To maximize the potential benefits to be derived from the Site and to maintain compliance with a variety of laws and customary practices, it is important that there be a common set of rules for use of the Site. Compliance with the terms contained herein is very important because it will ensure the Site is used only for its intended purpose and is kept as nearly as possible free of inappropriate material.
I. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.
(a) The User is responsible for providing all software and hardware necessary to access and use the Site, and is responsible for all telephone charges associated with use of the Site.
(b) Access to the Site is obtained by securing a password from CSA's Electronic Services Manager.
(c) The Company's CSA representative will be the Company's coordinator with respect to the paperwork necessary for a User within the Company to obtain a password. This is done in an effort to allow each Company to determine who, within the organization, may access the Site. The CSA representative shall provide to any new User a copy of this Agreement and the User or CSA representative shall submit it to CSA for processing. The User named above, the Company and any other individuals whom the User has authorized to receive a password are subject to the terms of this Agreement. It is the responsibility of the Company to ensure that all authorized individual users within the organization have received and reviewed a copy of this Agreement and are prepared to comply with its terms.
(d) Holders of authorized passwords are responsible for keeping the confidentiality of the assigned passwords so as to prevent unauthorized access to the Site.
(e) CSA may from time to time restrict access to certain areas of the Site to specific members for whom the information is relevant, such as in the case of online committee discussion, committee balloting, and the like.
II. POSTINGS
(a) CSA determines in its reasonable discretion which of its materials to post to the Site in addition to or in lieu of distributing hard copies. CSA welcomes members' suggestions regarding the usefulness of posting various types of materials to the Site and suggestions for avoiding excessive duplication of materials in both print and electronic media. CSA exercises reasonable efforts to ensure the reliability of its postings to the Site but does not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the materials or their usefulness to the members. Members should rely on material available at the Site in their own discretion. CSA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
(b) CSA may from time to time allow members to post materials to the Site, whether in the form of bulletin boards, chat sessions, or special interest interactive areas such as job listings and teaming opportunities. The Company (and each User individually) is solely and fully responsible for the conduct of its authorized password holders in connection with any material posted by them to the Site and any liability resulting from such postings and will indemnify CSA for any losses resulting from User's conduct with respect to the Site. User must ensure it has the necessary rights under the copyright and trade secrets laws to post the desired material.
(c) User is deemed automatically to have granted a license to CSA and other members to use, reproduce and distribute for the members' internal business purposes any and all material posted by User to the Site and to warrant that the material does not infringe or misappropriate the rights of others. CSA may use any information posted by User for any legitimate purpose relating to the business of CSA, including research, reporting, statistical analysis, lobbying and membership services, unless the User explicitly advises CSA in writing that a particular posting contains information for a restricted use only.
(d) CSA reserves the right to take down, delete or restrict access to any User posting which, in the reasonable discretion of CSA, does not comply with the terms of this Agreement or is likely to expose CSA to liability under applicable laws. CSA will make an effort to provide User advance notice of any action by CSA under this paragraph but will have no liability to User for failure to provide advance notice. In response to law enforcement requests, CSA may have to provide access to and information about postings to the Site and users of the Site to government officials. User's access may be terminated by CSA without advance notice in the event User materially breaches the terms of this Agreement.
(e) CSA does not intend to screen in advance postings or communications made by others using the Site and any opinions expressed by members are not necessarily those of CSA . Therefore, User must exercise his/her best judgment to evaluate any information User proposes to post to the Site. In the event a member or other third party believes it has been harmed by any posting made to the Site by User, User agrees to exercise prompt and reasonable steps to resolve the situation and ensure that CSA and its other members are not exposed to liability as a result of User's actions.
(f) CSA will cooperate in good faith in investigating and seeking to resolve disputes regarding postings made to the Site and will determine in its reasonable discretion whether particular material should be taken down. CSA does not accept any liability for any actions it takes in this regard provided it has acted in good faith.
(g) CSA reserves the right to monitor communications among members by means of the Site for purposes of implementing the terms of this Agreement or complying with legal requirements.
III. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS IN ONLINE CONTENT
(a) Most materials posted to the Site by CSA will be protected by the copyright laws, whether it is an article, a report, graphics, news bulletins, statistics, or legislative summaries. If CSA has created the material, CSA owns the copyright in the material. In some instances, CSA may obtain permission to post materials created by third parties. In that case, the third party owns the copyright to the material and may have imposed restrictions on what CSA and its members may do with the material. For this reason, members can only copy and distribute any information downloaded from the Site internally within the member organization. This restriction usually will not apply to drafts of legislation or bills and other documents created by the Government which are posted to the Site, and which the members can generally use without restriction.
(b) CSA may impose specific use and copying restrictions on particular items posted to the Site as required by the owners of the materials or the nature of the information.
(c) Members cannot modify, abridge, excerpt or redistribute outside of the member organization the online content posted to the Site without permission from the owner of the copyright on the material. If you wish permission for such a use, please contact the Electronic Services Manager and CSA will make all reasonable efforts to accommodate the member's request, provided the member pays any third party fees required to obtain the consent to use.
(d) Under the copyright laws, use, reproduction or distribution of online material in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of this Section may expose the User, the Company and CSA to criminal and/or civil liability for copyright infringement, and penalties that may include prison and money damages. If in doubt about whether material can be copied or used as desired, please call CSA.
(e) In addition, certain business and financial information about members and other companies may be trade secrets that cannot be disclosed to others or used for the benefit of a third party. To avoid the intentional or inadvertent disclosure or use of trade secrets of another, User cannot post to the Site any information about any other company which is not publicly known and which it has reason to believe is proprietary and confidential, no matter how the information was obtained by User. Failure to follow this rule can subject the User, the Company and CSA to penalties for misappropriation of trade secrets.
(f) While CSA has taken some steps to restrict access to the Site by non-members, the Internet is not 100% safe from hackers and cyberpirates. As a result, members must assume that any information they post to the Site may be viewed and accessed by non-members, including competitors. In the event the User or the Company posts any non-public information to the Site, it fully assumes the risk that it will be made public or become known to unintended third parties. CSA will not accept any liability for use or misuse by any third party of information posted to the Site.
(g) User must not post to the Site information which is based on undocumented or misleading data regarding another company's performance or business prospects. This type of information may have the ability to affect the market position or business prospects of a company and lead to liability for defamation and other causes.
(h) All copyrights in and to the look and feel, format and compilation of information found at the Site belong to CSA or its suppliers. User or Company is not granted by this Agreement any rights to use any trademarks, copyright or other information of CSA or any third party except as expressly stated herein.
IV. RULES OF CONDUCT
(a) Be respectful of others. User must not post materials to the Site which are unrelated to the business of CSA and User, or are vulgar, obscene, abusive, or hateful, or otherwise consist of attacks based on gender, national origin, ethnic, or religious background, or the handicap or disability of an individual. The Site should not be used as a forum for personal attacks or harassment of members or others. No foul language, please.
(b) User cannot post software, music, or graphic files to the Site without CSA's prior written consent. Non-business materials such as jokes, pyramid schemes, and chain letters are also not permitted. Advertising or solicitation materials may be posted by User only if CSA designates specific areas for such materials.
(c) Any conduct not listed above which has the effect of disrupting the use or enjoyment of the Site by others is prohibited.
V. THIRD PARTY CONTENT AND SERVICES
(a) The Site may from time to time contain certain designated areas or features sponsored by a member or other third party and not by CSA. CSA does not exercise editorial control over such third party materials and disclaims any liability for any claims relating thereto. While CSA will cooperate in resolving any dispute between User and a third party content provider, it is ultimately the responsibility of the third party provider to handle the dispute and provide a resolution.
(b) If the User/Company named above is authorized by CSA to become a third party content provider, User and Company hereby represents and warrants that all content provided by the third party (including any hypertext links to other sites) will not infringe or misappropriate any proprietary rights of others and that the content will be in compliance with all applicable laws, including laws relating to deceptive and unfair advertising and trade practices, and the terms of this Agreement, and will indemnify CSA from any liability resulting from User's activities as a content provider.
(c) In the event User/Company is authorized by CSA to engage in the sale of goods or services electronically via the Site, User/Company agrees to advise other members by means of suitable electronic notices of User's policy regarding the use of personally identifiable information about password holders that may be collected online as well as the security risks associated with providing via the User's/Company's service any financial, credit card, social security number or other information which may be subject to abuse if viewed by unauthorized parties. User/Company shall be solely and fully responsible for any claims and liabilities relating to a User/Company sponsored electronic commerce site.
VI. TERM, CHANGES, AMENDMENT
(a) This Agreement states the principles applicable to the use of the Site for as long as the User has a valid password and the Site is available. CSA may in its reasonable discretion close down the Site or modify its content and format.
(b) As the Site evolves CSA may deem it necessary to amend the terms of this Agreement. CSA will provide the Company with written notice of any amendments and the Company may chose to cancel and return Users' authorized passwords in the event the amendments are not acceptable. Failure of the Company to return the authorized passwords within ten days of receipt of an amendment to this Agreement will constitute the Company's and each User's agreement to the amendment.
VII. USER FEES
(a) Access to the Site is as of the Effective Date free to members with authorized passwords. CSA may determine to charge an access fee in the future either for access to the Site or to particular areas of the Site if the additional effort and content provided warrants such a fee.
(b) User/Company is responsible for any taxes and any other third party fees resulting from any electronic commerce conducted by User/Company through the Site.
VIII. MISCELLANEOUS
(a) This Agreement is controlled by the laws of the District of Columbia (without regard to it conflict of laws provisions) and shall be enforced in a court of appropriate jurisdiction in the District of Columbia and User/Company submits to such jurisdiction.
(b) This Agreement supersedes and replaces any and all prior understandings or arrangements, whether oral or written, relating to the subject matter hereof, and constitutes the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement.
(c) IN NO EVENT WILL EITHER PARTY BE LIABLE TO THE OTHER FOR INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS PROFITS, OR LOSS DATA, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OR THEORY OF THE ACTION, (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS.
